Pahrump Community Library
Minutes of the June 10, 2024 Meeting
1. Call to Order
Meeting called to order at 10:09 am.
2. Members Roll Call
In Attendance: Secretary Kelly Green, Trustee Dee Mounts, Vice Chair Michael Runion, Chair Shewalter, Senior Deputy District Attorney Michelle Nelson, Assistant Director Shanna Gibbons, Children’s Head Alysha Wogee, Reference Department Head Kimberly Thomas, Commissioner Frank Carbone
Not Present: Trustee Matthew Morris, Director Vanja Anderson
3. Pledge of Allegiance
Trustee Mounts led the Pledge of Allegiance.
4. Trustee/Director/Liaison Comments – This item is limited to announcements or topics/issues proposed for future workshops, committees, and agendas.
Commissioner Carbone says it he is happy to see everybody is here except for one individual and it has been a great morning so far.
Vice Chair Runion says he would like to apologize the public for missing the last meeting; he was attending a funeral.
Chair Shewalter says he and Trustee Morris were given approval to do some auditing of petty cash and training expenditures and found some interesting things. Chair Shewalter has a meeting with Mr. MacArthur, the library’s accountant, where they will be drawing up policies for petty cash and training expenses that will then will be presented to the board.
Chair Shewalter addresses item 6 prior to item 5.
5. GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT: (*Action will NOT be taken no matters considered during this period until specifically included on an agenda as an action item.)
Karen Waldman says she didn’t get a chance to comment at the last meeting on the petty cash. She says she is aghast there is so much money in it. She had businesses for 20 years and her petty cash had next to nothing in it and they never paid expenses out of it. She doesn’t understand how this process worked and how there were thousands of dollars in it. She has never seen a petty cash with that kind of cash in it.
Chair Shewalter thanks her for her comments.
Chair Shewalter asks Kraven if there is anyone on Zoom. Kraven says there is not. Chair Shewalter says to let him know if someone does sign in.
With no further public comment, item 5 is closed.
6. Approval of June 10, 2024 Agenda (Non-action item)
Chair Shewalter moves to strike item number 7 as there are no emergency items.
Chair Shewalter moves to strike item number 14 for the petty cash reimbursement request, as he and Mr. MacArthur will be working on it together.
Without objection, the June 10, 2024 agenda is approved.
7. For Possible Action: Emergency Items
Item 7 is struck as there are no emergency items.
8. For Possible Action: Discussion and deliberation to approve or amend and approve the meeting minutes for May 13, 2024, the May 20, 2024 budget meeting and the May 30, 2024 audit meeting.
Trustee Mounts makes a motion to approve the meeting minutes for May 13, 2024, the May 20, 2024 budget meeting and the May 30, 2024 audit meeting. Secretary Green seconds the motion.
The measure passes 4-0 with one absent.
9. Presentation: Librarian’s Report by Vanja Anderson for discussion of monthly expenditures and revenue for May 2024.
Assistant Director Gibbons reads from Director Anderson’s report beginning on page 28 of the backup.
Chair Shewalter says the packet he printed from what was sent to him has different numbers from what was distributed today. Assistant Director Gibbons says Director Anderson may not have had her report finished yet when it was sent out; she is not sure. Chair Shewalter replaces the packets with the new ones. Assistant Director Gibbons says if there are any questions Director Anderson can answer them when she returns.
Assistant Director Gibbons continues reading from the director’s report beginning on page 29.
Chair Shewalter thanks her.
Secretary Green has no comments.
Trustee Mounts has no comments.
Vice Chair Runion thanks Assistant Director Gibbons for stepping in.
With no further comment, item 9 is closed.
10. For Possible Action: Discussion and deliberation to approve or amend and approve payment vouchers for May 2024 through June 2024.
Assistant Director Gibbons reads from the payment vouchers as found on page 31 of the backup.
Secretary Green has no comments.
Trustee Mounts has no comments.
Vice Chair Runion has no comments.
Chair Shewalter there was a question about things to add to the emergency checklist and as he was looking at this it occurred to him fire extinguishers would be good to check. He asks Assistant Director Gibbons to send that message up the chain.
Chair Shewalter asks what Network Savants was needed for. Assistant Director Gibbons says she didn’t see an invoice so she can’t answer that. He came in and did something on Destiny which is out check-in/check-out program.
Kraven Betancourt says he works at the reference department and from his understanding the program that we use for our cataloging gets updates every now and then and this might have come around the time we got a yearly or bi-yearly update. For the facilitation of that Chris from Network Savants handled all that and Kraven thinks Chris came down a couple of times but we had updates over the past couple of months for security purposes and maintenance to keep it up to date. Chair Shewalter asks if this database is for the collection. Kraven says it is for anything from fines to checkouts and the cataloging service that we use as a library. Chair Shewalter asks where we get the program from. Assistant Director Gibbons says Follett. Kraven says the website is EBSCO and the catalog is Follett and they are separate.
Chair Shewalter says his question is to clarify the amounts for EBSCO and Network Savants and whether EBSCO is doing updates and Network Savants is then having to straighten it out. Kraven says the bill might be higher because we had a yearly or so update. Chair Shewalter thanks Kraven for the information.
Secretary Green has no comments.
Trustee Mounts has no comments.
Vice Chair Runion has comments.
Chair Shewalter has no further comments.
Karen Waldman says she has a question on the Valley Electric internet amount and whether the power is included in that amount as well as internet. Assistant Director Gibbons says she thinks that is for power and that we have a credit for internet right now and that Director Anderson may have transposed those two numbers on the report.
There is no more public comment.
Assistant Director Gibbons moves on to the next payment voucher for petty cash for June as found on page 32.
Chair Shewalter says last month we talked about a full breakdown for petty cash and asks where all the receipts are. Assistant Director Gibbons says they are in the director’s office, but she didn’t get anything for the backup.
There is no board comment.
Assistant Director Gibbons moves on to the next payment voucher for petty cash for May as found on page 33.
Secretary Green asks what was Kraven reimbursed for.
Kraven Betancourt says it was for a lamp and a lightbulb that ran on the more expensive end but was for the plant program we have coming up and the plants are still alive and ready to go. He says the only reason it was for an exact amount is that it was a partial reimbursement and after the lamp is not needed it will stay in the library and can be used for the lizard and the plants. Chair Shewalter asks if we have a lizard? Kraven says we have had her for a couple of months now. Chair Shewalter thanks him and says he is very generous.
Secretary Green has no further comment.
Trustee Mounts has no comment.
Vice Chair Runion has no comments.
Chair Shewalter says he was going to ask about Kraven’s reimbursement but that has been covered.
Karen Waldman says she is curious about credit card charges because there is no documentation of what the charges were for. She has never seen a petty cash where you pay bills out of it and is curious if there is backup for what those amounts were for.
There is no further public comment.
Chair Shewalter makes a motion to amend and approve the payment vouchers for May 2024 and June 2024, omitting petty cash for both May 2024 and June 2024.
Vice Chair Runion seconds the motion.
Secretary Green has no comment.
Trustee Mounts has no comment.
Chair Shewalter says he wants to see the full breakdown and what was provided is inconsistent with the directive from last month. Vice Chair Runion says he agrees that we need a clear breakdown and need to see the bank statement.
The measure passes 4-0 with one absent.
11. Presentation: Librarian’s Report by Vanja Anderson, Shanna Gibbons and Alysha Wogee for discussion on library activity for May 2024. Report activities include patron traffic, books checked out, books returned, fees collected, online story time, STEAM, internet use, website usage and materials added.
Assistant Director Gibbons reads from Director Anderson’s report as found on page 35 of the backup. She reads the monthly stats on page 36.
Children’s Head Alysha Wogee reads her monthly statistics.
Secretary Green has no comments.
Trustee Mounts has no comments.
Vice Chair Runion has no comments.
Chair Shewalter says that in the librarian’s report, where it says “since we no longer have a maintenance person I don't know what general safety/equipment need to be checked aside from those,” that this is where he was mentioning the fire extinguishers might be a good thing to add to that.
With no further comment, item 11 is closed.
