Sebastopol Library Branch Manager Mathew Rose has been fired

Rose said he will fight what he calls "a wrongful termination"

Sebastopol Library Branch Manager Mathew Rose was fired last week by the Sonoma County Library.

He wrote to the Sebastopol Times on Thursday, Sept. 12, “I will be working to correct this wrongful termination with any means necessary, firstly with the union and secondly through courts.” 

A source from within the library, who asked not to be named, wrote the Sebastopol Times on Friday, “This morning Admin sent representatives along with pastry to our branch, as well as a counselor. But no explanation for the firing was provided.”

Rose’s firing is the latest twist in a saga that began 18 months ago, when Rose asked the Sebastopol City Council to support his request for more staff at the library. He was placed on administrative leave for this offense. This action led to a petition campaign for his return. Rose’s message last fall to the Sebastopol City Manager about the Sonoma County Library’s plan to install security cameras on the outside of the library building was equally unpopular with the library administration. The Sonoma County Library hired a Sacramento law firm, Ellis Investigations, to compile a report on Rose’s activities. In June, Rose was placed on administrative leave again, with intent to dismiss. The 573-page Ellis report, acquired by the Sebastopol Times and detailed here, laid the groundwork for his firing.

The Sebastopol Times also recommends this excellent piece on the situation, published yesterday by the Press Democrat.