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April 13, 2014
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Tribune Opinion: Greeley right to avoid library power struggle


The Greeley City Council made the right decision when its members said last week they would stay out of a power struggle over control of the High Plains Library District.

Several council members at a work session strongly disagreed with actions by the leaders of Ault, Eaton, Hudson, Fort Lupton, the Fort Lupton Re-8 School District and Weld County, who met on Monday and nominated each other as High Plains’ new board members.

Those communities — in addition to Greeley — are the founding members of the district. Representatives from the other communities contend they have the authority to replace the board.

All this comes as the culmination of a long-running disagreement about how to manage the library district. The disagreement boiled to the surface last fall during a convoluted nomination process for a vacant seat on the library district board.

The incident spurred a continuing dispute in which member libraries — six libraries with their own boards of directors who have autonomy over their own budgets — say they are being forced to adopt practices and regulations the district requires of its branch libraries.

The district, which provides information technology services, equipment and other infrastructure to all libraries and runs branch libraries in Greeley, Kersey and Firestone, argues it is important to streamline services and equipment to use tax dollars efficiently and provide a consistent experience for all library patrons.

When the seven original communities formed High Plains, the intent was to pool their money to maximize the number of materials and other resources available to Weld patrons, while maintaining control over local preferences.

At Geeley’s work session, city attorney Doug Marek said he mostly agrees with arguments made by High Plains attorney Nathan Godsey.

The founding communities should have changed the High Plains bylaws or gotten authority from the board to begin the nomination process, and they never cited any “good cause” for unseating board members, Marek and Godsey say.

Because the dispute will almost certainly land in court if it continues on this path, we think the city’s approach makes sense. While we don’t hold out much hope, we’d like to see the Board of Weld County Commissioners take a similar approach when they consider Monday a resolution that would give a stamp of approval to the removal of the library district board. The best way to resolve this dispute is through dialogue and compromise. The commissioners could play a constructive role in helping facilitate that compromise. Instead, as Greeley City Councilman Mike Finn pointed out last week, the commissioners have effectively sided with some rural areas of the county at the expense of their constituents who live in more populous areas.

“It’s another example, in my opinion, that the county commissioners aren’t representing this community,” he said to applause from a handful of residents gathered at the work session. And, in fact, one rural library —Kersey — has come out against the move to replace the board. In an April 7 letter, members of the Friends of Kersey Library and Museum said their association with the High Plains district has improved the services Kersey residents receive.

Ultimately, it’s difficult for us to understand how the management of the library district has become so contentious. While we know that leaders of some smaller communities have said they feel like they’ve been treated unfairly, we haven’t seen a groundswell of complaints from library users who say they’re dissatisfied with the services they receive. If there are substantive complaints about services for users in any part of the district, those must be addressed. However, if trampled egos and hurt feelings lie at the center of this dispute, all parties must exhibit the kind of leadership that will allow them to rise above these lesser concerns and do the right thing for the county as a whole.

— The Tribune Editorial Board



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The Greeley Tribune Updated Apr 14, 2014 09:07AM Published Apr 16, 2014 01:21AM Copyright 2014 The Greeley Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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