At the October 22, 2024 Glendale City Council Workshop, Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers stated:
- “I told them that first of all no decisions have been made it's coming up to council we'll discuss it we'll move on but at the same time the intention was never to get rid of a library it was simply to move to a better location.”
- “I guess I don't understand why people are so wound up about this”
- “I don't see a downside to it I I just don't so uh like my family uh I can't please everybody every day all the time”
Councilmember Joyce Clark stated:
- “It's not a historic project, it's not a project to be used to dissent just for the sake of dissent which is what this has turned out to be…”
- “There were over 200 respondents 57 were address based 145 open participation that's over 200 residents that weighed in on this. How much more public comment do you want?”
(In comparison, at the October 22, 2024 Glendale City Council meeting later that evening, during the public comments, it was stated that the online petition & the hard copy petition that was created by Ocotillo District residents had obtained just under 900 unique signatures. That seems like a nice amount of public opinion regarding keeping Velma Teague Library IN Murphy Park)
A comment from the Ocotillo District’s councilmember:
- “I mean as you all know I just got here, this is my first uh foray into a very difficult sentimental and emotional situation and I get it, I get it um however we we have to do what's best for the situation and and if there and and by just saying well we'll just wait we'll just wait well that's that shouldn't be an option…I'm not doing this for political gain because I'm not worried about that I'm doing it for what's right for the city.”
While I’m not quite clear on what he was trying to say, I do know the Ocotillo District councilmember’s consensus vote was to demolish the existing Velma Teague Library rather than update & rehab and to move the library into the empty city owned storefronts on Palmaire which seems to be the opposite of what the majority of his district wants.
Asked for a consensus to continue to move forward with Option 4 (image shown), an affirmative response was given by Councilmembers Clark, Malnar, Hugh, Baldenegro (Ocotillo District, where Velma Teague Library is located) and also the Mayor. The city manager will now continue to move forward on the destruction of a Glendale tradition and do what he had planned all along. At some point in time the final vote on Velma Teague Library should be taken at a future City of Glendale Council meeting.
We shall see.
Remember, it's not over 'till the wrecking ball swings. There are other avenues being discussed and other options to be explored, several suggested by Councilmember Tolmachoff.
You can view the entire October 22, 2024 Glendale City Council Workshop here: