A South Bend schools trustee has sued the St. Joseph County Public Library, its director and board members for refusing to seat him on their board. Bill Sniadecki wants a judge to intervene before the library passes its budget for next year.
It was a scene that would best be described as awkward. Sniadecki came to the library board’s August 25 meeting to take a seat on the board, but the board voted unanimously against letting him be seated, right in front of him.
The library instead has said that Ruth Warren, one of its two school-appointed board members, will remain.
The school board’s vote to remove Warren from the library board ended in a 3-3 tie. But school board President Jeanette McCullough took it upon herself to appoint Sniadecki.
Sniadecki’s suit alleges that Library Director Stephanie Murphy interfered with his appointment, and he’s seeking an emergency injunction, asking the court to intervene before the library board passes its 2026 budget Oct. 20.
Sniadecki is acting as his own attorney but he’s apparently filed the suit on advice from school board attorney Pete Agostino. Agostino has told WVPE that the board improperly appointed Warren to the library board because of a timing issue, and he thinks Sniadecki could seek a court’s intervention to resolve the dispute.