12. Continued from the May 13, 2024 Pahrump Library Board of Trustees Meeting:
For Possible Action: Discussion and deliberation to 1) conduct the annual review and evaluate the character, alleged misconduct, and professional competence of the Pahrump Community Library Director, Vanja Anderson, in relation to her duties and responsibilities as a Library Director as set forth in the Pahrump Community Library Personnel Policy Manual or as has been otherwise directed by the Board of Trustees; and 2) take administrative action against the Pahrump Community Library Director, Vanja Anderson, if the Board of Trustees determine such administrative action is warranted including but not limited to termination, a substandard performance appraisal, dismissal, suspension, demotion, reduction in pay, verbal or written reprimand, retention, or no action.
Chair Shewalter makes a motion to continue this item to July 8, 2024 at 10 am.
He says the reason he is asking for the board’s consideration is that last month, with one of the trustees absent, he made a commitment that all trustees should be present for the evaluation because hiring and evaluating the director is one of the most important things the board does, and Trustee Morris is absent. He says that Director Anderson was given proper notice that her evaluation was today and she was not present either, and since this relates exclusively to her, he thinks it is fair that she be here. He says we have done this twice and Director Anderson does get notice, and this will be his last request for continuance on this.
Vice Chair Runion seconds the motion.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Michelle Nelson would like to add to the minutes of this meeting the notice that was given to Director Anderson pursuant to NRS 241.033 and NRS 241.034.
Secretary Green has no comment.
Trustee Mounts asks why Director Anderson is not here.
Assistant Director Shanna Gibbons says she got a text at 6:00 am this morning saying that Vanja Anderson was not feeling well.
Vice Chair Runion has no comment.
Chair Shewalter already made his comments.
There is no public comment.
Chair Shewalter says this is for fairness so that everyone gets a voice in this who is part of this issue.
Chair Shewalter calls the question to continue the discussion and deliberation to 1) conduct the annual review and evaluate the character, alleged misconduct, and professional competence of the Pahrump Community Library Director, Vanja Anderson, in relation to her duties and responsibilities as a Library Director as set forth in the Pahrump Community Library Personnel Policy Manual or as has been otherwise directed by the Board of Trustees; and 2) take administrative action against the Pahrump Community Library Director, Vanja Anderson, if the Board of Trustees determine such administrative action is warranted including but not limited to termination, a substandard performance appraisal, dismissal, suspension, demotion, reduction in pay, verbal or written reprimand, retention, or no action to July 8, 2024 at 10:00 am.
The measure passes 4-0 with one absent.
13. For Possible Action: Discussion and deliberation to approve, amend and approve or reject the Employee Exit Interview presented by the Library Director.
Chair Shewalter gives the trustees and audience time to look over the exit interview as found on page 39 of the backup.
Secretary Green says when she look at other libraries’ exit interviews, a lot of libraries have length of service, because some people have been longer and their opinions would probably carry more weight. She would like to add two questions. 1. “Can the library do anything to encourage you to stay?” and 2. “Are there library policies or procedures you would like to see changed? If so, which ones and what changes do you suggest?”
Trustee Mounts asks why a person exiting their job would fill it out honestly if their name is on it. Secretary Green asks why they would not. Trustee Mounts says she doesn’t know, but possibly fear of retaliation or a bad reference.
Vice Chair Runion says he has filled these out in the past and has written them. Most employees who are leaving on good terms will fill it out honestly. He says retaliation for a reference is not as much of a thing anymore because the questions are standardized, because they are limited in what questions they are legally allowed to ask. He says the additions suggested by Secretary Green are very good.
Chair Shewalter says though you may fear retaliation or a poor reference, giving more than position, dates hired, and pay opens you up to legal action because that is all that by law you are required to give. He says he talked to someone who left the library and he would have liked to see what their comments on a questionnaire like this would have been, and that is why he added this to the agenda.
Secretary Green says we need a form like this because the board needs to know, and a lot of times people won’t come and talk to us, but they will put it on paper.
Chair Shewalter says he agrees that we need an exit interview but he doesn’t want to amend it without the director’s input since she drew it up. He doesn’t want to approve it as is because it could use refinement.
Secretary Green asks if it can be continued for 60 days.
Chair Shewalter says we can let it die and in the interim send emails to the director individually with input.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Michelle Nelson says if you continue it, you have to bring it back exactly the way it is. So if you want changes, the board can reject it, it can die for lack of a motion, and it can be reagendized.
