In the wake of the Mid-Continent Public Library’s board of trustees’ vote last month to slash $1.3 million from the library’s tax income, Platte County residents questioned commissioners on the motives of the board members they appointed.
Platte County library board members Gordon Cook, Yummy Pandolfi, Michael Lazio and Rita Wiese joined a portion of Clay County trustees to cut the library system’s operating levy by two cents. Four representatives each from Platte, Clay and Jackson counties are appointed by county leadership to represent that county on the MCPL board.
The board and library leadership, including former system director Steve Potter, were at odds with Cook, who serves as finance committee chair, for the better part of the year over the library’s budget. Patrons have also attended meetings protesting perceived homophobic and anti-diversity comments made by Platte County trustees and stating they did not represent their opinions on diversity.
Platte County resident Mark Kover attended several MCPL board meetings to protest the proposed levy cut and to question the politics of the board members from Platte County.
At the Monday, Oct. 3 meeting of the Platte County Commission, Kover questioned commissioners directly about the people they appointed to the MCPL board.
He asked commissioners if they had any response or comment on possibly anti-semitic and anti-LGBT comments made by trustees.
Presiding commissioner Ron Schieber said he doesn’t have any concerns about trustees being anti-Jewish or anti-LGBT and felt the trustees represented the community’s interests well.
“We need voices in the community who represent that community,” Shieber said.
Kover said the county was growing quickly and growing more diverse and what he called “right-wing” opinions did not represent that diverse community.
“What is your definition of diversity?” Kover asked.
“Diversity of opinion,” Scheiber said. He noted that there was no diversity of race, but that the Platte County representatives held different opinions on different topics.
The conversation turned to the levy reduction, with Schieber defending the actions of the trustees.
“Cutting a budget and cutting a levy in these times of inflation helps the common person,” Schieber said, stating the library had sufficient funds to complete its planned projects.
Kover questioned this, noting the savings amounted to “one or two more bags of potato chips.”
Sharen Hunt, who served as the Platte County director for the University of Missouri Extension office for many years, also spoke.
“We voted to increase the levy and four people who were appointed, not elected, changed our vote,” Hunt said, and noted what appears to be antagonism from the trustees toward the library system they represent. “We hear ‘what the heck happened to Platte County?’”
Hunt said she, as well as other people, have expressed interest in serving on the library board but no one has ever received a call.
In 2016, voters approved an eight cent operating levy increase for the library system.