By Jorge Casuso

April 11, 2025 -- City Councilmember Jesse Zwick said Tuesday night that he was "wrong" to suggest selling the Fairview Branch Library to address the City's budget crisis.

The admission came after dozens of library supporters rallied outside City Hall before packing into the Council chambers to testify against the possible closure of the 69-year-old branch.

“I just want to say before everyone gets a chance to speak that I was wrong," Zwick said. “It’s heartening for me to hear how many people in the community care about this issue.

"I promise to do everything I can to not just preserve but enhance these spaces,” Zick said.

The City's Library Board sent a statement to The Lookout Friday saying it "welcomes (Zwick's) comments and change in his position."

"We are grateful that the suggestion of closing  one of our libraries has rallied the community and has now shifted the focus to restoring funding for the libraries," the Board wrote in an email responding to a request for comment.

"At a minimum, the community wants to see both Ocean Park and Fairview branches open for full-service at least two days a week. The Library Board will continue our advocacy and engage the community in this fight."

The outpouring of support came one month after Zwick and Councilmember Dan Hall suggested selling City properties as a "last resort" to pump money into the Housing Fund, which has been used to help pay $230 million in sex abuse settlements.

During the special March 8 budget study session, Zwick noted the Fairview branch "is two blocks" from Virginia Avenue Park library and said it "is not serving anyone now sitting there closed.”

He suggested "shutting it down and disposing of the land" ("Council Floats Bold Moves to Balance Budget," March 10, 2025).

"I think we need to think about whether we are getting anything out of keeping that library open," he said, noting the money could be used to restore programs at other branches.

On Tuesday night, he addressed the comments he made at the March budget session.

"In a moment of deep crisis," Zwick said, "we've been asked to make incredibly difficult trade offs just to stay afloat as a city.

“In an effort to leave no stone unturned in that work, I made an offhand comment that some of our spaces in the library system were underutilized and might benefit from consolidation,” he said.

After his comments, Councilmember Caroline Torosis said, "We are not attempting to sell the Fairview Library. I just want to clarify that."

Mayor Lana Negrete praised the library supporters who turned out and thanked them for their "beautiful" signs.

"This was impact," Negrete said. "So be proud of yourselves."