CLN votes to again pursue Redman Insurance
The board majority plowed through several motions Wednesday during a special meeting of Community Library Network trustees at the Hayden Library, where the board chair had two attendees removed for behavior she considered to be disruptive.
Absent Trustee Vanessa Robinson, Chair Rachelle Ottosen, Vice Chair Tom Hanley and Trustee Tim Plass were lockstep as they approved a motion for Library Director Alexa Eccles to submit an application for full coverage to Redman Insurance by Thursday, with quotes from at least two companies; for the director to provide interested board members with paper copies of all CLN staff position descriptions by the April 18 regular meeting; and for the director to provide the board with a “reasonably detailed staff utilization plan” for staff normally assigned to the Athol and Post Falls libraries, which are presently closed due to water damage that occurred during freezing weather in January.
All motions were made by Hanley, who referred to a prepared statement several times during the meeting. Trustee Katie Blank voted against each motion.
“I would prefer to start fresh and put out a public notice for a proposal and be very transparent, and this motion is unclear to me if I am going to need to use Redman Insurance, or whether I can move forward in the way that I feel most equitable with documented, transparent criteria," Eccles said after the motion was made to continue pursuing Redman Insurance.
The CLN board majority previously approved a motion to hire Redman Insurance with quotes from Wright Specialty Insurance and American Family Insurance, only for the offer to be declined due to current unresolved claims.
Hanley said he’s pushing for Redman because the previous paperwork is nearly completed and it shouldn't be as “big of a lift."
“Months ago I heard — again, I have no knowledge of Redman personally at all — it was a good price, I heard, I think we were down in Harrison when I heard that,” he said.
He said, from what he understood, Redman offered full coverage, where the network's current insurer, Idaho Counties Risk Management Program, has cut back significantly on its coverage of the library network.
Eccles has previously stated the network is fully covered under its current plans through Sept. 30.
During Wednesday's meeting, Eccles said she has many concerns regarding this process, about which the board hasn’t allowed any conversation for these concerns to be addressed. She strongly encouraged the board to stop acting recklessly by not allowing the director and other board members to receive legal advice.
“I’ve heard criticism of the board that we act recklessly too many times from someone who, apparently, seems to forget she works for us,” Hanley responded.
This sparked a vocal reaction from the audience. Ottosen had two attendees removed by law enforcement after she had addressed them earlier in the meeting for being disruptive.
“I think this is a violation of First Amendment rights,” Blank said. “I was not disrupted at all and I didn’t hear anybody else making any complaints. I think asking again is one thing, but I think that you’re stepping into a very troublesome situation for this board.”
Ottosen said she didn't want to call the cops, but was forced to as the two attendees would not leave on their own.
"If you refuse to leave then that’s our next option because we can’t conduct business," Ottosen said. "That’s kind of the point of why we’re here."
Also during the meeting, Hanley made a motion to begin an immediate six-month employment hiring freeze with exceptions made only by the board.
"Is that legal?" Blank asked.
The motion was determined to not be compliant with Idaho's open meeting law as it was outside the scope of topics listed on the meeting's agenda.
The next regular meeting of the Community Library Network's board will be from 2 to 5:30 p.m. March 21 at the Hayden Library.
Eccles
Ottosen