Library board delays materials acquisition policy vote after email outage disrupts public comment

(Lander, WY) – The Fremont County Library System Board of Trustees decided not to vote on its revised materials acquisition policy last month due to a technical issue that disabled county email servers and disrupted the proposal’s 45-day public comment period.

“Because the email system has been down for days, we can’t review those comments,” Board Member Perry Cook said during a special meeting on June 30, adding that, “as far as I know, there are a lot of comments that are waiting to be read.”

“I think it would be a grave disservice to the library board (and) the community if we go ahead with voting on a policy without having access to the public comment,” Cook said. “I think that is a horrible thing to do. …  We should not make a decision when we can’t see the public comment.”

Board Member Julie Lefevre agreed that she “would love to be able to read” all of the comments that have been submitted before voting on the proposed policy.

She also argued that the board would be going against its own rules by considering the revised policy before all of the public comments have been collected.

“Our policies (say) you have to provide a 45-day public comment period,” Lefevre said. “I think that assumes the comments are read – or available to be read. (So) unfortunately circumstances beyond our control make it impossible for us to vote tonight.”

Board Member Mara Mossburg pushed back on that assertion, however, pointing out that people could still submit their comments by hand while the email system was down. 

Plus, she said, “I highly doubt that your opinion would be swayed by someone who thinks the way I do in a particularly well-written letter.”

Cook disputed both of those arguments, first noting that the library board asked the public to submit their comments via email – which is the “standard of communication right now.”

“The public expectation is, if they use the standard means of communication, (we) will be able to read them – and we can’t,” she said. 

Cook was able to read the comments that came in before the email system was disabled, though, and she said her stance on the proposed materials acquisition policy was swayed by some of the “incredibly thorough” arguments people sent in. 

In fact, she said, “I changed the way I plan on voting, because I looked at what the public was saying.”

“So I think that’s pretty arrogant of you to say public comment isn’t going to affect the way I vote,” Cook said. “The reason we have public comment is so that we can consider, thoughtfully, whether what we’re doing is correct or not.”

Regardless, Board Member Karen Wetzel agreed with Mossburg that, while the board is “required to give a 45-day comment period,” that doesn’t mean “we have to read anything.”

“We followed statute the way it’s written,” she said. “We provided a 45-day public comment period.”

Given the disagreement among the board members, Board Chair Kristen McClelland proposed voting on whether to consider the materials acquisition policy during the June 30 meeting.

Mossburg and Wetzel voted to move forward with the policy consideration that day, while Cook and Lefevre voted to wait until the public comments were available for review – leaving McClelland to cast the tie-breaking vote.

She chose to side with Cook and Lefevre, voting to wait to consider the proposed policy revision until all public comments are available for board review.

“I’m not going to play politics and dance with the devil,” McClelland said as she adjourned the meeting.

New board members

The Library Board convened for its regular July meeting the next day, welcoming two new board members who were appointed to the seats previously held by Mossburg and Cook: Kristy Richmond and Tiffani Zimmer. 

Cook did not seek reappointment this year.

The county email system was still down during the July 1 meeting, so the Board did not take any action on the materials acquisition policy at that time. 

McClelland did note, however, that the board hasn’t received a legal review of the proposed policy from the Fremont County Attorney’s Office.

The board’s next meeting is scheduled to take place at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 5, at the Riverton Branch Library, 1330 W. Park Ave. in Riverton.