Candace Hunt says she thinks what would be helpful for herself and others in the audience is that there is not a lot of background on whether this is an update to an existing exit interview or who created it or why the form is in the packet today. She says she would never fill it out. She would refuse to fill it out. She doesn’t understand where it came from, why it’s here, what’s the purpose, and who wrote the questions. If someone could explain the background, that would be very helpful.
Chair Shewalter thanks her for her comments.
Anne Underdahl says she agrees with Ms. Hunt that she wouldn't fill it out either. Most of her exit interviews have been a verbal dialogue. She says what you want to know is if this person would be willing to come back under different circumstances. In the Clark County School District, new people are being paid more than existing teachers, so that is a possible reason to leave and consider being rehired. There are also people who will leave a job because of bad management, but will consider coming back under new management, new goals, new vision. She does not think as written that it will benefit the library or person who decides to leave.
Chair Shewalter thanks her for her comments.
Karen Waldman says she had 20 businesses in 20 years in multiple locations. She needed to know if her managers were doing what they said. Answering these questions in her businesses gave an idea if things were going on that shouldn’t be going on. It is important to find out if you are trying to find out if there is a toxic environment or things are going on that you don’t know about. Not everyone will fill it out but you can get some decent information from people. The purpose of doing this is not to attack someone but to make the environment better. If you know why people are leaving and it keeps being for the same reason that’s something you should look at. She likes the exit interview and appreciates it.
Chair Shewalter thanks her for her comments.
Chair Shewalter addresses Candace Hunt’s earlier question about the origin of the exit interview. The origin was an agenda item that instructed the director to create and submit for approval an exit interview.
Item 13 dies for lack of a motion.
14. For Possible Action: Discussion and deliberation to approve, amend and approve or reject the Petty Cash Reimbursement Request form created by Chairman Shewalter.
Item 14 is struck.
15. Trustee/Director/Liaison Comments: This item is limited to announcements or topics/issues proposed for future workshops, committees and agendas.
Commissioner Carbone says sometimes you have to say things seven times.
Secretary Green says her concern is with the Zoom directions as posted on the agenda she printed out. The details were for the county commissioner’s meeting.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Michelle Nelson says the agenda with the Zoom links, the information was sent to the library director for confirmation that the Zoom link, the ID number, the passcode number, and phone numbers were correct. She received a confirmation email from the library director that the information looked “great.” She says she was informed this morning that the Zoom link was up and running despite the technical difficulties. With respect to the front page of the agenda, the Zoom meeting is an accommodation, not a requirement of OML.
Kraven Betancourt says he had the same concern two days ago that it looked different on the website. He is not entirely sure why it said that on the website itself, but what it says on the paper and what we posted out to the public was correct. Whatever is on the website is because there is an update that is going on to the website where we couldn’t make the change. They have certain maintenance periods where we can’t make any changes at all. The way that it looks right now on the website where it looks a bit confusing is the way it is going to look until they are finished with their update. He says he doesn’t know when that will be because he doesn’t take care of the website.
Chair Shewalter asks Secretary Green to clarify what information was different on the agenda. She says it had the information for the county board of commissioners meeting.
Trustee Mounts says Diesel Dude is taking the therapy dog test in Vegas in a couple weeks. Buddy is also taking the test. The program should be up and running within a month. She would like to put it on the agenda for next month for a presentation and an item that will need to be voted on for money for the costs associated with it.
Vice Chair Runion has no comments.
Chair Shewalter says this is one strike against the Zoom. We need to get it sorted or he will make an agenda item to omit Zoom altogether.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Michelle Nelson asks Kraven to speak on the record. We are getting off the agenda so hopefully we can wrap this up.
Kraven Betancourt says for the sake of clarity he does not take care at all of the posting on the website. The way it was posted, we can’t make changes, that update, he had nothing to do with that. The Zoom link was posted. With the Zoom he was afraid of the technical difficulties too. He can’t explain the website. He does not take care of that at all. The meeting was posted the way it was supposed to and if you join it does work.
Chair Shewalter says this was not intended as a critique of Kraven and he does a great job with the tech.
With no further comment, item 15 is closed.
16. Adjournment
Chair Shewalter adjourns the meeting at 11:26 am.