Management changes spark library union

Monday, Dec. 1, 1997 | 9:59 a.m.

An open-door policy with the office of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District director slammed shut about four years ago when a new administrator took over, employees say.

The reverberations of that and other changes in management style are still being felt today, and a number of people say the reaction to those changes has been the near-unanimous decision by almost 300 full-time district employees to join the Teamsters Union.

Employees liken the changes in leadership to a military coup -- with Director Darrell Batson merely a figurehead being controlled and manipulated by a dominating board member and a former secretary whose rise in pay and power offended many lower-level professionals.

The fifth-floor administrative offices of the district's headquarters at 833 Las Vegas Blvd. North have taken on the aura of a citadel -- a fortress only a chosen few are allowed to enter, without first passing through a bureaucratic gantlet that did not exist when Charles Hunsberger was in charge.

The intimidated employees asked that their names not be used.

Their stories and observations were generally the same.

They are frustrated over being isolated, over no longer having the ear of the administration, over having no impact on a library system described by some as one of the nation's best.

"There is no staff input on anything," said a disgruntled employee. "It is all being managed by a board whose members are looking out after themselves when they should be looking out for the library district."

Though he was described by many as tough and grating on some issues, Hunsberger also was described as fair, devoted to the library district, willing to hear what everyone had to say and to allow those in charge of libraries and departments to control their own territory.

The employees say today the district is being micromanaged by a board that is supposed to make policy, not interfere with day-to-day operations.

And they say Darrell Batson, who succeeded Hunsberger, is a nice guy but a weak leader who is under the thumb of board member Barbara Robinson.

Robinson was out of town and unavailable for comment.

The employees say the chain of command is Assistant to the Director Karen Bramwell to Robinson and it is up to Robinson to approve or disapprove requests.

Bramwell said she is shocked to learn that people are upset with her and her rise through the ranks to a position of some authority.

"I'm at a loss for words," she said. "A lot of people have been promoted up through the ranks. I don't know why they just target me. Many people have been brought up through the ranks -- Darrell Batson is one of them. ... I work very, very, very hard."

Bramwell said she began working for the district in 1990 after getting a bachelor's degree in corporate finance. In 1994 she got a degree in public administration.

"As my job evolved, more responsibilities were given to me and with them more pay," she said.

The pay scale for her position is $60,000 to $80,000 a year, which means she earns more than many library administrators.

She reportedly began as a secretary to Hunsberger and now wears two hats -- assistant to the director and manager of public relations.

Critics point out that there is now very little public relations, except to keep employees from talking to the media.

Before the change in philosophy in the district, the library routinely won public relations awards on the state and national level.

It's been years since they have won anything, say critics.

They point to an interoffice memo to all employees from Batson, which to them means it was dictated by Robinson.

The memo, dated July 14, 1994, requires employees who want to make public comments to "coordinate this activity with the Public Information Officer."

Bramwell pointed out that it is standard procedure in most large organizations to go through the public relations department.

As for the closed-door policy, she said there are three regional administrators and two assistants to the director who should be able to hear out employees without disturbing Batson, who is responsible for a district that is much larger now than it was when Hunsberger was in charge.

As to who is in charge of the district, Bramwell said there is a 10-member board responsible for the district and a director to keep things running smoothly.

She said she knows nothing about Robinson being the de facto director, bending Batson to her will.

"I don't know if that is true," Bramwell said. "It has not been my experience with her."

Sources say there are times when Robinson explodes at board meetings, calling employees idiots and threatening to fire Batson.

Robinson, say the observers, is more concerned about her political future than the future of the library district -- she has lost two races for the presidency of the local chapter of the NAACP.

Batson declined to talk about Robinson.

"I don't think it's appropriate to comment on board members," he said.

But he did discuss other issues.

"I do things differently than (Hunsberger) did," Batson said.

He said employees may be upset over the change in management style, but things had to change because of the district's rapid growth.

While Hunsberger may have been more aggressive, Batson sees himself as an employee of the board.

"As any board, some leaders take the lead," he said, "but I have to say every member is concerned about the district."

He said when he took over four years ago there was a lot of conflict in the district. The public was concerned about spending.

"Four years later, we're not hearing those same concerns from the public," he said.

He was not overly concerned that employees felt compelled to unionize during his tenure.

"They have concerns and they have sought to address those concerns," Batson said. "We continue to have concerns about meeting the growth of the valley. They are not mutually exclusive. If we don't work together, we won't accomplish anything."

Batson said the district is averaging 7,000 to 8,000 new patrons a month; more than 3 million people have used the libraries this year; more than 5.3 million books have been circulated; more people are using the performing arts facilities at the libraries that have them; a new Internet system is set to go on-line today; more money is being spent on books than ever before; service to the public is better than ever; there are fewer complaints; the staff has grown by 65 percent; and seven new buildings have been constructed.

"There are many opinions on how we have done," Batson said, "but we have done our level best to meet the needs of the community. Things are just done differently."

Former board Chairman Clark Daniel "Danny" Lee said this "different" ways of doing things has caused employees to unionize.

He said there is no longer a board of trustees, but 10 individuals with their own agendas.

"There are a number of board members running around making decisions without board consent," Lee said, focusing on Robinson. "Barbara is an intimidating person. She's a yeller and screamer."

Lee, who became a lobbyist for libraries and reading programs across the state after quitting the board in 1991, said he still is very concerned about the district.

"This library district has the best physical facilities in the United States and it probably has a collection of books that is above average, when it was below average at one time," said Lee, a driving force behind the bond issue that created the funds for the construction of those facilities. "It may be one of the top library districts in the nation."

Lee praised Hunsberger and the board that was in power when Lee quit.

"Charles Hunsberger was the type of leader who picked people he had confidence in, gave them enough rope," Lee said.

Lee said employees worked well for Hunsberger because they knew he had confidence in them.

"His was a looser-rein type of leadership," Lee said.

Lee, too, thinks the current board tries to micromanage.

"Our meetings lasted an hour or an hour and a half," he said. "This board will meet four or five hours."

Hunsberger, whose final year on his contract was bought out by a board that did not like his philosophy about how to run the district, says he isn't surprised by the turn of events.

"You began with an inexperienced board and an inexperienced director," he said by telephone from his Mount Charleston home.

Hunsberger nursed the district from infancy, beginning with a small staff and few buildings and nurturing it to the dawn of a new age.

To accomplish that he developed a children's museum, a public radio station, performing arts centers and a museum intended for traveling art exhibits that is now being used as an art museum.

"You have to look at every possible interest," he said.

Hunsberger said the district still has excellent workers and facilities, but "they just don't understand how to continue the development."

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