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CONSENT CALENDAR
City of San Bernardino
Request for Council Action
Date: August 6, 2025
To: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
From: Eric Levitt, City Manager;
Ed Erjavek, Library Director
Department: Library
Subject: Approve Transfer and Appropriation of $25,000 from Library Memorial Books Trust Fund into FY 2025/26 Expenditure
Budget (All Wards)
Recommendation:
It is recommended that the Mayor and City Council of the City of San Bernardino, California, adopt Resolution No. 2025-350 authorizing the Director of Finance and Management Services to transfer and appropriate $25,000 from the Library Memorial Books Trust Fund into the FY 2025/26 Expenditure Budget to purchase books.
Executive Summary
The Library was the beneficiary of a $25,000 bequest from the estate of Irving Hiller that was deposited into Library Memorial Books Trust Fund. The Library Director requests the Mayor and City Council authorize the Director of Finance and Management Services to transfer and appropriate $25,000 from the Library Memorial Books Trust Fund into the FY 2025/26 Expenditure Budget for the purchase of library materials. Appropriated funds will be utilized for programmatic purposes such as book purchases for children and young adults.
Background
The Library periodically receives monetary donations from the public. Funds are deposited into the Library Memorial Books Trust Fund but the Library Director needs the Mayor and City Council to approve authorizing the Interim Director of Finance and Management to appropriate the funds to the Library Expenditure Budget to purchase items.
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Discussion
The Library received a $25,000 bequest from the Irving Hiller Living Trust in 2022 after he passed in 2020. Irving Hiller owned an electrical engineering business in the city of San Bernardino named Irving Hiller Engineering. Feldheym Central Library was named as a beneficiary in the Hiller Trust since Irving Hiller was a member of Congregation Emanu El, which was in San Bernardino before later moving to Redlands. Norman F. Feldheym, for whom the Central Library was named when it opened in 1985, served as rabbi of Congregation Emanu El from 1937 to 1971 and as rabbi emeritus until his death in 1985. Rabbi Feldheym had served on the Library Board of Trustees, which provides administrative direction for the library and was involved in various civic activities.
San Bernardino Public Library is celebrating Feldheym Central Library’s 40 th anniversary on Monday, September 29, 2025 from 4 to 7 p.m. with various activities kicking off a year-long celebration.
The Library Director had waited to utilize the $25,000 bequest for a special project, and he decided Feldheym’s 40th anniversary would be a suitable time to utilize that bequest to purchase books for children and young adults and Hiller’s son Clifford, who served as trustee for the trust, agreed.
Clifford said his dad worked really well with the late Jack H. Brown, who served as Chairman of the Board, President, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman of Stater Bros. Markets. Clifford said his dad’s company did electrical work for 20 to 30 Stater Bros. Markets’ new stores that opened during 20 years from approximately 1990 to 2010.
2021-2025 Strategic Targets and Goals
The request to purchase library books for the educational, cultural, and recreational interests of our patrons aligns with Key Target No. 3: Improved Quality of Life.
Fiscal Impact
There is not a fiscal impact to the Library’s General Fund budget for FY 2025/26 since the funds of $25,000 are coming from the Library Memorial Books Trust Fund.
Conclusion
It is recommended that the Mayor and City Council of the City of San Bernardino, California, adopt Resolution No. 2025-350 authorizing the Director of Finance and Management Services to transfer and appropriate $25,000 from the Library Memorial Books Trust Fund into the FY 2025/26 Expenditure Budget to purchase books.
Attachments
Attachment 1 Resolution No. 2025-350
Ward: All
All Wards
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Synopsis of Previous Council Actions:
N/A.