On Monday, November 16th, the Halifax County Board of Supervisors & the South Boston Town Council held a joint meeting. Curtis Waskey made a presentation during the public comment segment regarding the issues of the termination of Woodson Hughes. Here is complete transcript of Mr. Waskey’s remarks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nNovember 16, 2009<\/p>\n
Ladies and Gentlemen of our respective Governing Bodies,<\/p>\n
I wish to thank you for this opportunity to speak before you this evening. I come before you with a heavy heart and an overwhelming sense of injustice for one of our beloved public servants. Mr. Woodson Hughes has endeared himself to this community by his acts of kindness, unselfish service, his encyclopedic mind, and his ever present professional can-do attitude. The sentiments I wish to share with you this evening are not mine solely, but are the feelings of hundreds of my fellow citizens in this community as evidenced by the petitions we have submitted to you. We have collected over 858 Signatures to date and expect more to follow.<\/p>\n
I am saddened by the negative publicity our Public Library System has received of late but I am also very proud of our citizens for voicing their very strong opinions about a serious injustice done to a valued community resource.<\/p>\n
We submitted generic questions to the Library Board at their last board meeting seeking answers. These questions remain unanswered. Each of you has in your packet a copy of these questions. It was communicated to the members of the Library Board that these questions were generic in nature and were at the heart of our concerns. We also expressed our opinions that transparency was indeed more appropriate than invisibility.<\/p>\n
At the heart of our concerns are the following:<\/p>\n
Fact \u2013 Mr. Hughes (and we suspect other employees of the Library) has not received a written annual performance review by the Library director (Ms. Griffin) since her arrival. This is contrary to written Library policy. <\/p>\n
Fact \u2013 Mr. Hughes received a pay increase in 2008 without a performance evaluation. This is also contrary to written Library policy. <\/p>\n
Fact \u2013 The called meeting of October 12th was not called seven day in advance and the news media was not given notice of this meeting. This was not an open meeting but a closed session meeting to discuss a personnel issue. A vote was taken in this meeting and there is no public record by way of recorded minutes for public viewing. This is contrary to Robert\u2019s Rules of Order and the customary protocol for public governing bodies. <\/p>\n
Fact \u2013 Mr. Hughes was not given an opportunity to view or have explained to him the allegations lodged against him, face his accusers, nor defend himself. He was fired and threatened by intimidation if he did not resign. He was denied any due process. This was done without any regard for his 22 years of loyal and valued service. <\/p>\n
Fact \u2013 There is nothing in the written policy that addresses under what circumstances fines may be forgiven. There are no guidelines or procedures. The present system did not identify who forgave what fines and there were no shifts that employed less than two persons at any given time. The system does not have the capacity to positively identify who did what. The Halifax Library branch also experienced similar results proportionate to there circulation numbers. No one there has been fired. The Director has distorted the dollar amounts as most of the forgiveness was for values associated with items that were lost and then later found and returned. <\/p>\n
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Boards, you our elected officials, our protectors and the voices of reason and fairness, I ask you to intercede on our behalf. This entire incident is screaming for examination. If we are right, please help us to undo this wrong. If we are wrong, help to make this visible and clear. I don\u2019t believe there is one of you sitting here tonight that would agree that 22 years of loyal and faithful service deserves the treatment this Library Board has inflicted by their Heavy Handed Actions. A comprehensive policy for fine forgiveness needs to be adopted, procedures need to be explained, and management systems need to be improved. Disciplinary actions should be taken, but only after there is a clear policy to work by. Discipline should be fair and equal for all employees. Punishment should be equal to the infraction. Your citizens deserve answers. We would like to see a valued and prized community asset like Mr. Hughes reinstated and a governing Library board directed towards proper procedures and behaviors in the future. Thank you.<\/p>\n
Respectfully Yours,<\/p>\n
Curtis Waskey<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On Monday, November 16th, the Halifax County Board of Supervisors & the South Boston Town Council held a joint meeting. Curtis Waskey made a presentation during the public comment segment regarding the issues of the termination of Woodson Hughes. Here is complete transcript of Mr. Waskey’s remarks.<\/p>\n
[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[63,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-halifax-county","category-newscentral","odd"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pwqFk-1wj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5703,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2009\/10\/27\/halifax-library-board-meeting-recap\/","url_meta":{"origin":5847,"position":0},"title":"UPDATED: Halifax Library Board meeting recap","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"October 27, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Thanks to our roving reporters in the field for the updates! The library board started their meeting at 4:30 PM today. Let's see what went on using our famous random notes. The public comment section was first up. Curtis Waskey gave each board members a list of questions that he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Halifax County"","block_context":{"text":"Halifax County","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/locations\/halifax-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5741,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2009\/10\/30\/halifax-county-library-policy\/","url_meta":{"origin":5847,"position":1},"title":"Halifax County Library policy","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"October 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"One of our good friends (and Woodson Hughes supporter) thought that people would like to see the employee policies of the Halifax County Library system. We agreed with him, so here you go! Halifax County Library Policies Caution: PDF file","rel":"","context":"In "Halifax County"","block_context":{"text":"Halifax County","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/locations\/halifax-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5714,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2009\/10\/28\/honk-for-hughes-rally-thursday-night-1029\/","url_meta":{"origin":5847,"position":2},"title":"“Honk For Hughes” Rally – Thursday night! (10\/29)","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"October 28, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The community support for Woodson Hughes continues to grow and here's a way that you can get involved. Make your way to the South Boston Public Library on Thursday night. The event starts at 6 PM, and the organizers would love a big turnout. The plan is to hold a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "EventsCentral"","block_context":{"text":"EventsCentral","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/eventscentral\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5696,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2009\/10\/26\/some-thoughts-about-the-woodson-hughes-issue\/","url_meta":{"origin":5847,"position":3},"title":"Some thoughts about the Woodson Hughes issue…","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"October 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Let's go over a few random thoughts & observations about the Halifax County librarian that \"resigned\" last week. It sure isn't easy to find out who's on the Library Board. They're not mentioned on the library's website nor on the county's. Why would Library Director Rhonda Griffin call a board\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Halifax County"","block_context":{"text":"Halifax County","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/locations\/halifax-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5666,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2009\/10\/22\/the-case-of-the-let-go-librarian\/","url_meta":{"origin":5847,"position":4},"title":"The Case of the Let-Go Librarian","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"October 22, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"(Now updated at this permalink.) Well, Fine! Or really it's about the lack of fines... South Boston Library Manager\u2019s Resignation Stirs Controversy It's about time that Halifax County got in the news for a stupid-ass decision. We all know that (Library Director) Rhonda Griffin can't comment since it is a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Halifax County"","block_context":{"text":"Halifax County","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/locations\/halifax-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5675,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2009\/10\/24\/updated-the-case-of-the-let-go-librarian\/","url_meta":{"origin":5847,"position":5},"title":"UPDATED: The Case of the Let-Go Librarian","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"October 24, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"(Originally Published on: Oct 22, 2009 @ 22:24) Well, Fine! Or really it's about the lack of fines... South Boston Library Manager\u2019s Resignation Stirs Controversy It's about time that Halifax County got in the news for a stupid-ass decision. We all know that (Library Director) Rhonda Griffin can't comment since\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Halifax County"","block_context":{"text":"Halifax County","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/locations\/halifax-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5847\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}