MY TURN: Is This What’s Best for CLN?

Last June, Rachelle Ottosen, Tom Hanley and Tim Plass elected themselves officers of the Community Library Network board during the same meeting Plass and Hanley were sworn into office. Days later, the board interviewed Colton Boyles for 13 minutes in executive session. Shortly thereafter, CLN had new general counsel.  

Trustees Vanessa Robinson and Katie Blank objected to the decision’s haste. Trained as a paralegal, Ms. Robinson noted how unusual it was that no other law firms were considered.    

Mr. Boyles’ website does not say where he received a law degree. It lists client types including startups, investigative journalists, cryptocurrency firms, whistleblowers, nurses and doctors. Mr. Boyles had no experience advising libraries.  

Duty of care and attorney costs

Duty of Care is a principle that puts what is best for the institution first and emphasizes problem prevention. Trustees exercise duty of care by (for example) handling finances responsibly and obeying relevant laws. It is not surprising that prudence on those matters can keep legal costs low. CLN spent zero dollars on lawyers in five of 13 years starting with FY2010. In the eight years CLN paid general counsel fees, costs averaged $3,130 per year through FY 2022. 

In FY2023, CLN spent $40,471 on general counselors. There were three reasons:  the national religious and political uproar over social change brought scrutiny on children’s and teens’ library materials. When local parents demanded CLN shield their children, trustees sought legal advice and created the Library Cards for Minors policy. Second, an unexpected resignation meant legal work for a new director’s contract. Third, May’s election brought our present board majority and a need for training in trustee roles and responsibilities.    

In FY2023 Lake City Law was counsel for nine months, billed $22,478; a $2,498 monthly average. Boyles Law was counsel for three months, billed $17,994; a $5,998 monthly average. 

July-December, Boyles Law billed CLN $33,238. FY 2024 legal fees will almost certainly exceed the $46,000 amount budgeted by this board. The board majority has refused to decide from what source they plan to transfer funds for over-budget legal fees or over-budget insurance costs. Chair Ottosen has ignored requests from Library Director Alexa Eccles and the minority trustees to even discuss the situation. 

Citizens should know the board majority is not exercising its duty of care with CLN funds.   

Attorney needs to actively help

Almost every meeting Mr. Boyles stays detached while the board gets into the same problems: Plass makes premature motions, Ottosen silences Blank and Robinson over procedures and discussions spiral. To break this pattern, Mr. Boyles needs to engage with his client.    

Boyles should show Mr. Plass that disdain toward Idaho Code is incompatible with holding public office and that his attempts to force board decisions prematurely are counterproductive. Boyles should guide Ms. Ottosen’s motion-handling as it occurs, not wait until there is a tangle of motions on the floor. The board majority needs to listen better to staff, minority trustees and their attorney. But it’s Boyles who should initiate these changes.  

Boyles also needs to answer routine legal questions in real time. Emailing a belated legal answer during a meeting when the board has already moved to discussion of a different item undermines everyone’s focus.     

Can these trustees be persuaded?

Mid-December, Mr. Boyles asked Ms. Eccles to draft a policy combining minor access and collection development. She did that quickly and circulated it to the board. In the Dec. 21 meeting, Boyles advised trustees to merge Eccles’ work with that of Hanley and Plass and to avoid further policy changes until they tracked the data.  

Pandemonium ensued.

Mr. Plass challenged Boyles’ legal interpretations. He repeatedly moved to approve a draft the board had barely begun discussing, which did not include Eccles’ work. Chair Ottosen overruled Blank and Robinson’s requests to hear more from Boyles, which essentially muzzled him.  

Mr. Boyles silently watched. He didn’t try to regain board attention, reword his advice or elaborate on risk. It was Director Eccles who asked whether the law would be upheld or a single trustee’s preference would prevail. Mr. Boyles seemed unable to pose even this fundamental question, himself, in the moment. And the board majority seemed unwilling to hear him, anyway.   

Citizens should know CLN’s board majority is having difficulty meeting its responsibilities, that their attorney could be more actively helpful and that costs keep rising.  

Please talk about this with other community leaders.  

You can offer trustees advice at: https://communitylibrary.net/board/#board-contact

Pat Raffee lives in Post Falls.