Your Hometown News Source
Your Hometown News Source
DAYTON–The Columbia County Commissioners (BOCC) listened to recommendations from the Columbia County Rural Library Board of Trustees (BOT) and elected to further consider the matter of an appointee to fill the vacancy created by Chair Tanya Patton’s retirement at the end of this month.
Meeting before the BOCC, Patton and Secretary Karin Spann recommended Joe Huether and Heather Stearns from the five candidates interviewed in February.
The BOCC expressed to Patton and Spann that they had decided to take a different direction regarding the recommendation of the new board appointee. After discussion in an executive session earlier in the day, Chairman Chuck Amerein said, “While we appreciate your recommendations, we think we are going to go a little bit different than what you recommended, but not wholly different though.”
Patton and Spann stated the discussion behind closed doors was in a violation of the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA).
A closer look reveals the statute specifies the hearing process is for the removal of a trustee. (RCW 27.12.190) Therefore, the citation doesn’t directly apply to the situation of the BOCC filling the board vacancies at their own discretion.
The BOCC stated the reasons for overruling the Library Board’s recommendations was its desire to listen to the voice of the public and to see change. Patton defended the current board and cited the statutes for libraries stating “that anyone in the public can bring a charge against a board member to the commissioners for malfeasance or misfeasance...who then hold a public hearing where the person is allowed to then defend themselves, bring an attorney, present evidence to the charge. To my knowledge, none of that has ever happened,” said Patton.
She stated that only the staff and board understand the “inner workings” of the library. “They have held themselves to a very high standard of confidentiality, of not engaging in the public arena where anybody can say anything,” Patton said.
Patton and Spann defended their choices for the positions on the board feeling that they were moderate, being not of the “concerned group” nor overly “pro-library.” They thought both Huether and Stearns had rounded backgrounds with unique qualities to offer.
The BOCC considered a compromise by choosing a candidate who is well suited to the position, Amy Rosenberg. She holds a library degree and was a previous employee of the library. The commissioners stated the candidate was overlooked because she had voiced some of the concerns over the last year.
Rosenberg would not be a good fit since this is not a director’s position and to be on the board, one doesn’t need a library degree, Spann said.
Expanding on the point of whether Rosenberg would be a good fit, Patton said the board has to operate in an atmosphere of mutual trust. “In regards to boards, there is a matter of trust, people being able to work together and to trust that they have each other’s’ backs,” said Patton. She explained Rosenberg “has been extremely vocal, even accusing the director of things and calling for her to be fired without knowing all of the information which we are not at liberty to talk about.”
Amerein replied that if the board were to be more transparent, Rosenberg may have been able to “see that it isn’t what she thought it was.”
Patton and Spann then brought up an agreement that was signed by the commissioners to ensure that any recommendations made by the board for new board members would be accepted. The commission could not remember such a contract and during the meeting, the contract could not be located. It was decided the decision would be tabled until the contract could be located.
