Sacramento Board Rejects Grand Jury Report Findings
The Sacramento (Calif.) Public Library governing board met August 6 to approve a 21-page response to a scathing county grand jury report that charged both the board and library director Anne Marie Gold with mismanagement. The board response essentially rejects most of the panel’s findings and ignores the recommendation that Gold be replaced.
According to the August 7 Sacramento Bee, the board declined to respond to criticism of Gold’s performance because employee appraisals should not be discussed in a public document. “While the grand jury can—and should—speak freely about the Library director’s management style, and critique her management skills, we cannot, and will not, participate in a public discussion of what must for us be a private personnel issue,” the response says.
Gold was the subject of a 70-minute, closed-door evaluation at the start of the meeting, according to the Bee, and she said afterwards that she has no intention of stepping down. “I’m planning on continuing to provide leadership to this library,” she said. “There are issues to be addressed.”
The board will meet again August 28 to review Gold’s response to the grand jury report, which will also be confidential.
Posted on August 8, 2008. Discuss.