W Tali Hairston: OK, it is now 11:01 AM. We have a quorum and I'd like to call
W Tali Hairston: this regular meeting of the Seattle Public Library Board of Trustees to order.
Yazmin Mehdi: This is Yasmin.
W Tali Hairston: All in favor, aye.
Yazmin Mehdi: I.
Faith Pettis: No.
Bendixen, Carmen: Hi.
Bendixen, Carmen: Hey.
W Tali Hairston: And I.
W Tali Hairston: I think I heard everybody say I got wonky. Any nays? OK, agenda is approved.
W Tali Hairston: As noted at the top of the agenda, the library board is accepting public
W Tali Hairston: comment by e-mail.
W Tali Hairston: In person at the Central Library and in this remote meeting,
W Tali Hairston: is there any public comment?
There is no public comment by any of the three methods this month.
W Tali Hairston: Thank you, Amy. So we have our consents agenda with
W Tali Hairston: minutes from our November meeting and October financial report.
W Tali Hairston: If there are no changes, may I hear a motion to approve the
W Tali Hairston: consent agenda as published?
Yazmin Mehdi: So moved.
Faith Pettis: This is and this is faith. I'll second.
W Tali Hairston: OK, so moved by Yasmin and second by Faith.
Yazmin Mehdi: I.
W Tali Hairston: All in favor aye opposed.
Bendixen, Carmen: Bye.
Faith Pettis: Right.
W Tali Hairston: Abstentions passed. OK, let's move to our Chief Librarian report.
Tom Fay: Well, I'll make this one easy. This time of year there usually isn't one
Tom Fay: because we're so close together from the last meeting. So in this particular case,
Tom Fay: no report for the month.
W Tali Hairston: Awesome. That that does make it simple. Do we have any questions for Tom?
Faith Pettis: But.
Yazmin Mehdi: I think I'll just say that we all understand that in fact you've actually
Yazmin Mehdi: done a lot of things in the last few weeks, so.
Tom Fay: There. It's been a busy month for sure.
Yazmin Mehdi: I think it's fine.
W Tali Hairston: It has been a busy month, but we do have some important new
W Tali Hairston: business to accomplish. No old business, but new business.
W Tali Hairston: We have our 2026 library operations plan and we do need to vote on that operations
W Tali Hairston: plan.
Tom Fay: Great. We'll invite Rob Gannon and Nick Merkner
Tom Fay: to the table and we'll have Rob kick us off.
Rob Gannon: Good morning, members of the board and Tom. If I could,
Rob Gannon: I just want to be ready to have Jessica Smith also potentially promoted if
Rob Gannon: necessary.
Rob Gannon: OK.
Rob Gannon: So I'll begin here again. Members of the board, good morning.
Rob Gannon: I'm Rob Gannon, the Director of Administrative Services,
Rob Gannon: and I'm here to present the final version of the 2026 Library Operations Plan.
Rob Gannon: This has been discussed in draft form in our in your two prior meetings and this
Rob Gannon: is bringing forward.
Rob Gannon: The final version of that document for your review and final consideration and
Rob Gannon: we hope your approval. As you are all well aware,
Rob Gannon: the Library Board annually adopts an operations plan and this gives guidance
Rob Gannon: to our organization from a budgetary and operational perspective for the year
Rob Gannon: ahead.
Rob Gannon: It includes our plan spending and it is inclusive of all of our fund sources.
Rob Gannon: In effect, this plan represents the Library Board's
Rob Gannon: adopted budget once approved and functions as the guiding financial
Rob Gannon: document for our organization for 2026.
Rob Gannon: To make clear on earlier in November, on the 21st of November,
Rob Gannon: the City Council approved the 2026 budget for the city and that included $102.
Rob Gannon: 5 million in operating and $2. 6 million in capital budget
Rob Gannon: appropriations.
Rob Gannon: To the library council appropriations included 35.
Rob Gannon: 7 million in operating support and 2 million in capital funding provided by
Rob Gannon: the 2019 library levy grants approved by the Seattle Public Library.
Rob Gannon: Foundation Board of Directors and other library gifts represented a total of 8.
Rob Gannon: 4 million. All told, the 2026 library budget across all
Rob Gannon: funding sources, including private gifts and grant
Rob Gannon: supports, totals $113.5 million.
Rob Gannon: The operations plan is before you and we have discussed it in some detail and I
Rob Gannon: will walk through and make just a couple of highlighting points,
Rob Gannon: but then I'm happy to entertain any of the questions that members of the board
Rob Gannon: may have.
Rob Gannon: If I could refer please to page one of the operations plan.
W Tali Hairston: OK.
Rob Gannon: This is again the overview of what the operations plan comprises in terms of
Rob Gannon: revenue and resources available to the library for spending.
Rob Gannon: It also includes the information about the reductions that the library is taking
Rob Gannon: this year as a result of general fund shortage from the city.
Rob Gannon: I want to point out one particular item under bulleted .
Rob Gannon: 2 under operation budget changes.
Rob Gannon: So as we've discussed in prior meetings and prior briefings,
Rob Gannon: the library is able to balance its budget this year by redeploying capital dollars
Rob Gannon: to its operating fund in order to keep its balance,
Rob Gannon: our budget balanced and avoid making any staffing or service reduction.
Rob Gannon: Across the library, this is a one-time funding swap and it
Rob Gannon: does create a deficit as we go into the 2728 budget planning process.
Rob Gannon: So I just want to make clear that this balanced budget for this year is a very
Rob Gannon: good thing.
Rob Gannon: It keeps the library whole in most every respect,
Rob Gannon: but we are pushing that issue out in front of us and we'll have to consider
Rob Gannon: that as we prepare the next biennial budget.
Rob Gannon: A couple of other points that I just want to highlight, not in detail,
Rob Gannon: but in general. The operations plan, based on feedback that we received from
Rob Gannon: the Board in your last meeting, now includes more direct references to
Rob Gannon: strategic planning.
Rob Gannon: Plan items. You can see those inserted in the in
Rob Gannon: Section 5 priority areas and key changes within library operations,
Rob Gannon: a number of new entries describing work that we will undertake in the coming year.
Rob Gannon: That is directly related to the strategic plan and how some of the resources in
Rob Gannon: those various categories are being deployed.
Rob Gannon: There's one other minor yes.
Yazmin Mehdi: Rob, Rob, I you said Section 5, but I think you mean Section 4.
Faith Pettis: Of course.
