Fall-out from Urban League deal continues

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

SPRINGFIELD While City Solicitor Edward Pikula prepares his opinion on whether or not the city should pursue eminent domain to re-establish a library in Mason Square, there was fallout from recent statements made by Mayor Domenic Sarno.

Sarno told Reminder Publications that he was "aggravated and frustrated" by the revelation of an agreement between the Attorney General's office and the Urban League that changed the discussion on where a new library should go. He also questioned whether or not former Mayor Charles Ryan knew about the document during his administration.

The agreement stipulates that if the Urban League were to sell the property the most it could get for it would be $700,000 plus about $100,000 more to match the Consumer Price Index. John Egan, the attorney for the Library Foundation, which controls the trust funds for the Mason Square Library, believes the document establishes a value for the property.

Ryan heads the foundation and is in favor of exploring eminent domain. Sarno had announced earlier this year that he had negotiated a sale price on Mohammad's Mosque as a site for a new library. An assessment of the property by architect Stephen Jablonski set an estimate of $4 million to buy and renovate the building.

Sarno asserted that since taking office earlier this year, there had been several telephone conversations with former City Councilor Morris Jones in which Jones said that Ryan "had some paperwork from the attorney general that was going to blow [the issue] out of the water."

Jones called Reminder Publications last week to dispute that statement, which he described as "erroneous." He said that he had no knowledge of the agreement and that he has not had any conversations about the document with the mayor or his staff.

Jones said that restoring a full-service branch library to Mason Square was a "moral issue" and that was his focus in his advocacy.

Ryan also reacted to Sarno's remarks and said, "If I had known if there were this kind of documents when I was mayor I would have got the documents and acted on them."

"If the mayor has anything to say to me he should say it face to face," Ryan said. "I still want to work with them [the Sarno Administration]. We've got to get the focus back on the ball."

Comments From Our Readers:

va083197 11/19/2008 9:06:02 PM	The logical and moral solution to this issue is to quite simply take the Urban League by eminent domain and pay for the relocation expenses to move them to another location in Mason Square. The City or more importantly Mayor Sarno should initiate the eminent domain proceedings. We need to turn the library back over to the leaders of the Mason Square Library who have bravely spoken out on behalf of the children. We can no longer allow the children and the community to be held down by the "proclaimed leaders" who benefit from keeping those unfortunate people down. Let them improve themselves with education, tutors, computer access and better grades so they can move onward and upward in society. I believe the City Council has the power to initiate the eminemt domain proceedings and that we do not need another department to start the proceedings. However the City Solicitor and I disagree on this opionion. If action is not taken soon. I will ask the City Council again that we start the eminent domain proceedings. We must first secure a 6th vote. We have 5 right now. Tim Rooke
yourneighbor 11/19/2008 10:02:52 PM	Charlie Ryan needs to be thought of as an ally to Mayor's office, not an adversary, as Mr. Ryan is too smart and too influential to be considered otherwise. Thank you, Mr. Rooke, for your thoughtful plea on behalf of library service. Remember, however, that the library serves adults as well as children and in this neighborhood in particular--where literacy rates as so low--adult library services are especially important.