The battle heats up over pending dismissal of Sebastopol Library branch manager

Friends of the Sebastopol Library passed a resolution in support of branch manager Mathew Rose that included a vote of "no confidence" in the library administration regarding this matter

In an emotional board meeting on Tuesday afternoon, July 9, the board of the Friends of the Sebastopol Library (FOSL) voted unanimously to approve a strongly worded resolution in support of embattled branch manager Mathew Rose.

In the resolution, the Board of Directors of FOSL expresses “no confidence” in the Sonoma County Library administration for its treatment of Rose; rebukes their tactics and treatment of Rose; recommends community mediation; supports the retention of Rose and requests his immediate reinstatement as branch manager of the Sebastopol Library.

Erika Thibault, director of the Sonoma County Library, was in attendance at the meeting, as was Ray Holley, the library’s communications manager. Both sat silently as FOSL board members signed the resolution.

Board president Susan Fujita gave emotional testimony, her voice quavering at times.

“I’ve tried to keep Friends [of the Sebastopol Library] out of this whole thing,” she said. “I support Mathew. I love Mathew. I don’t know if this is the proper venue for doing this, but we need to let you know that it’s not just the few people here that are upset. It’s a lot of the whole area of west county—you’ve already said [the Sebastopol Library] has the third highest volume—a lot of that is Mathew and the staff he’s put together.”

She continued, “I feel guilty a lot of the time because some of the things that have been brought up against him are things that he did for me…He was doing things that—I guess it’s against library policy—but he was doing them for us: for patrons, for Friends [of the Sebastopol Library], for staff. And that’s the way Mathew has worked: he puts patrons, staff and volunteers ahead of himself.”

Other board members expressed their dissatisfaction more directly.

“One of the things that was key to this was our understanding that the charges against him are pretty much bogus,” said FOSL board member Walt Frazer, “and the damage that they have caused staff and people in the community is horrendous.”

“I think one of the things that really irritates me is that personnel items can’t be discussed,” Frazer said. “The idea of that policy was that the employee would be protected. In this case, I feel certainly that it’s being used against Mathew.”

Asked for a response to the board’s complaints, Thibault repeated that it was library policy not to discuss personnel issues. Holley said, “We know that personnel matters have to be private. Mathew is a part of our library family. Everybody has a lot of feelings about this.”

A 573-page dismissal report

The Sebastopol Times has been told by multiple sources that the library administration paid a Sacramento law firm, Ellis Investigations, an undisclosed amount of money to investigate Rose’s behavior and to assemble a massive report to support his dismissal.

The Sebastopol Times received a copy of an Ellis Investigations’ invoice for $105,000, but only a portion of that may have gone toward the Mathew Rose case. Holley would say only, “The Sonoma County Library did not spend $105,000 to investigate Mathew Rose.” The Sebastopol Times currently has a Public Records Act request into the library to confirm the full cost of the Rose investigation.

The Sebastopol Times has also received the full 573-page dismissal report on Mathew Rose—and it reads, frankly, like an episode of The Office—albeit without the humor.

According to the 14-page Notice of Dismissal sent by Rose’s supervisor, Public Services Division Manager Barbara Maes, “This discipline is based upon a pattern of continued insubordination, lying, failure to follow established library polices, and neglect of duty…”

That certainly sounds bad, but a closer look at the specific issues calls that impression into question.

• One dispute involved the question of who gets to control the temperature of the Sebastopol Library. According to Sonoma County Library policy, the temperature of all the branches is controlled from the central facilities office in Rohnert Park. Rose repeatedly complained that temperatures in his office and in the staff workroom often reached 80 degrees. The report alleges that Rose: (1)

  relocated the key box that had the master keys in late 2022; and (2) kept a copy of the key to the plastic cover that prevents Sebastopol staff from accessing the thermostat, which he was not supposed to have. The report also notes that Rose’s supervisor, Barbara Maes, complained about the language and tone of Rose’s email communications on this issue.

  • Rose claims the key was in the key box when he returned from an earlier administrative leave.

• Rose is accused of being in the library by himself for eight minutes, in violation of Sonoma County Library policy. (Library policy forbids individuals, even branch managers, from being in the library by themselves.)

  • Rose said he thought another employee was on site, and that he left the moment he realized he was by himself.

• Rose is accused of removing a padlock from an electrical panel and lying about it. (He felt it was an OSHA violation; the library facilities manager did not.)

  • Rose denies that he stole the lock.

• In Rose’s email communications, primarily with his supervisor and the facilities department, he is being accused of failing to “react tactfully and diplomatically during interactions with staff…while appropriately adhering to and enforcing sound library policies, procedures and practices;” of failing to “use tact, initiative, prudence, and independent judgement within general policy and procedural guidelines;” and of failing to “establish, maintain, and foster positive and effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work.” This problem, which is noted in several of his recent performance reviews, seems to relate primarily to his behavior toward his superior, Barbara Maes. There were corroborating statements from two facilities workers in the file. Regarding an email thread, facilities mechanic Tim Groepel called Rose’s emails, “unprofessional, but also highly disrespectful. The behavior throughout the whole email chain was characterized by belittling remarks, rudeness, and condescension. His tone and choice of words were entirely inappropriate for a professional setting or really any setting to be honest.” This reporter examined Rose’s emails contained in the report—particularly those around Groepel’s complaint above—but was unable to identify any emails of Rose’s that fit this description. It is possible that these were left out of the report, though that seems unlikely.

