EDITORIAL: Libraries face yet another ideological hurdle

Go Fish.

Bob Fish, that is.

If that name rings a bell, it should. Fish is the former southern California Republican official who raised eyebrows when he suddenly appeared on the political scene in Kootenai County. In May 2017, Fish ran for — and won — one of the five seats on the board governing the Community Library Network.

Oh-oh, some alarmed citizens muttered. Here comes another political ideologue in a nonpartisan elected position, and who knows how much damage he can do over the next four years?

The answer was: None.

In fact, trustees who served with Bob lauded him for his intelligence, his ability to listen well and learn fast, and his unwavering determination to serve library supporters and critics with equanimity. In short, Bob Fish was an ideal library trustee: One who fully understood his role and executed it superbly.

While Bob lost his re-election bid because he refused to jump on the local Republican Central Committee’s book-ban bandwagon, he hasn’t simply faded away. His letter to the editor Wednesday alerted citizens to the fact that the two newly elected, party-supported trustees have indicated they won’t support a tax increase in the coming budget year.

For the record, people of all political stripes object to tax increases and the incremental growth in government that those increases fuel. But to wave off all increases as anti-American is at best short-sighted and more likely a dereliction of duty.

In the library network’s case, as Bob points out, the state-allowed 3% increase would provide about $130,000 a year. He notes that failure to add a little to the coffers threatens the existence of some small libraries in the network and reduced hours at others.

Look at it this way: A 3% increase is about one-third the 8.7% boost thousands of Kootenai County residents received in their Social Security payments this year.

Or this way: Kootenai County’s population is estimated at 181,000 now. A 3% library network tax increase represents a charge to each resident of less than 75 cents for a full year.

Meantime, inflation, a housing shortage and other economic factors have left virtually all employers — libraries included — struggling to hire and retain qualified employees. In the libraries’ case, trustees have a fiduciary responsibility to manage budgets that will keep libraries whole. Sustaining a sufficient professional workforce is critical to meeting that responsibility.

Bob’s call to action in his letter is worth echoing and encouraging. Let trustees know you welcome a small, responsible tax increase to keep our libraries functioning properly. Click on this link and scroll down to fill out the short trustee contact form: https://shorturl.at/aCKM4