LEFT: Tom Scherlen; RIGHT: Amarillo Downtown Library/Photos by Noah Dawson
The Amarillo Pioneer recently sat down with Amarillo City Councilman Place 3 Tom Scherlen to discuss recent controversies over potential budget cuts to city libraries.
The issue seems to have stemmed from a request made by the council during the first day of the city’s budget workshops as Stanley spoke about looking for service cuts. “There will be some level of reduction in service across the board somewhere. We’re not going to move forward and just say let’s keep all services exactly the same without evaluating any of them and just assume that we don’t have a dollar that we’re not spending well.”
With this desire for service cuts in mind, the Mayor also signaled he didn’t want to make blind cuts. “If we don’t have this cooperative effort, then what we’re forced to do is to evaluate […] what we perceive as non-needed items,” said Stanley. “We’re asking you guys [department heads] to come in and say these are needed items.”
Following that directive, on the third day of the budget workshops, Library Director Amanda Berrera presented the council with three different scenarios for service cuts which included reduced hours of operation and reduced staffing levels.
Speaking with The Amarillo Pioneer, Councilman Tom Scherlen stressed that no decisions had been made by the council. He also noted that the council is not going after the library in particular. Instead, he stated that the city is looking to find “spending efficiencies across the board.”
During Tuesday’s council meeting, Mayor Stanley echoed similar sentiments. He also noted that the city is not looking to close any library locations. “We are not closing any libraries. We are not at a point in our budget where we’re worried about ‘do we have to close a library?’.”
Still, many members of the public have expressed they are weary of any spending cuts. Some who spoke during the recent city council meeting particularly expressed reservations regarding reducing hours. “I’ve got a cousin that works for American Quarter Horse.” said one resident. “She don’t get off until 6. So, how much work could she actually get done [if the Library were to close at 7:00 pm]?”
Amarillo City Council is scheduled to reconvene at City Hall on August 9th and 10th to continue budget workshops. Unlike the first round of budget workshops, which were held in the Civic Center Heritage Room, the second round of workshops will be livestreamed.