This link will take you to the start of Trustee Tara Michener's public comment. https://youtu.be/4fMz7OuAuKw?t=2877  
 

Following is a transcript of her comment:

My public comment, I’m sharing a letter that I wrote to the president of our board yesterday.  
 
Dear President Crawford, 
In June of 2021 our DEI Committee had our first meeting with the newest chair, Sreenivas Cherukuri. This meeting set the tone for interruptions, dismissive and offensive remarks, and also a refusal to commit to and admit what diversity, equity and inclusion meant to the person leading the team. Unfortunately, this inexcusable behavior and conduct that I have been privy to since June has not only been noted by me but also in writing and verbally mentioned by staff and community members to you and fellow trustees as well as the mayor of our city.  
 
Yesterday in our DEI meeting, there was an unfortunate surge in these behaviors when the chair yelled at me when I began to engage in the conversation surrounding his multiple emails and complaint letters to our board and the mayor about things that they have found offensive. The chair opened up the portion of the meeting towards the end of our scheduled time for discussion noting a patron that he did not agree with in her estimation of his behavior and he said disparaging remarks about her character. He even went on to say that he himself has said nothing offensive but that patron absolutely did say something offensive. 
 
He attempted to close the matter and at that point I raised my hand and mentioned calmly and mentioned that there still was an issue because I was offended by his remarks on “cotton-picking.” But before I could finish my statement, he interrupted and told me that I was not offended and that, actually, the only people that pick cotton are in India and North Africa.  
 
I asked him if I could finish what I was trying to say before he responded as  I had not finished a sentence and would like to be able to make my point. He said Facebook account. I told him not to yell at me and that maybe he did not realize he was yelling. He told me that he knew that he was yelling and that he has agency over his own voice. The director stepped out of the room early in this exchange citing that she felt uncomfortable.  
 
A trustee tried to step in and explain how his behavior to me was not considerate and she carefully navigated this mentioning that she just wants him to understand his offense. The HR person mentioned that meetings happen like this often under his leadership and that they have been unproductive. This is the same employee that has complained about his behavior in prior meetings and that wrote the entire board a letter questioning his role and fit as DEI Chair. This was the same day that another staff member said that they could not work with him and they resigned from our DEI committee. In the HR person's letter on June 24th, we received a formal complaint as a board that this trustee continues to, and I quote, this is not my words, "reduce the credibility of not only the board but the committee that was created to address DEI issues, build trust and develop concrete actions to address the disparity issues."  The staff person noted in her letter that, and I quote, "it is my belief that he has no vested interest in serving the community of color. It is my belief that he is mismatched for this committee and does it a disservice." 
 
I agreed with her estimation and brought it up in public library board meetings and I shared that we should listen to that concern, but I was unaware of any action that had been taken to address these written concerns and complaints. This has now developed into a pattern including those behaviors of offense and unprofessionalism but on top of that yelling that is non-apologetic. The trustee told me that I needed to “put on my big boy pants" when I asked him several times to stop screaming at me. He also said that he has invited me over to his house for beer and to talk over these issues and I have not taken him up on this. I told him that it is highly inappropriate to do this, that the time to discuss trustee matters is in meetings. As a public official, I have been entrusted to use my voice and under this leadership of Trustee Cherukuri I have been stifled, dismissed and demeaned. 
 
 This trustee has further endorsed an environment of hostility that I have made reference to as a continued practice on this board. Robust debate is to be expected in meetings, but not screaming or personal attacks that are unethical and unfocused. I hope that this can be taken into account as a formal complaint and that you, as President, can resolve these issues from being consistent impediments, as DEI is very important and should not be stifled.  
 
Thank you for your swift action as I hope that we as a board can model the statement that you wrote that the Novi Public Library is “committed to ensuring that every Novi community member, library guest, board of trustee member, library staff and volunteer is treated with dignity and respect.” Thank you.