Once foes at war, now warm and fuzzy

Alex Coolman

NEWPORT BEACH -- Six months ago, they were at each other’s throats.

Today, they’re talking about the importance of “team effort” and

“communication.”

A lot has changed in the debate between the Newport Beach Public

Library’s Board of Trustees and the library’s fund-raising foundation.

Last week, the two groups -- which in October began squabbling over money

and control of library programs -- signed a memo affirming the idea that

“cooperation and communication are essential.”

What once seemed like a dirty schoolyard boxing match is now shaping up

more like a game of patty cake.

Behind the mellowing of the rhetoric is a concerted effort to clear up

ambiguity in the relationship between the groups, they said.

“It’s just a result of having so many meetings and getting together and

having so many conversations about how we can work together as a team,”

said Tracy Keys, the foundation’s administrative director.

Patrick Bartolic, a trustee, called the move toward resolution of the

conflict “a natural progression.”

Harmony between the bodies, he suggested, was the consequence of clearing

up “confusion on who’s doing what, and when, and why.”

Specifically, the memo signed last week asserts that the two groups “are

each entities with no legal right or authority to control or direct the

activities, officers, agents or representatives of the other.”

The agreement also addresses what was once a sticky issue between the

groups: the operating costs of the foundation.

The document spells out the once-problematic idea that the foundation has

no legal obligation to give the trustees specific information about

contributions, and how they use the funds -- except when required to by

state law.

Despite the formidable sound of such jargon, representatives of both

groups now seem to have a strikingly mild view of funding questions.

“That whole issue was a result of such a misunderstanding. When you’re

looking at audits and budgets, it’s easy to misinterpret those,” Keys

said. “Ultimately, the IRS is overlooking what we do, and our audit came

out very clean.”

Bartolic sounded even more mystified about the origin of the dispute.

“I’m not certain where that came from,” he said. “I don’t think [funding]

was the issue ever.”

Perhaps, as Newport Beach Mayor John Noyes said, it was simply a matter

of “making a place for them to talk.”

But whatever the explanation, the sound of the interaction between the

foundation and the trustees has changed strikingly in recent days. Gone

are the notes of acrimony, replaced by a tone that sounds almost too good

to be true.

“We need each other,” Keys said.