Meet Your Candidates: David Calimag, Morton Grove Public Library, Board of Trustees

David Calimag, 63, is aiming for a spot on the Morton Grove Public Library Board of Trustees, the seven-member group responsible for shaping the library's fiscal and operating policies. This is Calimag's first campaign for elected office.

A neurologist by profession, Calimag has served as the attending neurologist for the Cook County Health Bureau in the past, according to the B-PAC website.

Members of the library board serve six-year terms. This year, three seats are up for six-year terms, and one seat is up for a two-year term on the library board. Two organizations are campaigning for spots on the library board: B-PAC (Mark Albers, Paul Berg, David Calimag and Catherine Peters) and PROLibrary (Bernadette Fahy, Laura Frisch, Lawrence Levin and Renee Miller, a write-in candidate). 

Calimag and Fahy are vying for the two-year term spot, while all other six candidates are campaigning for the six-year term spots.

Morton Grove Patch collects the library enthusiasts' notes with the same Q&As for each candidate, publishes them in alphabetical order, and does not change submitted answers in punctuation, style or content.

Now then, let's get down to the questions:

Patch: How would you assess the state of the library’s budget?

Calimag: The current budget is not based on reality. The wild spending and over the top increases have got to stop. When we are elected we will keep the budget in line with the rest of the village. For this year, the village budget calls for a 3% increase. The library’s budget is up almost 15%.  This is not fair to the rest of the village, and not fair to us who pay for their reckless decisions in the form of higher taxes. We also can’t forget that if this current board has its way that taxes will go up even more, as they are committed to building a new library that will cost $24 to $30 million dollars. For the good of everyone in Morton Grove, this has to be stopped.

Patch: If expenses need to be reduced, exactly what would you cut? Be specific.

Calimag: We will do away with any spending related to the search for the new building along with the money being used to try to convince the public of the need for a new library. We will cut down the size of the 16 page glossy Books and Beyond and deliver it electronically to the residents who have e-mail. 

Patch: If more revenue needs to be raised, exactly what would you propose? Be specific.

Calimag: The current board has raised the budget 15% this year, more than $400,000 of a budget that already surpasses $3 million per year. We do not need even more money from the people of Morton Grove. We do need responsible use of the money that we do have.

Patch: What’s the best way for the library to keep up with changing technologies, such as the way people access books and materials? (Example: eBooks, iPods, and developing technologies).

Calimag: Our budget will provide for the purchase of the latest technologies, and expand the number and scope of computer courses available at the library. Our librarians will continue their excellent work of educating the public on these new formats. We will make their jobs easier by providing them with all of the equipment they need to do their jobs successfully into the future.

Patch: Is the library adequately providing the following, or do you feel these need to be adopted or augmented: computers, study rooms, reading areas, drive-through book drop-offs, self-checkout stations, refreshments/food. Would you suggest any others?

Calimag: The latest computer technology will be provided at the library, along with the support needed to learn how to use it. Study and reading areas that are currently available are underutilized. A book drop-off by drive-through is already in place. We will investigate whether or not self-checkout would save staff time without the loss of citizen satisfaction. If so, we would institute it.

Patch: Does the wireless connection for patrons need to be upgraded?

Calimag: We would have to speak to Kevin Justie about this question. One of the library’s Assistant Directors, he’s the Head of Automated Services and Technology.   He is also one of our library’s top resources, and his opinions are to be trusted.  We would abide by his recommendations.

Patch: What is your favorite childhood book? What are you currently reading?

Calimag:  I loved reading the dictionary and the Encyclopedia Britannica.  As a neurologist, I read copious numbers of medical journals.  I also read the Wall Street Journal daily, as well as Business Week and Forbes.

Patch: Is the library adequately reaching out to diverse populations, i.e., people with primary languages other than English, people with visual difficulties, others?

Calimag: No. Instead of installing a chair lift to negotiate the few stairs on the second floor, the board has used those in wheelchairs as pawns in their goal of building a new library building. We don’t believe in taking advantage of peoples’ disadvantages, and would provide accessibility immediately to all residents on all levels of the library. As a neurologist I have strong feelings about reaching out to those in our community who need extra help, time or space in our library. That is what the library is here for…to serve the learning needs of everyone in the community, from the youngest to the most senior, and from the strongest to the most challenged among us.

Patch: Does the library get adequate feedback from patrons? If not, how would you increase the flow of communication? Be specific.

Calimag: No. The current board stifles feedback from the patrons. Freedom of Information forms have to be submitted to get the most basic of information. At board meetings answers are promised but most times never given. We pledge to shine the light of day on what the board is doing and why it is doing it. We will open the meetings to audio and video recording and televise them on MGTV. We will allow for public comments at the beginning and the end of each meeting. If we promise to answer a question, we will get the answer for you. This is a public library, and the focus should be on what the public wants, what the public needs, and what the public can afford.

Patch: Does the library need upgrades to its facilities? Be specific.

Calimag: Obviously. Right now the library needs a new roof and replacement of some of the HVAC units. These are routine update items that are part of maintaining any structure, but the current board is trying to tell us that it is better to tear a building down and start all over again than it is to update and maintain the building that we currently have. We believe that’s ridiculous, and will not saddle our community with an expansive and expensive building that will be obsolete (like the Glenview library already is) before the first brick is laid. The physical size and location of our current library is sufficient to bring our community into the future.

Patch: What else would you like voters to know about your positions on issues, point of view or qualifications?

Calimag: Having seen what has happened to Chicago, I would stress fiscal sanity, fiscal sanity, fiscal sanity. Everything starts there. There may be a time for a new library building, but it is not now. When it is time, the new library’s form will not be dictated by brick and mortar, but by technology.