A recent campaign mailing that describes Urbana Mayor Tod Satterthwaite as having “a long record of support” for the Urbana Free Library has angered some current and former members of the Urbana Library Board and the Urbana City Council, who called the statement inaccurate.

“I don’t think he’s being quite honest with the public,” said Library Board member Chris Scherer, who did not wish to comment further.

“For (years) he fought diligently to keep this project down to half the size it is now, and he lied along the way,” said Alderwoman Esther Patt. To take credit for the project was dishonest, she said.

In 2002, Satterthwaite changed an agreed-upon plan for the library’s expansion without informing members of the Library Board or City Council before they voted on it, Patt said. Patt said she received a call an hour before the City Council’s Jan. 28 meeting from a Library Board member informing her that the building plan had been downsized in the mayor’s revised plan. When Patt inquired about the details of the plan, she found that the square footage for the archives and the adult and children’s department had been reduced. A proposed library store had been reduced to a kiosk, she said.

Patt said the changes were unfair to donors of the project, who contributed $2 million. When they contributed, they were told the expansion would be more extensive than what the altered plan offered, she said.

The issue was discussed again at a meeting involving the council and Library Board members.

The cost of the library was higher than originally expected, leading to a debate between members of the council and Satterthwaite about whether they should continue with the original, more expensive design or scale back the design at a lower price.

According to a Feb. 13, 2002, News-Gazette article, “Mayor Tod Satterthwaite questioned whether the additional space was worth tens of thousands dollars when it would mainly be used for books.”

“There are a variety of other needs in the city than the Urbana Free Library,” the article quoted Satterthwaite as saying.

Satterthwaite said the changes made to the plan were to keep the price closer to an earlier agreement of $6.85 million. He argued the space lost would not affect the room for people, but rather simply decrease the space for books.

He dismissed the complaints about the mailing as politically motivated.

“There is nothing in that flier that is inaccurate,” he said.

“My record for support is a strong one. … For over 10 years I have supported the library,” Satterthwaite said.

Laurel Prussing, one of Satterthwaite’s opponents in the Feb. 22 mayoral primary, has criticized him in campaign literature for wanting to “throw out one book for every new one acquired.”

Prussing said she was told Satterthwaite asked potential candidates for the Library Board if they would support a one-in/one-out policy.

Satterthwaite said Prussing mischaracterized his position. He said he supports a Library Board decision not to allow their collection to exceed the library building’s capacity.

James Quisenberry, who was appointed to the Library Board in 2002, said he was not asked about the policy during his interview with Satterthwaite for the board position.

Current Library Board member Kate McDowell, also a doctoral student in Library Information Sciences, said Satterthwaite did not explicitly ask her if she would support such a policy, but made it clear to her that was the approach he was advocating in 2003.

McDowell said she did not criticize the idea but told Satterthwaite at the time, “I’ve never heard of a policy like that implemented at any library, anywhere.”

Patt said that in 2000, Satterthwaite supported a $4.75 million library plan, as opposed to a $7 million plan that was advocated by Library Board members Margot Jerrard, Bill Golden, Bob McCandless and Michael Stevenson. None of these board members were reappointed by Satterthwaite when their terms expired. Jane Williams, assistant law librarian at the University, had argued against the reduced expansion Satterthwaite proposed in 2002 and was also not reappointed by the mayor.

Williams attributed her dismissal to her disagreement with Satterthwaite.

“Tod (Satterthwaite) does not particularly care for people who don’t agree with him,” she said.

McDowell also expressed concern she would not be reappointed for criticizing Satterthwaite publicly, but said she felt the postcard inaccurately represents how he handled funding for the library project.

“That mailing made a lot of people angry,” she said.

Another former Library Board member who was not reappointed, Bob McCandless, said the characterization of Satterthwaite as a long-time library supporter depends “on what his definition of long is.”

McCandless, though, did not criticize Satterthwaite for not reappointing him.

“He didn’t fire me, he just didn’t reappoint me. And that was his decision,” he said.

Satterthwaite denied that he did not reappoint Library Board members because of disagreements he had with them. He said he scores candidates based on the responses they give in interviews.

He said he considers board members to have two roles: public advocacy and policy-making. Those who were not able to embrace those rules scored lower, he said.

Kermit Harden, the longest-serving member of the library board, disagreed with the criticism of Satterthwaite about the mailing. Harden said Satterthwaite had been “a big help” in expanding the library.

Quisenberry said Satterthwaite had been an enthusiastic supporter of the library project and was instrumental to the long-term life of the expansion.