Rob Gannon: I apologize. You are correct. I mean Section 4, which begins on page 4,
Rob Gannon: the operations plan priority areas and key changes.
Yazmin Mehdi: This.
Rob Gannon: I apologize for that that error, yes.
Rob Gannon: If I could, I now will direct you to Section 5 of the
Rob Gannon: operations plan overview. On page 8 you'll see a chart there.
Rob Gannon: This is a standard chart. This is just under the the dollar figure
Rob Gannon: that represents how spending is broken out.
Rob Gannon: In the ultimate reconciliation of this budget document,
Rob Gannon: there was a very modest change to that bottom line figure.
Rob Gannon: We identified 1 omitted element in our budget and this is now incorporated.
Rob Gannon: So if you see you.
Rob Gannon: If you were to compare the 113 uh.
Rob Gannon: And $495 million figure there. That is a very minor delta from what you
Rob Gannon: saw in the prior operations plan draft. So just calling that out,
Rob Gannon: this was a technical adjustment and overcoming one minor error.
Yazmin Mehdi: Thank you.
Rob Gannon: There's nothing else going on there, but that is the final incorrect figure.
Rob Gannon: And then the last thing, two things that I'll point out in Section
Rob Gannon: B under, excuse me, in Section 6 under item B,
Rob Gannon: the library levy, the board had a question in your last
Rob Gannon: meeting about the.
Rob Gannon: The spike in spending in 2021 as depicted in Figure 4.
Rob Gannon: So we've added a footnote there to explain why 2021 appears to be out of the
Rob Gannon: norm compared to other years.
Rob Gannon: Yeah.
Rob Gannon: The other thing I'll point out, and then I'll conclude my remarks,
Rob Gannon: is that the foundation funding amount is now fully represented in the operations
Rob Gannon: plan on page 12 under the Seattle Public Library Foundation area.
Rob Gannon: So this is a figure consistent with what we referred to in the last meeting.
Rob Gannon: It's $5. 6 million because the Library Foundation
Rob Gannon: Board had not taken final action on that. We weren't able to include those figures
Rob Gannon: in the prior draft, but they are now here for you.
Rob Gannon: So with that, I will conclude my sort of summary
Rob Gannon: overview and comments, but I'm happy to answer any questions
Rob Gannon: that you may have and I'll pause here.
W Tali Hairston: Rob, can I just ask a quick question about the
Tom Fay: And.
W Tali Hairston: Figure 2, how $1.00 is spent, the 76% personnel cost year over year,
W Tali Hairston: is that an increase percentage wise?
W Tali Hairston: OK.
Rob Gannon: And so the IT is a relative adjustment. It is not,
Rob Gannon: does not represent an increase in actual headcount.
W Tali Hairston: Um.
Rob Gannon: It is largely due to the smaller figure in our CIP maintenance.
W Tali Hairston: Right.
Rob Gannon: Program this year.
W Tali Hairston: Oh, OK. Got it. Thank you, Rob. Any other questions for Rob?
Yazmin Mehdi: Yes, I have questions for Rob. I I did want to say overall, Rob,
Yazmin Mehdi: I really appreciate the incorporation of the strategic planning elements.
Yazmin Mehdi: It really provided context that I thought had been missing.
Yazmin Mehdi: So I really appreciate that you guys put that time in and put the that work in.
Yazmin Mehdi: I also wanted to commend you because the way that you talked about the strategic
Yazmin Mehdi: planning elements I think is particularly user friendly to.
Yazmin Mehdi: For anyone from the public who might look at this document,
Yazmin Mehdi: and I would say that the strategic plan attachment is slightly less user-friendly
Yazmin Mehdi: and I know Jessica's here.
Yazmin Mehdi: I feel like that the the elements of the strategic plan attachment are a little
Yazmin Mehdi: bit insider baseball for people, so I just want to encourage us to try to
Yazmin Mehdi: be clearer for the public's sake.
Yazmin Mehdi: About what the the actual end user impact for some of the work that we're doing.
Yazmin Mehdi: And one thing that for example I would note is that this $5 million swap is 8%
Yazmin Mehdi: of our public service.
Yazmin Mehdi: Dollars, which is not small, but not big, but it's also not small.
Yazmin Mehdi: It has an impact and it's a hole that we have to fill for the next biennium.
Yazmin Mehdi: So that's just one thing I just, I wanted to point out my question I have.
Yazmin Mehdi: A few questions, but let me just start with one and let my
Yazmin Mehdi: colleagues raise their questions. The amount we get from REIT,
Yazmin Mehdi: I presume that the real estate excise tax dollars are decided by the city and we
Yazmin Mehdi: it's not like it's an automatic pass through, but can you?
Yazmin Mehdi: You just confirm.
Rob Gannon: So that is largely correct and it is also a decreasing amount on an annual basis.
Rob Gannon: So we have seen fewer and fewer REIT dollars flowing towards the library in
Rob Gannon: successive years.
Rob Gannon: But yes, that is a city decision to allocate REIT
Rob Gannon: dollars to specific projects that are proposed within the library.
Yazmin Mehdi: OK. Thank you.
Rob Gannon: If there are any other questions, I'm happy to answer them.
Rob Gannon: I also want to just offer an acknowledgment of Yasmine's comments
Rob Gannon: about the strategic plan and offer one sort of insightful bit here, if I could,
Rob Gannon: before taking the next question. Is that all right, Tali?
W Tali Hairston: Please, Rob, go ahead.
Rob Gannon: Yeah. So I'll just acknowledge that the
Rob Gannon: injection of additional information into the operations plan about the strategic
Rob Gannon: plan that we worked very hard to figure out how to bring that forward.
Rob Gannon: And Jessica and Nick contributed significantly in figuring that out.
Rob Gannon: Conversely, we tried also to produce the first
Rob Gannon: strategic plans outcome report with enough detail and enough information that
Rob Gannon: we could demonstrate our forward progress on the strategic plan and also indicate
Rob Gannon: the complexity that is embedded there. So Jessica.
Rob Gannon: Erica and Nick and many in the organization did a lot of work on that
Rob Gannon: document as well. And that is a document that is the first
Rob Gannon: impression and we expect to continue making many modifications over that over
Rob Gannon: the coming year as we learn more about how the strategic plan is evolving and
Rob Gannon: how we're able to effectively implement it, so.
Rob Gannon: We very much take your comments to heart. We don't think this is a singular
Rob Gannon: engagement in looking in that report and we will take all of your feedback over
Rob Gannon: the course of the coming year and finding ways to make our accountability and our
Rob Gannon: demonstration of our work related to the strategic plan more evident and visible.