  • Rose said, “I had a good relationship with my previous full-time supervisor. We were able to have back and forths, and when we disagreed on something, that was fine; we had our back and forth, and then I followed the direction. I consider that a dialogue and a respectful way to understand the reasoning and mission. But when I’m doing that with Barbara [Maes], it’s insubordination or dereliction of duty or whatever. I’m self-aware that I’m not the most friendly and soft person in the world. I’m direct and opinionated, and that style doesn’t always meet with other styles very well.”

• Rose is being accused of using his work email (with his official signature) to contact Sebastopol City Manager Larry McLaughlin about the installation of security cameras on the outside of the library building, which Rose and the library staff opposed. This section also refers to an incident last May when Rose was suspended after he reached out to the Sebastopol City Council, using his work email, to ask for their support in his request for more staff for the library. The document says these efforts undermined the Library’s relationship with the city of Sebastopol.

  • Rose said this involves fundamental freedom of speech rights.

• The document accuses Rose of opening the Sebastopol branch a half an hour later on one day than instructed by his supervisor.

• The document accuses Rose of not following his supervisor’s instructions to schedule three reference librarians on Saturdays earlier this year. Rose felt they were needed more on Monday, a busier day.

  • Rose said this arose from a misunderstanding: he said he put two full time and one part-time person on Saturday, while Maes wanted three full-time librarians. From the report: “Mr. Rose disregarded Ms. Maes’ instructions to schedule three reference staff on Saturdays. Ms. Maes stated that, in January 2024, she instructed Mr. Rose to schedule three reference staff to work the full Saturday shift—i.e., 9:10 a.m. to 6:10 p.m….Rather, Mr. Rose scheduled two staff to work the full day and one staff to work a partial day— i.e., 9:10 a.m. to 3:10 p.m.”

• Perhaps the strangest accusation is this one: Rose sent a photocopied chapter of a book—“Chapter 11: ‘She Took Everything But the Blame’: The Bad Boss is Back” from Leading from the Middle— to all the other branch managers in the Sonoma County Library system via the inter-office mail, without identifying who it was from or the context. The chapter had underlining and his notes in the margin. This seems to have caused quite a kerfuffle since several of the branch managers assumed it had been written about them by someone on their staff, and some said it therefore felt threatening. Rose apologized the next day to his colleagues for sending the chapter without contextualizing information. He has been accused of using the library scanner and copy machine to make the copies, of using interoffice mail, then office email/chat channels, all when he was on administrative leave of absence and forbidden to do so. In the dismissal notice, Maes wrote, “You directed a Sebastopol Library staff member to interoffice mail this document out to leaders in SCL, and in doing so left some of your colleagues feeling threatened at their workplace. I would also add that as your manager I read this and felt that you were talking about me in rude and unprofessional ways to the library institution in a very public and embarrassing way.”

  • Rose said, “I was sending an article about working conditions to fellow union employees, which is me discussing working conditions and union activity, which is protected speech. I didn’t do so gracefully. Sending it without context was confusing—I mean, the context was in my head, but never made it to the page.”

None of these complaints has to do with the core part of Rose’s job—running the branch, managing his staff, or dealing with patrons. They do speak to his ability to interface with his supervisor, however—and her ability to interface with him.

As a public employee, Rose will have what’s known as a Skelly hearing tomorrow, July 12, and another one on August 2. The Skelly hearing is part of the due process rights required in California for the discipline or dismissal of permanent public employees. The hearing isn’t staffed by a judge or other neutral party, but by someone chosen by Sonoma County Library administration, usually a member of staff.

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Library Commission votes to extend library tax

The Sonoma County Library Commission voted yesterday, July 11, to put a measure on the November ballot that would extend Measure Y, the one-eighth cent sales tax to support Sonoma County libraries.

One of the reasons that Library Director Erika Thibault was at the Friends of the Sebastopol Library board meeting this week was to show FOSL the presentation on the Sonoma County Library that she was giving to other organizations around the county. As a public employee, Thibault cannot campaign in favor of the new measure, but there’s nothing stopping her from raising awareness about everything the Sonoma County Library has to offer.

Thibault spoke briefly about the new measure. She said it would be an exact duplicate of Measure Y, but there is one significant difference, according to Fred Engbarth, Sebastopol’s representative on the Sonoma County Library Commission: the measure doesn’t have a sunset clause, which means it would go on for perpetuity, until the voters voted it out. Engbarth was the sole vote against putting the measure on the ballot.