CONNEAUT – Prior to its recent demolition, very few people were aware that the Carnegie Library was slated to be torn down.
During a regular city council work session, that fact was used as an example of the lack of communication between the city’s departments, administration and council.
“We’ve got to have better communication on our council as far as, like, for instance, the demolition of the library,” Ward 3 Councilman Emery said. “I told (City Manager Nick Sanford) I found out about that a week before the permit was pulled, that it was going to be coming down. I was told with a group of people.”
Demolition of Carnegie Library began on Monday, March 23, with a permit being pulled on Friday, March 20, while Sanford was on vacation.
“I don’t know when every permit is pulled for everything,” Sanford said. “I don’t expect to be told when a permit is pulled for every transaction. Frankly, I don’t want to know all of them. That was a pretty noteworthy one, absolutely, because it created as much as it did.”
Emery referenced the city’s rumor mill while explaining his surprise that Sanford was unaware of the impending demolition.
“What got me was you didn’t know about it,” Emery said. “I went to dinner on Wednesday, and somebody told me that they heard it at the fish fry the Friday before that it was coming down.”
Ward 2 Councilman Chris Castrilla noted that rumors are not facts.
“When you talk about misinformation, I’ll give another example,” Castrilla said. “When (the library) started coming down, I had a couple calls about new businesses that were going in already. That’s my point.”
Emery agreed, even citing his own example.
“Tongues get wagging, too,” Emery said. “I was just surprised and it took me back to Taco Bell. I was telling everybody, there’s no Taco Bell coming. Then there’s a Taco Bell coming.”
At-Large Councilwoman Mariana Branch asked if, while council is considering the hiring of a cable access coordinator, if it might be possible to add duties to the job description.
“Because you brought up communication, and I was wondering, if they’re going to hire somebody to do the uploading, is there any way to combine this with us having somebody to do the newsletter that I’ve been asking for for a while so we can communicate with the public better,” Branch said. “Who does the website updates?”
Sanford said his executive administrative assistant, Jessica Obhof, was responsible for updating the website with vital information.
“Is that also within her scope of work, or should there be a communication position that’s contract services being formed to do this,” Branch said. “Like you said, a water main breaks, and you’re going to expect a city employee to answer that or put it on the website where. If it’s a contract services person, that’s in their contract that they need to do that work outside of nine to five hours, if necessary. Does that make any sense?”
Ward 1 Councilman Rick Gaugh noted that a part-time off-duty employee might not exactly have the connections to know everything that was happening in the city.
“I don’t see a person that you’re hiring part-time is going to be in touch with the water and figure out, ‘Hey, we’ve got to break here, we’ve got a break there,’” Gaugh said.
Branch countered that is where communication comes into play.
“There’s a phone with texting,” Branch said. “I just saw another email that they were complaining about not knowing and not knowing what to do. I just think we need to work on communication. This isn’t the right meeting to get all the details together, but maybe, while we’re talking about doing a contract services position, it includes more than just CAB, maybe it’s more of a city communication person.”
