Word recently leaked out that the Timberland Regional Library is about to make a recommendation to its Board of Trustees next week to close the Mountain View branch in Randle. There was a very large public meeting in Randle on Thursday mainly because word leaked out. It was very well attended. I submitted the following letter to the Trustees. It could happen at a library near you.
“Dear Trustees,
Thank you for your public service, I know it is not an easy job in the difficult times that the library is experiencing. I attended the public meeting in Randle and have several things to share.
“The fact that you are trying to expand services to other areas of our population was largely lost on the crowd due to the way this situation transpired which in my opinion was less than honorable. The process of not informing or engaging the community prior to a recommendation evoked strong emotion and not much hope for serious conversation. I have read most of Timberland’s policy and see no requirements for any pre-decisional community involvement. This seems wrong to me since you are a public entity. It seems since our tax dollars are being used for 91 percent of your funding that the public should have a voice in what happens or at the very least a process to allow for public input to be considered. There is a good chance that had this happened other alternatives could have been found. It sounds like other branches are being considered for closure so this problem will certainly be one that continues to surface if it is not addressed.
“Government is set up so that the people have a voice through their elected officials. I know that the Board of County Commissioners had no previous knowledge that this was happening. They appoint the trustees so they should somehow be more involved in the process so that we have that voice through our elected officials. Perhaps a commissioner should be appointed to the board or at least be present at board meetings. I would like to see some sort of policy created to address these concerns. I have shared these concerns with a letter to the Board of County Commissioners as well and will be sharing it in a letter to The Chronicle.
“I truly believe that this situation presents a great opportunity to learn lessons and to strengthen policy and process to ensure that next time around much of the pain and emotion that was evoked in our community and obvious at the meeting could be avoided. The real downside of this is trust. It will take Timberland a long time to regain the trust of this community.
“I ask that you seriously take this into consideration before closing the Mountain View branch. The way that it was done seems less than honorable to most of us here in Randle. I know there is no policy or process that requires public involvement so you don’t have to do it. I would ask you to think about how well you have served the public in this process. You are representing us the public and we deserve to be treated better than this. There is no doubt in my mind that the community would step up and find a way to help you better serve our communities given that chance. We deserve that chance. Thank you for your consideration and public service.”
Steven G. Hoecker
Randle