Rob Gannon: But also accessible to our many audiences, including our patron and community here
Rob Gannon: in Seattle.
Yazmin Mehdi: Thanks, Rob. I appreciate that.
Rob Gannon: Jessica and Nick did really outstanding work in pulling that report and this
Rob Gannon: operations plan together. And I just, I guess let me also just take this moment
Rob Gannon: to acknowledge all of their hard work, so.
Yazmin Mehdi: Sounds good.
W Tali Hairston: Any other questions for Rob?
Faith Pettis: I just have a comment, if I might, on Section 8 of the plan,
Faith Pettis: the risk section, which lawyers gravitate towards looking
Faith Pettis: at risk all the time, and I just thought it was a really good
Faith Pettis: summary of the risks facing the library.
Faith Pettis: That is very concise, very targeted, very clear and also sobering.
Faith Pettis: So I appreciate that being included in the operations plan and called out for
Faith Pettis: all of us to remember.
W Tali Hairston: Any other?
Yazmin Mehdi: If no one else has questions, can I just make a few other comments?
W Tali Hairston: This.
W Tali Hairston: Go for it.
Yazmin Mehdi: OK, there's a phrase, Rob, that you guys put into the Section 3
Yazmin Mehdi: strategic plan piece that I really wanted to highlight. I thought it was.
Yazmin Mehdi: It was well, it was well stated, which is that the library,
Yazmin Mehdi: the strategic plan is interested in orienting the library to navigate
Yazmin Mehdi: obstacles rather than succumb to them. And that is like that's great phraseology.
Yazmin Mehdi: I think it's.
Yazmin Mehdi: It properly puts into perspective the fact that we actually have to navigate
Yazmin Mehdi: obstacles, that we there are things that we just
Yazmin Mehdi: don't have control over and we have to figure out how to.
Yazmin Mehdi: Make do, but we're not going to succumb to them.
Yazmin Mehdi: So I really, I I love that phrasing and appreciate
Yazmin Mehdi: that. That's how you all are thinking about it.
Yazmin Mehdi: I had a question under ours and access Section 4A.
Yazmin Mehdi: Where we say the last sentence of that first paragraph,
Yazmin Mehdi: we say there will be hours reductions in up to three locations for major HVAC
Yazmin Mehdi: upgrades. And can I assume that's temporary hours
Yazmin Mehdi: reductions?
Rob Gannon: Yes, please do make that assumption and that
Rob Gannon: would be that will be verified. So to be very clear,
Rob Gannon: there are up to three HVAC projects in the coming year that will require
Rob Gannon: temporary closures.
Rob Gannon: And that amounts to fewer hours being offered, fewer open hours being offered.
Rob Gannon: And so we wanted to be clear in acknowledging that that while we're
Rob Gannon: holding the base hours very consistent, there will be a minor reduction as we
Rob Gannon: close branches temporarily to implement those HVAC projects.
Rob Gannon: They will then come back online.
Rob Gannon: And be in support of the full hours complement.
Rob Gannon: And then there's the offset of course because university is currently closed
Rob Gannon: and we will be bringing that branch back online in Q3 or Q4 at the latest.
Rob Gannon: And so we'll see that increase in hours. So we were just attempting to communicate.
Rob Gannon: A nuance of what it means to keep hours steady and consistent,
Rob Gannon: even with some minor fluctuations due to capital projects.
Yazmin Mehdi: Yeah, that makes perfect sense. I just wanted to confirm it's temporary.
Yazmin Mehdi: It's not like we're reducing hours overall,
Yazmin Mehdi: which is I think worth underscoring because again,
Yazmin Mehdi: the library's doing an incredible effort, undertaking an incredible effort to keep
Yazmin Mehdi: hours open hours.
Yazmin Mehdi: As part of our commitment to the levy, to what we promised in the levy.
Yazmin Mehdi: So it's just it's worth noting that you guys are doing an amazing job on that.
Yazmin Mehdi: The other quick thing under the programming standards.
Yazmin Mehdi: Here's an example of where I feel like our attachment on the strategic plan
Yazmin Mehdi: isn't as effective at explaining what something that seems like it's really
Yazmin Mehdi: only insider focused actually has a benefit to the public.
Yazmin Mehdi: So it's this idea of setting programming standards.
Yazmin Mehdi: And coordinating displays. Um And I just wanted to under score,
Yazmin Mehdi: I think in the OPS plan you did a great job of saying what this does,
Yazmin Mehdi: the benefit of spending time on something like programming standards is that it
Yazmin Mehdi: helps library staff proactively plan and develop more accessible and inclusive.
Yazmin Mehdi: Programs and that I think is really useful to someone who's a layperson
Yazmin Mehdi: reading this. And maybe I'm too hopeful that lay people
Yazmin Mehdi: will read this, but I appreciate the effort you guys put
Yazmin Mehdi: into explaining the value of that.
Yazmin Mehdi: Same with the security audit and how the what we're trying to do is integrate
Yazmin Mehdi: security services with social services and given that social services is has
Yazmin Mehdi: become de facto a role of the library.
Yazmin Mehdi: It's worth explaining that. So I really these are all just examples
Yazmin Mehdi: of things that I think you have done really well in this OPS plan.
Yazmin Mehdi: I would have still like to see a little bit more on the.
Yazmin Mehdi: The addition of the Portuguese titles that it's meeting a need of a immigrant
Yazmin Mehdi: community. But you know, we've talked about it now in two board
Yazmin Mehdi: meetings, so I think it's probably sufficient.
Yazmin Mehdi: The other thing that I saw here that I didn't know.
Yazmin Mehdi: Was part of university's work is the addition of solar panels.
Yazmin Mehdi: So maybe it was just me, I missed it, but I appreciate that that's in this plan
Yazmin Mehdi: too. And we talked about REIT. I'm trying not to like spend too much
Yazmin Mehdi: time on this.
Yazmin Mehdi: Yeah, I again under the levy operating fund
Yazmin Mehdi: piece where you under score that the library's continuing to fulfill the levy
Yazmin Mehdi: commitments is really.
Yazmin Mehdi: Important I think for the public to know and lastly because as Tali noted the part
Yazmin Mehdi: of the dollar that is personnel has increased from the previous year again
Yazmin Mehdi: because of this one time swap.
Yazmin Mehdi: But also the note that we have to hold positions open vacant longer because of
Yazmin Mehdi: these continuous cuts in general fund is worth noting again.
