As a constituent and 32-year resident of Lyon County, I’m writing to express my deep concern over your vote to appoint the newest member of the Lyon County Library Board of Trustees.
At the February 6 meeting of the Lyon County Commission, you joined two of your colleagues in the three-vote majority rejecting a superior applicant and instead voted for a well-meaning but otherwise unqualified applicant.
The applicant the Commission rejected was recommended for the position by the Library Board of Trustees after a thorough vetting, which included a written application and a personal appearance and interview at the Board’s public meeting.
The importance of the Board’s role is recognized in County policy, which requires the Board to submit its recommendation to the Commission before the appointment is made.
This recognizes the special value sitting board members bring to the appointment process by virtue of their service and experience, and their assessment of an applicant’s ability to fulfill the duties and obligations of the position.
Nevertheless, you joined with two other Commissioners in ignoring the Board’s recommendation and appointing a clearly less qualified applicant.
I was also disappointed but not surprised when Commission Chair Keller stated once again that the County Commissioners, not the Library Board, have the power to make this appointment. We all know that. The point is, if Commissioners are going to disregard a well-considered recommendation from an officially recognized, knowledgeable source they should have a better reason for doing it than just because they can.
In other words, the majority Commissioners should have provided a fact-based justification for ignoring the Library Board, and they should have produced a better, alternative choice.
They did neither.
No one, for example, explained how a side-by-side comparison led them to reject the applicant with extensive and successful prior and ongoing service on a number of similar boards, a demonstrated understanding of the Lyon County Library’s role in community education, long standing connections with local service clubs and the business community, and who is an avid reader and library user.
Most perplexing, you yourself stated how important it was for applicants to attend the meetings of the board they wished to serve on, and you then voted to appoint an applicant who, as stated on her application, attended zero Library Board meetings in the year prior to applying.
In addition, your preferred applicant does not have a library card, has never used the library, and had no interest in the Lyon County Libraries until now. While she did express vague generalities about liking libraries, she offered nothing in the way of relevant experience or knowledge rising to the level required of a Library Trustee.
More troubling, the Commissioners’ appointed applicant is associated with, and supported by, a small, organized group of residents who have spent many months accusing the Lyon County Libraries and staff of distributing pornography to children.
This lie is a vile, pernicious danger to both the Library staff and the community as a whole. It is beyond disappointing that any County Commissioner, when given the opportunity to stand against this lie, appears instead to do just the opposite.
Erich Obermayr, Lyon County Resident
