Elmwood Librarian Termintion - additional information

Elmwood Librarian Terminated




Submitted by Rick A. Talford

Citizen Journalist





ELMWOOD, WI - June 11, 2012 the Elmwood Library Board Terminated the job, held by Jayne Garaets (Library Director) for several reasons. An Audit was requested by the Elmwood Village Board last fall that led to the current situation with the town library.



In a report done by Chuck Rupnow, of the Eau Claire Leader Telegram on June 20, 2012, it was reported that several charges are the reason for the termination.



After the Library Board terminated her, Geraets provided a handwritten note indicating she was resigning immediately. This was not accepted, due to she was officially terminated by the Board previously. Library Board President Weix was concerned the village, by accepting it, might put itself in financial jeopardy, given a past instance in which former village clerk Jodi Pulk resigned and later received unemployment compensation after claiming she was forced to resign. "We just want to make sure we're doing the right thing and doing it in such a way that it doesn't cost the village money again," Weix said.



Geraets, 52, who had been employed by the village since December 1999, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. In 2011 she received a combined $36,193 in salary and money in lieu of health insurance.



The allegations/charges against Garaets are as follows:



Falsifying circulation records to DPI and both Dunn and Pierce Counties from 2002 to 2011. Submitting false employee wage totals to DPI. Directing library employees to falsify reports, with fear that they could lose their jobs if they did not follow directives. Engaging in inappropriate, insubordinate, and /or demoralizing behavior. This included name calling and swearing at village personnel. Failure to catalog books removed from the library. The library bank deposits did not match the register receipts. Failure to protect the patrons privacy. Forgery of the library presidents signature on documents. Creating a hostile work environment for employees at the library. This caused employees that worked for 14 years to resign.



Employee Deb Helmer in her resignation notice, claimed "irreconcilable differences" with Geraets and the board, adding that she had "no recourse" but to resign. In reports to the board, claimed “Geraets was not at work during times she indicated on time sheets and even turned the clock ahead once to leave early.” They also said “They tried earlier to tell village officials about the problems, but Everyone turned a deaf ear and we were ignored." In a response from Library President  Weix, he stated “"I'm not convinced of any criminal attempt here," Weix said. "There is no evidence we could find in any way that she profited from it in any way.” The Elmwood Village Clerk Amy Wayne said Tuesday, that questions for Geraets arose last fall when she was examining departments' records. Wayne said she was "getting the runaround" from Geraets when asking about library and library board issues. "She told me not to talk with the board members because I would upset them," Wayne said. "That was kind of a red flag for me.”



The Audit that led to these actions, was started last fall by the Elmwood Village Board, and in my opinion (Rick Talford) , this was the result that was being looked for. I was aware that the Audit was definitely after something, but was told that it was simply being done to help the village clerk understand her job better. These are very similar actions as to those that led to the terminating of the past Chief of Police Adam Meyers, and the Past Village Clerk Jodi Pulk. It seems that every couple years, someone gets targeted for the Village to terminate. Unfortunately for the people of Elmwood, this has become a regularity by the Village Board. We will only be able to watch and see who is next.



There was plenty of allegations against the village clerk, who in her resignation that was forced by the Village Board, wrote that she was resigning due to stress on the job by the Ex-Chief and my family. This was absolutely false, as the Ex-Chief and my family had no communications with her for over two and a half years prior to her resignation. It is again my opinion that members of the board forced the resignation to be done their way, or the person would have their reputation destroyed all together. Again, this is my opinion, but this was backed by the Clerks own statements to the Leader Telegram some years ago.



Hopefully things will get better for this small village, as its reputation continues to get hard hits, by the actions being taken by the board. There is plenty of debate on both sides of these incidents.


In reading what Weix had stated about no evidence of criminal behavior, I would disagree. If the Librarian was forging  signatures, that would be a criminal charge, as well as the falsifying her timesheet. She would be receiving money fraudulently for hours she did not work. I would belive that both these issues would very much be a matter of criminal behavior, especially when she could and would be profitting from the behavior.