Yazmin Mehdi: So that's it. Thank you for listening.
W Tali Hairston: Thank you, Yasin. Rob, I don't know if you want to respond to
W Tali Hairston: any of that. If you want to, that's great. Let me add just one component to to those
W Tali Hairston: comments to just a question with the focus being to strengthen organizational
W Tali Hairston: resiliency.
W Tali Hairston: What was the most difficult part in preparing this operations plan around
W Tali Hairston: that focus? What do you think? What do you feel? Or Tom,
W Tali Hairston: you may want to answer that as well, but what was the most difficult part of
W Tali Hairston: this for you all?
Rob Gannon: So I'm gonna defer to Tom on this question because I want to make sure that
Rob Gannon: we are just acknowledging that the library is.
Rob Gannon: Is working hard to make all sorts of difficult decisions and improve our
Rob Gannon: overall resiliency. So I would simply answer all of it was
Rob Gannon: hard, but I'll let Tom give a more appropriate
W Tali Hairston: OK.
Tom Fay: Oh wow, it's that's usually a a good response
Rob Gannon: answer.
Tom Fay: when it comes to budgets and years in which you're taking reductions,
Tom Fay: I think trying to balance.
Tom Fay: What we know we have to keep as a vacancy savings from a budget perspective,
Tom Fay: but also maintain our staffing levels at a way that supports our our patrons and
Tom Fay: also make sure that our staff have enough support as they're doing their work.
Tom Fay: Is another piece of it that takes a lot of time and effort to make sure that
Tom Fay: we're not cutting somewhere that can impact that.
Tom Fay: I think we've done a really good job of that.
Tom Fay: It's always a stretch as you're having these large cuts. I think it's, you know,
Tom Fay: important to note that over 2 years, it's a little over $12 million. It's.
Tom Fay: A big impact. The other one I think toughest decision,
Tom Fay: I think it was a tough decision for the board as I had those discussions with you
Tom Fay: was that moving of that 5 million from the levy to make sure that we were not
Tom Fay: going to just or impact hours of operation for the library and for patrons.
Tom Fay: That was another tough decision, but one I think that will serve our
Tom Fay: patrons well as we move through 2026 and into this next levy period.
Tom Fay: And Yasmin, just a quick piece on the Portuguese.
W Tali Hairston: Yeah.
Tom Fay: I I think if I heard correctly and I just want to make sure I heard correctly that
Tom Fay: there was lack of clarity on what the Portuguese collection supported or who
Tom Fay: and that would be our.
Tom Fay: Most recent Angolan immigrants and refugees that have come in in the last
Tom Fay: probably year or two. So if we need to make that a little more
Tom Fay: clear in a a secondary report somewhere down the line.
Tom Fay: We can do that as well.
Yazmin Mehdi: Yeah, I appreciated getting the answer to that
Yazmin Mehdi: question about why we're adding Portuguese titles.
Yazmin Mehdi: And I just think we we could have explained that a little bit more in the
Yazmin Mehdi: OPS plan, but you know, as long as we we can talk about it when
Yazmin Mehdi: it comes up, it's.
Yazmin Mehdi: I think that's fine.
Tom Fay: Sure. Thank you.
Ron Chew: Can I ask a question both for Rob as well as Tom?
Ron Chew: And maybe this is because I just returned fairly recently from my AARP strategic
Ron Chew: planning for both long term as well as next year and then another organization.
Ron Chew: A big topic that's emerged is A I and its role in terms of, you know,
Ron Chew: obviously cost, operations, staffing and so forth.
Ron Chew: It's moving at fairly fast rate trajectory.
Ron Chew: And I'm just wondering, I noticed as far as our, you know,
Ron Chew: strategic plan, there isn't really any discussion of that.
Ron Chew: Has there been any thought about, I mean, you can't in some ways it's really hard
Ron Chew: to plan for, but.
Ron Chew: Are we, are we looking at that? Will it have some implications in terms
W Tali Hairston: OK.
Ron Chew: of even stuff like staffing some of the risks as it relates to this coming year?
Tom Fay: So we we are looking at that. We've been working on the policy elements
Tom Fay: around AI, which is a a big body of work to complete,
Tom Fay: also the purchasing or acquisition products that might have AI technologies.
Tom Fay: When we look at, you know, will it have impacts on staff, you know,
Tom Fay: as I've said many times, we don't have enough folks to do all the
Tom Fay: work that we want to do. But what we would hope that if we do at
Tom Fay: some point deploy some type of integrated a I technologies.
Tom Fay: That it actually frees staff up to do some of the other work that we want.
Tom Fay: That's more person to person related. The other piece that we're looking at is,
Tom Fay: and one that probably concerns me the most in these initial or early years of
Tom Fay: kind of this propagation of AI tools is that.
Tom Fay: We really are starting to work with our patrons and our public.
Tom Fay: And what are these tools? How best to prompt these tools?
Tom Fay: How to understand what resource or source these tools are using to respond or
Tom Fay: provide the answers to patrons?
Tom Fay: That's where I see the critical need as we look at our digital literacy efforts
Tom Fay: over the next couple of years, because that's where people are having
Tom Fay: issues or getting some very interesting responses or answers and in a world of
Tom Fay: misinformation and.
Tom Fay: Data sets that are using the entire or a good portion of the of the web and the
Tom Fay: Internet, you get a lot of junk and so trying to
Tom Fay: have our teams start putting together programs or classes to really talk about
Tom Fay: this is key.
Tom Fay: When we also look at it from the standpoint,
Tom Fay: from our sustainability and and environment standpoint,
Tom Fay: we also know A I uses a ton of actual natural resources in these centres to
Tom Fay: produce all that we get. So we also kind of look at that say you
Tom Fay: know how would we want to deploy this?
Yazmin Mehdi: You.
Tom Fay: What is the sustainability or environmental concerns with this?
Tom Fay: So there's a lot going on. Yes, it's a lot of it's not showing up
Tom Fay: necessarily in exact projects or programs in the strategic plan yet,
Tom Fay: but those elements are slowly building.
Tom Fay: Towards that work.
Yazmin Mehdi: And This is why we adopted an AI policy, right?
Ron Chew: OK.
Tom Fay: Correct.
Ron Chew: Yeah, I know it's a huge elephant. Everybody's grappling with it and its
Ron Chew: implications on many fronts, so good luck.
Tom Fay: Yes, it's a it's a big, big topic to work through over the next
Tom Fay: several years.
