In the run-up to the new fiscal year, the Volusia County Council is looking to save money and avoid increases in taxes.

The latest effort to economize and streamline local government came July 16, when the council voted to dissolve the seven-member Library Advisory Board. How much money will be saved is not clear.

“My intent in bringing this up is not to make citizen involvement go away,” Council Member Jake Johansson said. 

Johansson added he supports allowing the various Friends of the Library groups around the county to work to improve their own local libraries without having to secure approval or support from the Library Advisory Board. Johansson has been a leader in calling for the elimination of county boards and committees that may be unnecessary or too costly to retain.

The Library Advisory Board, whose members are appointed by the County Council, met once each quarter. The panel purview was public libraries around the county, and the advisory board’s meetings were open to the public.

“I’m giving them a little more flexibility without skirting the Sunshine Law,” he noted. “My intent is to provide an easier way for you to communicate.”

Because they were appointed by the council, Library Advisory Board members were considered county officials. That means that two or more of them could not meet or discuss — either face-to-face or over the phone or by written messages — the items or issues pending before the board without giving public notice of their conversation.

Community Services Director Brad Burbaugh said the local library-support groups are active.

“Eleven of our 14 libraries have Friends groups,” he told the council.

“So there will be an avenue for active participation from the public?” asked Council Member David Santiago.

“Yes, sir,” Burbaugh replied.

The County Council voted 5-2 to abolish the Library Advisory Board. County Chair Jeff Brower and Council Member Don Dempsey were the dissenters.

The council last year discussed getting rid of the Cultural Council, an advisory group that makes recommendations on grants for nonprofit organizations devoted to the arts, music and historic preservation. The eight-member Cultural Council makes recommendations to the County Council for the allocation of some $600,000 in grants for various private groups each year. The Cultural Council was saved after supporters of the grant program showed up in force at a County Council meeting and urged that it not be abolished.

Earlier this year, the County Council considered elimination of the Code Enforcement Board. The board judges violations of the county’s ordinances on building, zoning and property maintenance, and it may impose fines on property owners who fail to comply with the board’s orders. Instead of having a panel deliberate on the civil violations, a special magistrate — meaning an attorney serving as a hearing officer — would rule on the charges and determine whether fines should be imposed. 

Council Member Dempsey, who is a lawyer, persuaded his colleagues to keep the Code Enforcement Board intact. He argued a board is more likely to be fairer for the accused parties than a single person having all power to decide guilt or innocence and to set the penalties for those who fail to comply.