Oakland, Piedmont Spar Over Fee for Library Service

The neighboring cities of Piedmont and Oakland have a public disagreement going over the cost of library services, but an opportunity for compromise remains, said Piedmont City Administrator Geoff Grote Monday.

“This has strained the relationship,” Grote acknowledged, “and it comes at the same time Oakland has indicated that they are looking at the potential for litigation for Blair Park” — if Piedmont carries through with plans for a canyonside athletic field along Moraga Avenue in a Piedmont neighborhood close to the Oakland city line.

As for the library fee issue, “It’s going to cost more money than the people who want to spend nothing say and less money than Oakland wants,” said Grote. “That is the nature of a compromise.” He was referring to some residents who said during city budget discussions last summer that Piedmont could pay no fee to Oakland for library use and the libraries would still be open to anyone who obtains a library card, which is available to Piedmont residents.

Piedmont has no municipal library. Many residents use Oakland library branches, particularly the one on Piedmont Avenue, and the City of Piedmont has paid a fee to the City of Oakland for most of the last 30 years.

Piedmont resident Karin Fetherston wrote an open letter to Grote Sunday saying, “Stop negotiating and pay the fee. The article in today’s Chronicle made Piedmont and you, as our spokesperson, seem unbelievably arrogant. I have appreciated the fine service I receive from the Oakland Public Library and am grateful that we Piedmont residents have been able to share this community asset in exchange for what I thought was our proportionate payment.”

A 10-year contract for library contributions lapsed in 2008. It was at the level of $350,000 a year. Piedmont in the spring of 2009 offered a five-year contract climbing 5 percent each year, which Grote said was a fair offer.

“I don’t think that’s arrogant and I don’t think that’s unreasonable,” the city administrator said. “We offered a greater increase of rate for the library contract than we offered our own employees.”

Oakland City Councilmember Jane Brunner said she was surprised when she learned Piedmont had not contributed for a couple years.

Given Oakland’s fiscal dilemma, with a deficit estimated between $42 million and $56 million, Brunner said: “My position is if Piedmont wants to use the library, they should pay for it.” Part of that is a bump in rent for the Piedmont Avenue library branch, often used by Piedmonters, from $1 when the building was owned by Citibank to $50,000 now with a private owner, Brunner said.

Grote said he offered to have a meeting in the spring of 2009 with no response from Oakland. Finally, he said, there was a meeting in April 2010, at which Oakland officials sought a larger dollar amount so that Piedmont residents were spending per capita what Oakland residents were for library services.

Grote said he countered that the Oakland contribution included monies from a parcel tax and from the general fund, while Piedmont had no parcel tax earmarked for library services and taps its general fund for all of a library fee. No agreement was reached.

Oakland officials found out that Piedmont had $395,000 in its budget for the library fee, which was nothing more than an estimate reflecting fiscal conservatism, Grote said.

Last summer Oakland unilaterally started sending monthly invoices for the 2009-10 fiscal year based on the annual $395,000 figure, said Grote, who added, “Without an agreement, I couldn’t pay it.”

As to the breakdown in negotiations, Brunner said, “I’ll investigate it. Sure, I’d be happy to set up a meeting to resolve it.”

She sighed and said, “We should be helpful and get along.”

Emeryville, another neighboring city that relies on Oakland libraries, recently concluded a contract at a per capita figure that is less than half the numbers being discussed for Piedmont, Grote said he had heard second-hand. He said he’d like to have a meeting with Oakland officials to ask questions about whether that per capita comparison is equitable.

Brunner had a possible explanation — she said Oakland residents receive some services from Emeryville, including use of a recreation center.

There was a similar dispute in the 1980s resulting in a period when Piedmont paid no fee, Grote said, and Piedmont residents using Oakland libraries were required to pay an individual fee.