W Tali Hairston: Thank you, Ron. Any other comments or questions?
W Tali Hairston: If not, the action has been requested. It does not require a motion because it
W Tali Hairston: is being recommended by the staff to approve 2026 operations plan at the
W Tali Hairston: December 11th Library Board meeting.
W Tali Hairston: Ron, I see you raising your hand.
Ron Chew: Oh, did you need a motion number?
W Tali Hairston: We do not need a motion, I believe. I believe the motion is set forth in the
Ron Chew: OK.
W Tali Hairston: requested action in our board packet and so it is whether you want to accept the
Ron Chew: OK.
W Tali Hairston: board.
W Tali Hairston: It's recommend, excuse me, the staff's recommendation to approve the
W Tali Hairston: operations plan.
Ron Chew: OK. All right.
W Tali Hairston: So the vote is to approve the plan as submitted.
I I think you should formally make a motion.
Someone on the should make that motion a second.
W Tali Hairston: think so.
W Tali Hairston: OK, so we have to create a motion because
W Tali Hairston: there's not no one provided for us, but the motion is then to approve of the
W Tali Hairston: 2026 operations plan.
So moved.
Ron Chew: Second.
Faith Pettis: This is Faith's second.
W Tali Hairston: It's been moved and seconded. All in favor, raise your hand or say aye.
Yazmin Mehdi: I.
Faith Pettis: Hi.
Bendixen, Carmen: I.
Yazmin Mehdi: Hi.
W Tali Hairston: Opposed.
W Tali Hairston: Abstentions.
W Tali Hairston: The motion passes. The operations plan is approved.
Tom Fay: Thank you all.
W Tali Hairston: Thank you, everyone. That was that was a great conversation
W Tali Hairston: and necessary for us to get into those details. Thank you.
W Tali Hairston: OK. Next on our agenda is our Library 2026
W Tali Hairston: Library Board officers. This is a conversation that has been
W Tali Hairston: going on between Tom, Yasmin and myself about how to move
W Tali Hairston: forward and making sure that we keep.
W Tali Hairston: Everything aligned as needed. We came up with three options for the
Yazmin Mehdi: Thank you.
W Tali Hairston: board to consider. Then you'll make the motion on which
W Tali Hairston: option you feel is best, and then we'll vote on that option. OK,
W Tali Hairston: so option one is that Yasmin becomes president, which is our tradition.
W Tali Hairston: The vice president becomes president, Yasmin becomes president,
W Tali Hairston: and I take the VP role as a kind of a temporary one-year solution.
W Tali Hairston: The second let me go through these and I'll explain the second one.
W Tali Hairston: Is that we ask Faith to become the VP and I step down as president and Yasmin
W Tali Hairston: becomes president. So it would be Yasmin as president,
W Tali Hairston: Faith as vice president.
W Tali Hairston: There's a third option and that's we can keep the current order for one more year.
W Tali Hairston: Some of our deliberation about this is there's one particular thing undone that
W Tali Hairston: we like. I'd like to get accomplished, but I don't need to be board president to
W Tali Hairston: do that and then that is.
W Tali Hairston: The review of of the kind of a personnel review of of the Chief Librarian role
W Tali Hairston: that was supposed to happen in 2025. It's getting pushed to 2026 with just a
W Tali Hairston: really, really busy year for the library. And I was joking with Tom and Yasmin
W Tali Hairston: about having an office in the Central Library.
W Tali Hairston: Because I feel like I'm always there, but we were not able to get that done.
W Tali Hairston: The second concern was whether Faith needed more time on the board and felt or
W Tali Hairston: felt comfortable stepping into leadership at the vice president's level.
W Tali Hairston: I believe in Faith you can you can confirm this,
W Tali Hairston: but in your e-mail to me this morning you said.
W Tali Hairston: That you could step in. It's just you have an obligation that
W Tali Hairston: will lead you through June.
W Tali Hairston: So why don't you speak to that now?
Faith Pettis: Yeah, thank you, Tali, and I'm honored to be asked to step in.
Faith Pettis: I'm happy to to step up and take the VP role if I needed to do that.
Faith Pettis: My other obligation and my other board, I am rolling off as chair in six months
Faith Pettis: and so my time should free up.
Faith Pettis: Quite a bit, so happy to to do what you need me to do
Faith Pettis: at this point.
W Tali Hairston: OK, so you have your options that at least
W Tali Hairston: that's we've you may have another option. The board can discuss this and come up
W Tali Hairston: with another option. What is your pleasure?
Ron Chew: Sally, can I ask how is your time if you kept
Ron Chew: things as is for another year?
Tom Fay: Mm-hmm.
W Tali Hairston: My time has been great. It's just really, it's just been a lot.
W Tali Hairston: But I think the the reason we came up with that as an option is because with a
W Tali Hairston: new mayoral administration and the 2026 levy.
Faith Pettis: Right.
W Tali Hairston: It may be an awkward time to step into some of that ambiguity with a new with
Faith Pettis: Yeah.
W Tali Hairston: new board leadership.
Faith Pettis: Hey, hey.
Ron Chew: Yeah. And of course, I'm cycling off in April, I think.
Ron Chew: So you got some change there. I mean, I like the idea of maybe just keeping
W Tali Hairston: Right.
Faith Pettis: Yeah.
Ron Chew: things as is and then try to find somebody to replace me and you know,
Ron Chew: a year will go back really quickly.
Faith Pettis: Mhm.
Ron Chew: So.
Ron Chew: That would be my thoughts.
W Tali Hairston: OK, let me go to Yasmine. Your thoughts.
Yazmin Mehdi: I OK, my thoughts are that 26 is a year where
Yazmin Mehdi: we're going to need strong board leadership because of the levy and
Yazmin Mehdi: because we have to basically get a brand new mayor up to speed on the levy.
Yazmin Mehdi: The as Tali pointed out, the Tom's performance review needs to be
Yazmin Mehdi: completed and we'll be, you know, putting the budget together for the next
Yazmin Mehdi: biennium with starting with a whole.
Yazmin Mehdi: So I I mean, I just feel like it would be good.
Yazmin Mehdi: You know, I I think Faith, it doesn't feel like you're ready to step
Yazmin Mehdi: in fully to the VP until June and you're already taking on the friends liaison
Yazmin Mehdi: role, which thank you. I appreciate that, although I will miss.
Yazmin Mehdi: Friends. So I I'm sort of agnostic between holding
Yazmin Mehdi: steady and me and Tali switching roles just for the year. I am fully prepared to.
