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Your Community, Your News
CommUnitY
JULY 24, 2014
Vol. 58 No. 42
niles
library board struggles to find interim director Business Manager Greg Pritz stepped down from the interim position BY Alex HernAndez staff reporter
ahernandez@buglenewspapers.com @TheaVHernandez
BY Alex v. HernAndez STAFF REPORTER Niles’ St. Haralambos Greek Orthodox Community hosted its Big Greek Food Festival over the weekend. The food was a major draw and included Fried Calamari, Greek Sausage, Saganaki, Souvlaki, Athenian Chicken and Dolmades. “The weather is beautiful,” said George Retso. He was waiting in line for the food tent on July 20. When asked which his favorite dish at the festival was he couldn’t choose just one thing. “I like everything here. I’m Greek,” he said. In addition to food and live music from the Greek band Rythomos the festival also featured films showcasing Greece’s islands and performances by the Elias Dancers of Chicago, the Orpheus Hellenic Folklore Society and the Dionysos Dance Troupe. The festival also had carnival games and face painting, workshops on how to cook Greek food and a merchandise tent with novelties, music and jewelry for sale. (top photo, going down) John Harris and his son Paul play carnival games at the festival. the food at the fest included Souvlaki, Athenian Chicken, Moussaka and Dolmades. Peter Georganos playing the bouzouki with the Greek band rythmos at the festival. PHOtOS By ALeX V. HerNANDeZ
Resignations and staff complaints have begun to define the Niles Public Library Board’s search for a new director. During the board’s July 15 meeting, Business Manager Greg Pritz stepped down from the interim position he had held since the retirement of Library Director Linda Weiss at the end of June. Pritz had previously told The Bugle that during that executive session, the board approved a $1,500 stipend on top of his $92,500 annual salary. In emails to the board, he said that the added pay was not equal to the added responsibilities of performing the two jobs, one of which he was untrained for, at the same time; with no clear end date in sight. Pritz refused that offer and gave the board a 120 days to find a permanent replacement while also presenting an alternative compensation plan for the time he was the interim director in an effort to force the board to move faster. Instead, the board accepted Pritz’s resignation from the interim role and voted to make assistant library director Susan Lempke and Barb Kruser co-interim directors at the library.At press time, they had not been offered a compensation package for their new roles but did receive an unrelated 3.4 percent salary increase. Library Trustee Barbara Nakanishi had previously gone on record to say that both Kruser and Lempke have more experience >> see director | page 8