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wallowa.com
April 25, 2018
Wallowa County Chieftain
LIBRARY BOARD CANDIDATES
These six candidates are running for five seats on the library board that will be created to oversee a new library
district should voters approve it.
Mike Crawford
(although, due to an error in the office of the
County Clerk, it will appear on the ballot as
Michael Crawford).
Why do you want
to be a library district
board member?
Why do we need a
library district when the
city’s already take care
of this service for free?
What is your vision
for the library district?
How will the new
library district, if formed,
go about listening to the
taxpayers of the district
and their needs?
I firmly believe that librar-
ies are an important part of our
community. I have served on
the Wallowa Valley Library
Foundation board since the
beginning of the process to
form the district and feel that
I have a responsibility to con-
tinue to devote my time and
energy to the continued suc-
cess of our libraries.
The current service is not
free, it is a line item in the
budget of every city, paid for
by taxpayer dollars. It is also
subject to being slashed from
the budget at any time, just
as happened to funds for the
county library. The library dis-
trict will provide stable fund-
ing which, by law, cannot be
diverted for any purpose other
than libraries.
Libraries in the 21st cen-
tury are not just about books,
they are about access to infor-
mation through all available
means. My vision for the
library district would include
additional hours along with all
of the existing, and possibly
expanded, services now pro-
vided plus new, innovative,
services to address the impact
of technology on our lives and
to provide access to all forms
of information.
Much of the access to the
library district will be provided
by statute, such as open meet-
ing requirements and budget
committee composition rules,
but more importantly, the
library district must be open
and accessible to all citizens.
Each board member must be
willing to engage in dialog with
members of the community and
bring any concerns or sugges-
tions before the board for con-
sideration. A well-publicized
rotation of board meeting loca-
tions, between each of the com-
munities served, might provide
additional accessibility.
I love Wallowa County. I
love living here. I have always
been proud of all the diverse
opportunities that our county
has to offer citizens of all ages.
I have seen too many pro-
grams reduced or eliminated
due to budgets. Our school,
city, and county boards are all
doing the best they can with
the funds they have at their
disposal. Dedicated volun-
teers have worked hard over
the years, but we have lost a
lot. I don’t want our county to
lose any more programs, and
without the library district, we
will lose so many more.
First, the services provided
by the city library are not free.
They are paid for with tax dol-
lars. Second, the city library
services “feel free” because
of the cooperation between
the city and county libraries.
If the district is not approved,
each person who lives out-
side of the city limits of Enter-
prise, Joseph or Wallowa will
have to pay an annual fee to
use any library service. This
is estimated at $70, which
is more than the estimated
tax increase that the average
homeowner would see if the
district is approved.
I envision a cost-efficient,
forward-thinking, and tech-
nologically up-to-date coun-
ty-wide library system that
will provide all the services
the county now has and more.
Wallowa County should con-
tinue to have a library system
that we can be proud of and
point to as a reason for new
businesses and families to
move here.
The library district board,
like all the other boards in the
county, will be available to
the taxpayers for input. Board
meetings are open to the pub-
lic and board members, I’m
sure, will be willing to listen
to taxpayer ideas and concerns
both at meetings and individ-
ually. Their input would be
weighed with all the facts
and opinions available as the
board deals with everything
that organizing and directing
our library district will entail.
I believe that all of Wal-
lowa County’s residents
should have access to a sta-
ble, unbiased sources of infor-
mation. I want to actively sup-
port their right to research and
continue to learn. I support
our county’s residents’ right to
enrich their lives through the
pleasure and the joy of read-
ing. A county library district,
funded by taxpayers, would
provide the financial stability
needed to provide the required
resources for residents from
year to year. I also believe that
information should be easily
accessed and include a wide
range of materials and media.
If the county library disap-
pears at the end of June, peo-
ple in the outlying areas of
our county could be denied
access to library services that
are currently offered because
we have a county-wide
system.
Our small city libraries
without additional money
and staff will not and cannot
provide the same level of ser-
vices we’ve become accus-
tomed to.
It is my hope that our new
Library District will support
Wallowa County residents
by providing quality, unbi-
ased information services to
help our County’s families
and their communities pros-
per, so Wallowa County as a
whole will be more prosper-
ous. I envision a library dis-
trict board that will provide
the leadership and resources
to build information services
that are dynamic enough to
meet the needs of all resi-
dents, local agencies, local
governments and local ser-
vice organizations.
The district is required to
hold open public meetings
with opportunities for citi-
zens to comment except when
issues requiring confidentiality
are being discussed. But that
is not enough. Board mem-
bers should make every rea-
sonable effort to let our public
know what we are discuss-
ing, planning and deciding.
These efforts should include
public announcements in the
newspaper and on the radio,
posting and distributing fly-
ers and leaflets, paid advertis-
ing if necessary and speaking
at meetings of local organiza-
tions and agencies.
I would like to see board
members from across the
county, and I want the lower
valley to have representation.