Yazmin Mehdi: Step up and and do more next year. So, so between me and Tali, one is VP,
Yazmin Mehdi: one is president. I'm agnostic between which of those.
W Tali Hairston: OK, I am not agnostic between and I'll I'll I
W Tali Hairston: have a good reason for it. And then Carmen, I'll come to you.
W Tali Hairston: My reasoning is Yasmin has experience.
W Tali Hairston: With the library, with levies, I think she would be great as the
W Tali Hairston: president for this upcoming year. I do not mind stepping as in as vice
W Tali Hairston: president and carrying forth the responsibility of the performance review
W Tali Hairston: as well, but I I think it makes a lot of sense
W Tali Hairston: right now for Yasmin to be president of the.
W Tali Hairston: Board going going forward. So that's that's my recommendation.
W Tali Hairston: Carmen, any thoughts?
Bendixen, Carmen: I was thinking along similar lines. Honestly,
Bendixen, Carmen: all three options I would be honestly be fine with. I would.
Bendixen, Carmen: I would be fine with any of them because you're all thoughtful and great advocates
Bendixen, Carmen: for the library. But I think for I think for the reasons
Bendixen, Carmen: that both Yasmin and Tali said, having some steady leadership but also
Bendixen, Carmen: allowing Yasmin to come to the forefront and then also.
Bendixen, Carmen: Allowing Tally to kind of maybe do a little wrap up in terms of the
Bendixen, Carmen: performance evaluation and any other kind of projects that you wanted to kind of
Bendixen, Carmen: check off. I totally understand that and I would and
Bendixen, Carmen: also again the relationships that both of you have built as the leaders.
Bendixen, Carmen: The leaders you've been the past, you know,
Bendixen, Carmen: year plus continuing those and building upon those I think is is a good thing too,
Bendixen, Carmen: so.
Bendixen, Carmen: Those. Yeah, that's my thought.
Bendixen, Carmen: I don't remember which option that was.
W Tali Hairston: OK.
Bendixen, Carmen: #2
Faith Pettis: Tally, this is.
W Tali Hairston: Yes, Faith, go ahead.
Faith Pettis: And and as the person impacted by one of the three options,
W Tali Hairston: So.
Faith Pettis: let me just say I am more than happy to have you and Yasmin do this. It is,
Faith Pettis: I think it's a gift to the library that you both are willing to do it and have
Faith Pettis: the time and energy. And I think all of the reasons that we're
Faith Pettis: given are so important, especially with the new mayoral
Faith Pettis: administration and the levy.
Faith Pettis: Coming up. So there is no rush on my part to step
Bendixen, Carmen: OK.
Faith Pettis: into the leadership role. I am learning every day about the library
Faith Pettis: and the more time I have to do that, the better. So no worries for me.
Yazmin Mehdi: This.
W Tali Hairston: Thank you, Faith, Carmen, Ron, Yasmin. I I I think what I let's do this.
Ron Chew: OK, just.
W Tali Hairston: The motion that it seems like we're agreeing on is.
W Tali Hairston: For Yasmin to become president and that Tali takes the VP role for and do we have
W Tali Hairston: a time on that? Did you want to say a year or is it two
W Tali Hairston: years? There's some flexibility if I'm correct.
W Tali Hairston: In how we do this what I what I.
W Tali Hairston: Recommend is that we put a time to it in our motion.
Sorry if I can break in and your bylaws you vote yearly annually.
W Tali Hairston: Oh, we do the so the so even. OK, that's oh, that's wonderful.
Yazmin Mehdi: Yeah.
W Tali Hairston: That means that means Faith has a year.
Ron Chew: That happened.
Faith Pettis: I'm I'm happy to make that motion, Tali, if you'd like.
W Tali Hairston: Thank you.
Faith Pettis: So, so Yasmin president, Tali vice president,
Faith Pettis: and it would go for a year.
Ron Chew: 2nd.
Yazmin Mehdi: And and do we need to just note that as it's Tom's role ex officio to be
W Tali Hairston: OK.
Yazmin Mehdi: secretary?
You need to make the motion for President, Vice President and secretary for 2026.
Tom Fay: Right.
Faith Pettis: I can amend my notion.
W Tali Hairston: So let let me.
W Tali Hairston: Let let me give you the let me give you what Amy's given me.
W Tali Hairston: So I just make sure I do my job here each year in December meeting library board
W Tali Hairston: elects officers for the coming year. The current practice has been to rotate
W Tali Hairston: offices and in this note it says for two for two for two year terms based on
W Tali Hairston: seniority.
W Tali Hairston: Traditionally, the Chief Librarian is nominated as
W Tali Hairston: Secretary to fulfill the administrative duties of the Board.
W Tali Hairston: May I hear a nomination for President, Vice President and Secretary for 2020
W Tali Hairston: Five 2026.
Faith Pettis: I would nominate Yasmin for President, Tali for Vice President and Tom for
Faith Pettis: Secretary for 2026.
Faith Pettis: OK.
Bendixen, Carmen: 2nd.
W Tali Hairston: It has been moved and seconded. All in favor, say aye, aye.
Faith Pettis: I.
Bendixen, Carmen: Bye.
Ron Chew: Bye.
W Tali Hairston: Opposed assumptions. We have our board for 2026.
Tom Fay: Thank you all.
W Tali Hairston: Thank you, everyone. That was great. OK, next another issue.
W Tali Hairston: Executive Director and Chief Librarian Merit Leave Award.
W Tali Hairston: This is something we do as well as a board and in that this year.
W Tali Hairston: We are considering a merit award and can consider a merit award for the Executive
W Tali Hairston: Director and Chief Librarian. I recommend as previous board action on
W Tali Hairston: this.
W Tali Hairston: Six merit leave days be provided for Tom, excuse me,
W Tali Hairston: for the for the Chief Librarian and Executive Director for 2026.
Yazmin Mehdi: I I I agree wholeheartedly.
W Tali Hairston: Discussion.
W Tali Hairston: Any other discussion?
Bendixen, Carmen: Is that, does anyone remember, is that what we did last year?
W Tali Hairston: Questions?
Bendixen, Carmen: Was it six days or something in that range?
W Tali Hairston: I had Amy Amy check for us and the board took action and this is 2024 provided 6
W Tali Hairston: merit leave days.
Bendixen, Carmen: OK.
W Tali Hairston: So that I'll if someone can make that motion, or at least maybe I did,
W Tali Hairston: maybe I made the motion for six merit leave days for the Chief Librarian
W Tali Hairston: Executive Director.
