Lubbock City Mayor Glen Robertson Talks About Library Relocation, City Council Meeting, Smoking Ban and Omni Building [AUDIO]

During Friday's edition of Lubbock's First News on KFYO, Mayor Glen Robertson discussed the decision to move the City Library, the most recent city council meeting, the smoking ban, and the Omni building.

Talking about the new Goedeke Library, the renovation costs will be "a little over $500,000," according to Mayor Robertson. The city will save around $6-700,000 in the next 5 years by moving the library. In 5 years, the city will have the option to either re-lease the building or buy it.

Some members of the council are upset by the unexpectedly high price of renovations. Mayor Robertson responded by saying "The bottom line is we all messed up. It was everybody involved's fault. Quit pointing fingers, we just need to go down the road and say 'we made a mistake.'"

The problem originated from the City's rush to find a new building to house the library. "We postponed and postponed and kicked the can down the road on the Goedeke building until all of a sudden, guess what? The landlord said 'hey, ya'll are going to have to be out.' Then its panic mode and anytime you make decisions when you are in panic mode, you know, you start making mistakes," the Mayor said in reference to the inaccurate prediction for renovation prices.

This weeks city council meeting was the first to start at the new start time of 5:15P.M. While there was not a lot on the agenda, there was a good turnout, and the Mayor stated "it worked out very well. We were through with executive session just in time to grab a quick sandwich, get into regular session... We got out of there before 7:00 o'clock." In general, Mayor Robertson was happy with the new city council meeting time.

The Lubbock Smoking ban is a recent development that has proven to be highly controversial. "I think it's one of these things that we may need to take to the voters. It is a very controversial subject. There is scientific proof that secondhand smoke can kill, but there is the argument that people going into bars are aware of that risk," Mayor Robertson said.

While the Mayor does not have a strong opinion on the smoking ban, he did offer the assurance "we represent the public and we need to vote on what the public wants us to do." However, he did state "I struggle to tell a private business what they can or can't do in their business."

Talking about the Omni Building, the Mayor claimed "We got a lot of options. We can carry it through litigation and see what the judge says in November, we can try to come up with some sort of settlement with the owner. We've got a problem in that the building is an absolute eye-sore." Mayor Robertson hopes that the council will be able to enter into a settlement with the owner and get all the facts on the building before making any decisions on how to deal with it.

To listen to the full interview, click the play button below: