At the very end of an hours long Niles Public Library District board meeting Wednesday night, Trustee Danette O’Donovan Matyas announced her intention to resign from her post, shocking her colleagues on the board.
Although the announcement came as a surprise to her fellow trustees, Matyas, who was elected to the board in 2011, said it was a decision she had contemplated for quite some time.
She said her role as a Niles village trustee “keeps me very busy” and she’d recently had to skip out on several library board meetings to fulfill her duties for the village.
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“The taxpayers voted for seven—not six—trustees, so I didn’t think it was fair to the library to miss meetings when they’re counting on you to be there and I couldn’t be there,” Matyas said.
Matyas, who sat on the board during the 2013 library renovation project and previously voted to decrease the agency’s property tax levy, said disappointment in several recent board actions also influenced her decision to resign.
Matyas was one of two board members to vote against an $800,000 property tax levy increase late last year. She’s also critical of the board’s interest in switching over library employee pensions to the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund. The board has not yet decided to make the switch, but if it does, Matyas said the move will cost taxpayers more money.
“It just seems there are changes to the library that are not in the best interest of the taxpayers,” she said.
Matyas’ resignation is effective immediately, she said. Had she chosen not to resign, she would have been up for reelection next year both as a library board member and a village trustee. She said she intends to run again for her seat on the village board.
Library board president Linda Ryan said trustees will discuss how they plan to fill Matyas’ seat until the election next year at a special budget meeting planned for April 28. She said trustees may decide to ask interested individuals to apply for the position or they may choose to appoint someone without going through an application process.
“I personally would like to get someone in as soon as possible because we have the budget, strategic planning and the pension issue,” Ryan said. “We have so many decisions to make and I’d like to have another person on board if we can.”
Ryan said she was shocked by Matyas’ decision to step down.
“Everyone was really, honestly, speechless,” she said. “We were just speechless. Nobody saw it coming that I know of.”
Matyas said she chose to keep her decision under wraps until the announcement Wednesday night because she wanted her departure to be a “low key” event.
“(Matyas) was dedicated to the library,” Ryan said. “I know we had our differences, but I hate to see anybody step down on a board.”
But, she said, Matyas’ departure is “an opportunity for someone who is really an advocate for the library,”
“We’re excited to see where this goes, at least I am,” Ryan said.
Lee V. Gaines is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.