Elmont Online

The story of Pauline Johnson’s “public” service
The Elmont Library Board is an elected body of seven residents who must reside within the boundaries of the Elmont Union Free School District.

Elmont Online has learned that of the seven members, four have family members working at the Public Library.  This is permissible under law, but residents who follow these matters have long been concerned that important public policy, contract, and employee discipline matters suffer under these conditions.  In fact, the present board often has difficulty voting on a broad range of important issues because of the many conflicts of interest and the appearances of impropriety.

How could this have happened?  How could these in-your-face conflicts of interest get on to the board?  The Elmont community should be concerned when a majority of the board have direct familial relations with employees, or are openly conflicted on the major issues facing the community and library.

This article explores one such official, Pauline Johnson.  Five years ago Mrs. Johnson, ran for the office and lost in close election.  A year later, she ran and won.  She had no public policy platform and no publicly articulated vision for library governance.  Many in the community expressed concerns about her intellectual ability, her conflicts of interest in that she has a sister and husband are employed at the library, and some openly expressed concerns about her decorum. One resident asked, “What have we become when the person representing us is incapable of expressing a sober thought?”

Why do we bring this to your attention now?  The board is presently dealing with at least two disciplinary matters that have meandered into the public domain.  One involving the husband of Mrs. Johnson, the other is that of an employee who solicits random community members to sign pre-written letters distributed in self-addressed envelopes with instructions to mail the letters to the library board on his behalf.

Elmont Online has learned that during a recent disciplinary hearing involving Mrs. Johnson’s husband, Board Trustee Pauline Johnson openly passed notes and whispered to her husband’s attorney during the hearing.  Of course, she can argue that she passed notes inquiring if she could use the bathroom, or how much longer before this hearing is over. Alternatively, the notes could be comments like “I like your tie”… Before she formulates her defense we the public want to know why was she at the hearing in the first place and why was she passing notes and whispering to the her husband’s attorney during the proceedings?

Mrs. Johnson should be aware that attorneys, in order to practice, must be licensed by the state and they must uphold a high standard of ethics in order to keep their license.  Her husband’s attorney, when placed under oath will throw her under the bus for at least two reasons.  He wants to continue practicing law in NYS and he is her husband’s attorney, not hers and therefore no attorney client privilege exist between her and the attorney.  But, if an attorney-client relationship exists between she and the attorney on the matter of her husband's discipline then the community’s right to remove her is not only strengthened, it is an imperative.

Before we continue, let us be clear - this article is a call for Pauline Johnson to remove herself voluntarily from the board effective immediately.  Her actions during the hearing heighten the community’s concerns about the effectiveness of the present library board.  The majority of the board is in the very same boat.  Clearly, as a board member, she is privy to sensitive information about personnel, contracts, and other matters including her husband’s disciplinary issues. Her presence at the hearing was problematic.  Her passing notes to her husband’s attorney undermine the library’s case.  She is demonstrably incapable of separating her personal interests from her community and board responsibility.  Mrs. Pauline Johnson should resign immediately or be removed by an action of the board forthwith.