Yazmin Mehdi: I'll second that.
W Tali Hairston: If there's no other discussion, it's been moved and seconded.
W Tali Hairston: All in favor.
Tom Fay: Hi.
Tom Fay: I.
Yazmin Mehdi: I.
Yazmin Mehdi: And the one, the one sort of hole here is that that as
Yazmin Mehdi: Tali noted the last time we voted on this, it was for 2024.
Yazmin Mehdi: So there are no days voted on for 2025. And can we fix that even though?
Yazmin Mehdi: There aren't very many days left in 2025.
Tom Fay: Apparently it is not one that rolls over, so I would suggest no,
Tom Fay: it's not really something that can be done at this point in the year.
Yazmin Mehdi: Oops, that doesn't feel good.
W Tali Hairston: OK.
Tom Fay: Did you hear? Could everyone hear me? Sorry.
Yazmin Mehdi: Yes.
W Tali Hairston: Yes, Tom, within, yeah.
Bendixen, Carmen: Yeah, we gotcha.
Tom Fay: OK. Thank you.
W Tali Hairston: Yes. So there Amy has confirmed that we did
W Tali Hairston: not give any merit days for 2025. So this is for 2026 to be clear.
W Tali Hairston: OK, so let's make sure because of that that
W Tali Hairston: comment came in the middle of the vote. So apologies,
W Tali Hairston: I want to just backtrack just a little and and we have a motion.
W Tali Hairston: It's been seconded it all in favor.
W Tali Hairston: Merit Leave award for Tom for 2026 six days.
Yazmin Mehdi: Oh.
Tom Fay: Hi.
Faith Pettis: Hi.
Bendixen, Carmen: Hi.
Yazmin Mehdi: Bye.
W Tali Hairston: Hi.
W Tali Hairston: OK, so that passes.
W Tali Hairston: Thank you. Now let's let can we just pause really
Tom Fay: Thank you all.
W Tali Hairston: quickly. I have Brian I believe is here with us
W Tali Hairston: and I just want to clarify for the board that nothing in terms of merit leave for
W Tali Hairston: Tom and for that role and.
W Tali Hairston: Just make sure I'm hearing correctly 2025 we did not provide any merit leave for
W Tali Hairston: Tom.
Brian Sharkey: Yes, I believe what what Amy shared is correct.
Tom Fay: Right.
Brian Sharkey: That is correct. And I'm sorry, I'm still a little under the weather.
Brian Sharkey: Hopefully you can hear my voice coming through.
W Tali Hairston: We hear you. Thank you. Thank you, Brian.
W Tali Hairston: OK, so we'll just put a pin there. I just want to just make sure that
W Tali Hairston: everyone's clear on that, but that did not happen for 2025.
W Tali Hairston: We did pass 2026, so let's move forward then with our union
W Tali Hairston: report if there be no more for discussion on merit leave award for the Chief
Yazmin Mehdi: Hallie, I wonder if it even though Tom is saying
W Tali Hairston: Librarian.
Yazmin Mehdi: that you can't move those days forward, does it make sense though to just give a
Yazmin Mehdi: essentially a vote of confidence in Tom's leadership by?
Yazmin Mehdi: Awarding him six days and 25, even though he may not be able to use
Yazmin Mehdi: them.
Yazmin Mehdi: Brian, Brian, can you give us any context for that?
W Tali Hairston: Good message.
Brian Sharkey: Yeah. So to Tom's point, as far as merit days are use it or lose
Brian Sharkey: it. So logistically there would not be time
Brian Sharkey: to to upload and have those days available. Another option I could,
Brian Sharkey: I could look at sitting down with Tally as we get into 2026 around that
Brian Sharkey: performance valuation, there may be other.
Brian Sharkey: Other mechanisms, one other thing is that Tom has a
Brian Sharkey: carryover of vacation, for example. So that's something the board could look
Brian Sharkey: at in 2026 would be to slightly expand that vacation carryover and that would
Brian Sharkey: maybe come out in a in a similar mechanism since there's not.
Brian Sharkey: Not time. Certainly the board could could do a
Brian Sharkey: confidence vote as he recommended, though I don't see a harm in that.
W Tali Hairston: What's your pleasure board?
Yazmin Mehdi: You know, I guess at this point maybe what would be
Yazmin Mehdi: make the most sense would be to just say to you, Tom,
Yazmin Mehdi: that obviously we value your leadership. This has been another in a series of not
Yazmin Mehdi: easy years.
Yazmin Mehdi: And the board has full confidence in your leadership and that you know as part of
Yazmin Mehdi: the performance review process in 26, we will consider what we can do that
Yazmin Mehdi: would actually have meaning for you and value for you given that we did not.
Yazmin Mehdi: Take this U earlier in the year.
Tom Fay: Thank you for that.
Bendixen, Carmen: Yeah. Ditto what Yasmine said from Carmen.
W Tali Hairston: Yeah, I third that Tom continuing to work with
W Tali Hairston: you, as I noted in our conversation with Mayor
W Tali Hairston: Harrell, was that we did choose the right person
W Tali Hairston: for this role, not knowing how much of the uphill
W Tali Hairston: battles that we would face with everything from.
W Tali Hairston: Cyber security and the list goes on and on. I won't go through them right now,
W Tali Hairston: but the list goes on and on of challenges that you and I and Yazmin have sat down
W Tali Hairston: and talked about on a regular basis. And so I agree with Yazmin's
W Tali Hairston: recommendation and Brian's.
W Tali Hairston: Admonition one that you have our confidence, but two,
W Tali Hairston: that we sit down and figure out how to include some of a merit award.
W Tali Hairston: How do we include some of this going forward in the performance reviews slash?
W Tali Hairston: Other ways we could do this. OK, I agree with Brian.
W Tali Hairston: I'd love to sound and talk through that and make that happen and come back to the
W Tali Hairston: board with the recommendation.
Yazmin Mehdi: Sounds good.
Tom Fay: Thank you all. Appreciate it.
W Tali Hairston: OK, so let's move on to item number four, our union report.
Tom Fay: Let's see. I'm not sure if we had.
Tom Fay: Looking here, don't think we have.
Tom Fay: Amy, do we have anyone here today? I think this one was standing as it.
Now Jesse's here.
She's been provided a SEC to get connected. Yeah.
Tom Fay: Is she here? And I just missed her. Oh, sorry.
Tom Fay: Sorry, Jessie.
