Former Gazette employee on library board brings up ethics concerns

A former Gazette employee who sits on the library board said Tuesday she should have abstained from the vote on where to build the new Cedar Rapids Public Library.

Phyllis Fleming, a 45-year employee who retired as the newspaper's assistant managing editor in 2002, said she had a conflict of interest. She was working as a paid consultant for Gazette Communications, conducting a two-week accuracy audit of The Gazette and GazetteOnline at the time of the vote. She completed the project on Tuesday.

Later Tuesday, the library board met to discuss the Cedar Rapids Board of Ethics Rules and Procedures, and Fleming explained the situation. She declined to comment on the telephone last night.

The volunteer library board has come under some criticism for choosing The Gazette site as the location for a new library because two library board members are former Gazette employees - Fleming and Hilery Livengood, who was an online editor from 1995 to 1999.

Eight of nine library board members were present at Thursday's meeting, where they went around the room and chose The Gazette-KCRG-TV9 block over the Emerald Knights site by a tally of 5-3. Both Fleming and Livengood chose The Gazette site. Once a clear majority was established, the board held a formal vote in which it selected The Gazette site by a vote of 8-0.

Board President Susan Corrigan, in a statement, said the only vote that mattered was the unanimous one, and Fleming's conflict of interest “did not impact the final results.”

“It was an unfortunate and unintentional mistake,” Corrigan said. “Phyllis realizes now that she should have abstained from the discussion and vote and deeply regrets any issues this may have caused.”