I have also lived in communi-
ties with thriving libraries and
would love to see those oppor-
tunities and services available
in Wallowa County.
Many people don’t know a
lot of the city library program-
ming is made possible due to
funding that comes from the
county library. These funds,
as well as books made avail-
able to kids and elders, will all
disappear if the county library
closes. Loss of the county
library funding will likely also
cause the city libraries to have
to charge for membership,
either to their own residents or
all county residents that do not
live in their city limits.
That the measure passes
and that an opportunity to pro-
vide new and expanded ser-
vices to all the residents of the
county is made possible.
We plan to hold public
board meetings and be avail-
able individually to hear the
needs of taxpayers. There are
also clear state laws to ensure
that districts are account-
able to the public and protect
their involvement in budget
planning.
I want to be a board mem-
ber because I have an abiding
interest in the libraries as well
as the community. As a sup-
porter of this district, I want to
help in any way I can to help
bring it to fruition. I am will-
ing to devote time and effort
to see the district through.
The cities have all done an
excellent job taking care of
the libraries. Unfortunately,
the libraries in each city are
nonmandated services, so if a
budget shortfall were to occur,
the libraries would be at risk
to go first. The district would
help protect the libraries from
closing if such a shortfall
were to transpire. In addition,
the libraries would become a
more efficiently-run service
where administrative tasks
can and would be consoli-
dated to free up resources and
personnel time.
I envision a collabora-
tive, efficient library net-
work that will continue to
provide not only the services
that everyone already knows
and wishes to maintain such
as rural branches in Troy and
Imnaha, Deliver-Me-A-Book
and early literacy programs,
but also more services and
programs that can and will be
provided with the increase in
funding.
I believe we want to be as
transparent and open as pos-
sible. Meetings will gener-
ally be open to the public,
and community members are
more than welcome to share
their ideas and input. We
could also rotate the locations
of the meetings to ensure citi-
zens have easy access to them.
I want to offer my expe-
rience working with public
entities and governing boards
to assist the new district. I
believe that all of our county
residents should have access
to basic media services.
A library district will pro-
vide a dedicated funding
stream that has the potential to
leverage available resources,
to consolidate and improve
media services while remain-
ing locally responsible. With-
out satellite services, the com-
munities of Imnaha, Troy and
county residents outside city
limits risk losing local access
to a public library.
To effectively, efficiently
manage resources to equitably
provide media services to all
residents of Wallowa County.
Regular board meetings
will be the primary place for
taxpayers and constituents to
express their needs to the gov-
erning board of the district.
City: I live on Eden Bench outside of Troy.
Years in the county: I was born and
spent my youth here in Wallowa county. I
returned here to live full-time six year ago.
Unique qualifications: The day-to-day
operation of the libraries is not the role of
the board but is the responsibility of the
individual librarians; therefore, specific
library experience is not a requirement.
The responsibility of the board is to estab-
lish vision and goals for the district, hire/
name the district director and set policies,
which will enable the director to meet
those goals. I believe that my service on
several boards over the years, including
my current service on the Wallowa Val-
ley Library Foundation and the Wallowa
County Educational Service District boards,
along with my extensive experience in
project management, uniquely qualifies
me to serve on the library district board.
Tammy Crawford
City: County
Enterprise)
resident
(near
Years in the county: 60
Unique qualifications: Retired
teacher, 30 years Enterprise School
District; taught reading for 30 years,
certified reading specialist; taught
math for 30 years, certified math
specialist (through Algebra I); years
of experience in both collaborative
work and business meetings through
school, church, social and service
organizations
James Fanning
City: County resident; up river from
Imnaha about 13 miles.
Years in the county: 18 and I have
maintained a residence here for more
than 40 years.
Unique qualifications: I am a
retired public school teacher and
principal. I have supervised librarians
and library operations at the elemen-
tary and secondary level in three dif-
ferent school districts.
Nora Hawkins
City: Wallowa
Years in the county: Born and
raised, 36.
Unique qualifications: Board
member for the Wallowa County
Fund; small business owner.
Olivia Losby
City: Joseph
Years in the county: 20
Unique qualifications: I am the
daughter of Bob and Stephanie Wil-
liams. I presently serve on the Joseph
City Library Board as the chairman,
and have been a part of the board for
almost four years. For more than four
years, my husband and I have owned
and operated a business in down-
town Joseph. I have strong manage-
ment and business skills, which, in
addition to being active on the library
board, uniquely qualify me to run for
the library district board.
Karen Patton
City: Joseph
Years in the County: 50 plus
Unique Qualifications: Small busi-
ness owner, public school teacher,
ESD superintendent; knowledge of
public meeting law, policy devel-
opment, governing board roles and
responsibilities, budget manage-
ment, audit compliance; Eastern Ore-
gon Hub Board Member ; Knowledge
of county library services providing
early literacy experiences for chil-
dren birth through age 5; GO STEM
Hub Advisory Board Chair; Conduct-
ing meetings