Jessica Lucas: Hi there, thank you. I was trying to find a way to let you
Jessica Lucas: know I was here, but didn't get to my chat quick enough.
Jessica Lucas: So I don't have a lot to add to what I wrote and in fact I'm mostly reiterating.
Jessica Lucas: But I have to say that I'm I'm not going to pretend that staff morale has improved
Jessica Lucas: recently. However, I want to reiterate our appreciation for
Jessica Lucas: the work and strength that our of our colleagues and we are looking forward to
Jessica Lucas: towards a new year.
Jessica Lucas: Of positive change and healing. And I would just again want to thank the
Jessica Lucas: board for their active listening and support when we've brought forward
Jessica Lucas: problems in the last year. So thank you.
Jessica Lucas: And you you are appreciated.
W Tali Hairston: Thank you. And we do. We take, we take these reports from the from union
W Tali Hairston: representatives seriously and they are a top of mind for the board and we
W Tali Hairston: appreciate your diligence in bringing those reports forward to us.
Yazmin Mehdi: Thank you.
W Tali Hairston: OK, Library on item number 5, Library Foundation and Friends of the
W Tali Hairston: Library updates. There's no meetings in this period to
W Tali Hairston: report on, but is there any discussion we need to
W Tali Hairston: have about either of these groups?
Tom Fay: Just one important thing to note is the leadership change in Friends and the
Yazmin Mehdi: No.
Tom Fay: upcoming there will be leadership change in the foundation as well. Sarah's family,
Tom Fay: her two year term is over and there will be.
Tom Fay: A new president and leadership team in January, I believe is be that meeting,
Tom Fay: if not December, and then the friends have already made
Tom Fay: that change. Jennifer has already taken on that role,
Tom Fay: had her first meeting with us.
Tom Fay: We're looking very much forward to her work and continued efforts of the of
Tom Fay: friends as well as the foundation moving forward.
Yazmin Mehdi: And I just want to say thank you to Faith for taking on the liaison role. So Faith,
Yazmin Mehdi: thank you so much and you will love it because they're the friends are terrific.
Faith Pettis: I am very much looking forward to taking that role on and thank you for doing it
Faith Pettis: the last couple of years, I think Yasmine, but I also really appreciate both you and
Faith Pettis: Carmen agreeing to backstop me if there's ever a meeting I can't make.
Faith Pettis: So very much appreciate the cooperation.
Yazmin Mehdi: Yeah.
W Tali Hairston: Awesome. OK. In addition, I'll just add as as we look to add a
W Tali Hairston: board member for next year, hopefully that person will be able to
W Tali Hairston: step in as liaison at times too to support the work later in the year.
W Tali Hairston: So as we all are kind of doing some duty with those liaison roles,
W Tali Hairston: it's it's important that we get someone else in who's able to step in and support
W Tali Hairston: that work as well. So all right, any updates from library board members?
Bendixen, Carmen: I just had a question. Sorry and maybe I should have asked this
Tom Fay: Yeah.
W Tali Hairston: Mhm.
Bendixen, Carmen: during the Chief Librarian report, Tom, but how is that process going with has
Bendixen, Carmen: that the the wheel started even rolling yet for?
Bendixen, Carmen: Bronze replacement.
Tom Fay: OK.
Tom Fay: They have barely started, but yes, we have.
Tom Fay: We're verifying who happens to be in the list already at the city of people who
Tom Fay: have put their names forward. Then of course,
Tom Fay: the next phase for us will be looking at others that might be out in the community
Tom Fay: that haven't.
Tom Fay: And interest. And then generally speaking, the president and vice president will
Tom Fay: likely reach out to a few of those folks just to make sure they understand the
Tom Fay: skills. But we're also trying to make sure we
Tom Fay: have our first meeting with the mayor, understand a little bit about their
Bendixen, Carmen: OK.
Tom Fay: appointment process as well, or at least their.
Tom Fay: How they're considering appointments. Moving forward,
Tom Fay: I want to make sure I have her and her team understand the really important
Tom Fay: nature of a governing board and the skill sets that we need on the board to make
Tom Fay: sure that we're successful.
Bendixen, Carmen: Thanks.
Tom Fay: And if I could tally just a couple of things I I wanted to note,
W Tali Hairston: Can you?
Tom Fay: since we didn't do the Chief Librarian's report,
Tom Fay: I hope everybody had a chance to read the reports that were attached this month
Tom Fay: from the Central Information Services as well as their Community Engagement and
Tom Fay: Economic Development teams.
Tom Fay: Some really good information there. Also for those there might be a few of
Tom Fay: you coming tonight to the librarians, the film premiere here at the Central
Tom Fay: Library. Really excited about that opportunity.
Tom Fay: I think people will find it compelling. I had a chance to review or to watch it
Tom Fay: before stepping in tonight to be on a panel,
Tom Fay: and I do think folks are going to find it a very compelling piece.
Tom Fay: So that's the extra bits of pieces for me, but wanted to make sure the folks knew
Tom Fay: about that tonight at 6:00.
W Tali Hairston: Take your time.
W Tali Hairston: Anything else you want to share while we're here, folks?
Yazmin Mehdi: I do think the ambient music program at Central is like exciting.
Yazmin Mehdi: Sounds like that was well received. That's really cool.
Yazmin Mehdi: And I also note the that we've we hosted our first English class since COVID.
W Tali Hairston: Right.
Yazmin Mehdi: That's amazing.
Tom Fay: And more to come.
W Tali Hairston: Awesome. OK, we do not have an executive session and
W Tali Hairston: we are ready to adjourn. Our next library board meeting is January
W Tali Hairston: 29th, 2026. I believe. And just for clarity sake,
W Tali Hairston: is that Yasmine's first board meeting?
W Tali Hairston: Best president?
Tom Fay: Yes.
W Tali Hairston: Ha ha, yes.
Tom Fay: You're you're too excited, Talek. He's only showing it after the vote,
Yazmin Mehdi: Yeah, you are too excited, Tally.
Bendixen, Carmen: Yes, you still have to show up, Tally.
Tom Fay: you notice.
Faith Pettis: Yes.
W Tali Hairston: I do. I do. I do.
Tom Fay: Oh.
W Tali Hairston: All right, we are adjourned. We are adjourned. Happy New Year.
Tom Fay: Thank you all.
Faith Pettis: Thank you all. Happy holidays. Happy holidays. Bye-bye.
Tom Fay: Happy Holidays.
Yazmin Mehdi: Happy holidays.
Yazmin Mehdi: Bye.