Ventura County Superior Court Judge Henry Walsh temporarily blocked Simi Valley from contracting with a private company to run its library. Although the city expects to receive proposals to run the library by the end of February, on February 7th, Walsh ruled that the city cannot contract with a private library services company such as Library Systems & Services (LSSI), which already runs two nearby libraries, until the case's next hearing. At that hearing, on April 9, plaintiffs Service Employees International Union Local 721 (SEIU) and local resident Garr Wharry, will seek a preliminary injunction. Though the city is barred from contracting with LSSI until April 9, it can still contract with a public agency or choose to run the library itself before then. Dale Redfield, acting deputy director, Ventura County Library, told LJ that in addition to LSSI, the city received responds to its request for proposals from the Thousand Oaks Library, the Simi Valley Public Library Foundation, and the County of Ventura: the decision will be made by the end of April. The City Council approved a resolution in December to withdraw from the 13-library Ventura County system  before state legislation that would make it harder for them to do so took effect on January 1. The county is expected to continue to run the library through June. However, Wharry and SEIU, which represents the library’s approximately 24 employee, argue that the withdrawal amounted to a legislative act. A legislative act requires an ordinance that takes 30 days to go into effect, rather than an administrative act, which can be made with a resolution and enforced immediately. Those 30 days would bring Simi Valley within the scope of the new state law, which requires cities to show cost savings before privatizing, and bans any loss of jobs or benefits for existing library staff. “Doing it as a resolution instead of an ordinance puts a limit on public feedback. It is questionable whether the public could do a referendum or an appeal,” Jesse Luna, spokesperson for the union, said, explaining its objections. The union initially presented the city with a writ asking it to reconsider, and filed the lawsuit once the city decided to press on with the resolution method. The county is also named in the suit. Simi Valley Mayor Bob Huber directed an inquiry to the office of City Attorney Tracy Noonan as to why a resolution was chosen instead of an ordinance because of the ongoing litigation. As of press time, the city attorney’s office had not yet responded to LJ's request for comment. One factor that might make it harder for the city to show cost savings if the plaintiffs win their case is real estate: the city leases the library building from the county. So long as the county runs the library, the lease only costs Simi a nominal $1 per year. However if the city switches to another operator, the annual cost will be $60,000. The county subsidizes the Simi Valley library with $300,000, according to the Ventura County Star, and that would be lost to the city as well. According to Redfield, “The RFP requires that the existing staff be interviewed to stay,” he said. “The RFP also asks for a projected budget for increasing hours from 55 per week to 60.  There is no mention of a relocation of the library,” despite the increased cost of occupancy if the county isn’t selected. If the county is not the chosen vendor, beginning July 1, Simi Valley’s existing staff would be shifted to vacancies in the county system in order of seniority. “Those who don't fill the vacancies or are bumped because of low seniority will be let go but placed on a one year rehire list,” Redfield continued. When it comes to public reaction to the city’s decision, “During the four public hearing with the City of Simi Valley I would say that 80 percent of the public did not want any change,” Redfield estimated. As to the reaction to the completed privatization of nearby Moorpark and Camarillo, both run by LSSI, “It's a mixed bag on the public response,” said Redfield. “We hear from some patrons that our interlibrary request system is superior but I don't have any hard statistics.”