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Board reappoints Maritza Rodriguez to Cleveland Public Library board and adopts library tax budget
Summary
The Cleveland Municipal School District Board reappointed Maritza Rodriguez to the Cleveland Public Library Board of Trustees and adopted the library's fiscal year 2026 tax budget; board members noted a pending state bill that could shorten trustee terms.
The Board of Education of the Cleveland Municipal School District reappointed Maritza Rodriguez to the Cleveland Public Library Board of Trustees during its June 24 business meeting and adopted the library's tax budget for fiscal year 2026.
The board voted to reappoint Rodriguez to another term; the motion passed on a roll-call vote of eight in favor. Chair Ellicott announced that Rodriguez was present for the meeting and invited her to speak. Rodriguez said she was honored to serve another term and noted the library system is in the middle of a multiyear renovation effort and faces state-level budget challenges. She corrected biographical text in the resolution to say she graduated from Jane Addams Vocational High School.
Board member Miss Walsh Howell, chair of the ad hoc library appointments committee, summarized the committee's review: candidates were evaluated on vision for the Cleveland Public Library, understanding of trustee responsibilities and community engagement. Walsh Howell said the existing library board and director had recommended Rodriguez and that the committee believed she had more work to accomplish on the board.
The board also adopted the Cleveland Public Library tax budget for fiscal year 2026 and will transmit it to the county budget commission as required by Ohio law. Chair Ellicott reminded the meeting that, as the library's appointing and taxing authority, the Board of Education is responsible for adopting the library's tax budget each year.
Members noted that Ohio House Bill 96, then pending in the state legislature, would reduce library trustee terms from seven years to four if it becomes law before Rodriguez's new term begins on July 2; Ellicott said that if the bill takes effect before the start of the term, Rodriguez's term would be set to four years rather than seven. The tax-budget adoption was presented to the board as a statutory obligation; Chair Ellicott cited Ohio Revised Code Section 5705.28(b) in describing the requirement.
Both the appointment and the tax-budget resolution passed on roll-call votes of eight "yes."
