Queens Library CEO Thomas Galante will not step down as head of the library system, board members decided last week. File photo
Embattled Queens Library CEO Thomas Galante will not temporarily step down from his post, library board members decided in a vote last week.
Members of the library’s board of trustees voted 9-9 after a five-hour meeting last Thursday night on the motion to remove Galante from his position in light of the controversy surrounding his six-figure salary and turbulent tenure. Because of the tie, Galante will remain in his position – despite calls from elected officials, including Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, to take a leave of absence.
“Thomas W. Galante will continue his work leading the Queens Library,” the library said in a statement after the Thursday night vote.
The decision came just days after Katz penned letters to both Galante and the board, urging for the CEO’s temporary dismissal until a full-fledged audit of the system was complete. Katz called for him to remove himself from the library’s happenings out of fear that his involvement would negatively impact the influx of funding for one of the busiest library systems in the country.
The Queens Library receives a significant chunk of its funding from the city’s budget and elected officials – both of which could be negatively affected if Galante does not step down, Katz said.
“In order for the library to operate effectively, and, more importantly, to continue to receive taxpayer money, I believe it is best for the institution that you take a leave of absence effective immediately, and continuing until various the investigations and audits into the library’s operations are resolved,” she wrote in the letter.
The library did not comment on Katz’s letter to both Galante and the board.
Galante was first under siege when the Daily News reported on his $391,549 salary earned over a period of time during which union custodial jobs were outsourced and the library enacted large construction jobs. The CEO was also being asked to provide greater details into another job he has held as a consultant for the Elmont School District in Nassau County.
Katz also said she was disappointed to see the board fail to temporarily remove Galante from his position, but still commended in a statement those who voted in favor of the proposal for showing “leadership in responsibility exercising their fiduciary duties.”
Other elected officials zeroing in on Galante’s overseeing of the library included City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village), who wrote a letter to the board asking for action.
“As an elected official charged with allocating taxpayer dollars, I must ensure they are appropriated wisely – and I cannot do that while the library’s sitting president faces a federal investigation,” Crowley said. “I know the board agrees that ensuring the library’s continued operation, growth and success, along with its constant funding, must be our highest priority.”
Last week, state Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) and Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry (D-Corona) teamed up to announce legislation they wrote up with Katz’s help that would reform the library system to prevent such mishaps in the future. Katz plugged the legislation in her statement as more reason for Galante to consider stepped aside.
“The Queens Library reform bill that I helped draft and was recently introduced in the state Legislature…will revamp the library’s governance so that it is up to the highest standards,” Katz said. “While the board of trustees is slowly beginning to implement one or two of the reforms in the bill, there is still much work to be done and I remain committed to ensuring this transparency and meaningful internal controls are put in place at the Queens Library so that the public’s trust in it can be restored.”
By Phil Corso
