Dear fellow citizens of Gwinnett County,

It has come to my attention that certain factions intend to take over the management of the Gwinnett Public Library System. Activists led by Phyllis Oxendine, a board member, intend to fire the library's director, Jo Ann Pinder, at the next library board meeting on June 12th at the Five Forks branch. They also intend to fire and replace much of the top staff. Mrs. Oxendine has stated that she and two other board members (a majority) will vote together to dismiss Ms. Pinder without cause.

I'm very troubled and concerned by this pending action because it is without merit and because the action being taken is because of personal agendas and hatred of Ms. Pinder. For the past 6 months Phyllis Oxendine has been making personal attacks against Ms. Pinder at every opportunity, in private and public, and most often in board meetings that were closed to the public. Some of these closed meetings may have even been illegal under the laws of the state of Georgia.

Jo Ann Pinder has done an excellent job running the library for the last 15 years. Our library is one of the best in the nation, and I'm certain no one can argue otherwise. It is world class in large part because of the leadership and passion of Joanne Pinder and the excellent staff she has assembled. The people of Gwinnett LOVE their library and they will be extremely upset to learn that it's going to be dismantled and taken backward 15 years, and they will be even more upset to learn the silly reasons why.

Let me tell you why. Phyllis Oxendine has a personal vendetta against Ms. Pinder. She has taken every opportunity possible to bring the smallest issues to the board meetings and press trying to embarrass Ms. Pinder. She has tried gaining support of other board members by telling them that Ms. Pinder and her staff don't respect the other board members. In some cases telling them the staff have been rolling eyes behind the backs of members at board meetings even though Mrs. Oxendine could not have seen this any more than the rest of us as we were all facing the same direction. Phyllis Oxendine used to work for the library and I can only imagine that her hostilities originate from her former employment there. Mrs. Oxendine was appointed by Commissioner Charles Bannister when he took office in Jan. 2005.

Additionally Mrs. Oxendine plans dismantle the library executive staff, first by firing several people, eliminating positions, and then by attrition (of course the best will go first). Some have seen this coming for a while now and are already making plans to take other jobs or retire.

This pending action is being taken against a person that has an impeccable record, both professionally and with her employment with the county. Ms. Pinder's employment record is spotless. All her previous reviews are glowing. This action is being taken without cause. Mrs. Oxendine admits that the county will have to pay Ms. Pinder a full years salary ($127,000 +) because we are not firing with cause, but because this is an at-will contract, and it is her will; Mrs. Oxendine believes this is acceptable.

I'm concerned because I care about this community and I believe this action will unduly hurt our library system and that will have other ramifications within our community. The county could very well lose the SPLOST vote because of this. This isn't just an isolated action that can be done and forgotten. People will remember and be upset when they see their libraries going down hill, when they see customer service at the library suffering, when they have to wait 4 months for a book on hold. They will remember this at election time because that's about the time it will take to bring the library to its knees. The SPLOST is something the county relies on for many things and I'd hate to see not only the library put in jeopardy because of one woman's hatred for Ms. Pinder, but also to see the other great programs the SPLOST funds because of one act of hatred.

One might ask how can one person do so much damage to the library. Well one can't; in our case it takes 3. Somehow Phyllis Oxendine has gained the support of two other board members: Dale Todd and Margaret Tiller. Dale has been a board member for several years and was appointed by Commissioner Bert Nasuti in Jan 2002.

Mrs. Tiller has never even attended a regular board meeting as she was just appointed on May 16th. I can't imagine why she would support this action when she hasn't even had a chance to get involved and learn what's what. Mrs. Tiller was appointed by Kevin Kenerly in May of this year.

I would have no hesitation in dismissing any employee who was not performing to the high standards of the library or if there were evidence of misconduct or another infringement that would normally lead to dismissal. BUT it is WRONG to fire someone without cause. Yes Ms. Pinder works under a contract that says she can be fired at-will. But it is still wrong and these are the wrong reasons for firing anyone with such an impeccable record. And it is wrong to do this to our community.

There may be problems from time to time and I'm more than willing to investigate these problems and even reprimand Ms. Pinder if she is found to have done things wrong. If we were to see (and document) a history of problem, I'm more than willing to look into it and take appropriate action.

Before dismissing any employee, he or she needs to be given due notice of the infringement and given a chance to correct the problem. This is due process and it's afforded to every county employee and is demanded by the federal government in the labor laws as well. We have the duty to operate under the same rules. I'm not willing to dismiss anyone without due process.

Ms. Pinder has done so much for this library and our county and she deserves respect — she's earned respect.

Please help me by talking to your commissioners and the other library board members in support of Jo Ann Pinder. Please come to the next library board meeting and show your support (wear red). The next board meeting is on June 12th at 6:30 pm. It will be held at the Five Forks branch at 2780 five Forks Trickum Road in Lawrenceville.

Sincerely,

Brett Taylor
GCPL Board Member & Gwinnett County Citizen

Contact Information:
You can contact the library board by e-mailing to gcplboard@gwinnettpl.org.

You can phone and e-mail Gwinnett County commissioners as follows:

Charles Bannister – 770-822-7010 e-mail: Charles.Bannister@gwinnettcounty.com
Lorraine Green – 770-822-7001 e-mail: lorraine.Green@gwinnettcounty.com
Bert Nasuti – 770-822-7002 e-mail: Bert.Nasuti@gwinnettcounty.com
Mike Beaudreau – 770-822-7003 e-mail: Mike.Beaudreau@gwinnettcounty.com
Kevin Kenerly – 770-822-7004 e-mail: Kevin.Kenerly@gwinnettcounty.com