Grand County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) failed to reappoint Grand County Library District (GCLD) trustees, vice president, Ann Douden from District 2, and treasurer Nancy Knoohuizen, at large representative. Douden was originally appointed in 2014 and Knoohuizen was originally reappointed in 2015.
Commissioner Richard Cimino reflected on the recent focus on the library district when financial pitfalls threatened closure of the Hot Sulphur Springs Library District. The recent passing of Ballot measure 1B increased the property taxes from 2.41 mills to 3.36 mills and alleviated the pressure on the library district and prevented the possibilities of closures. However, the GCLD board has not been able to shake concerns of a lack of financial transparency that arose during this tumultuous time.
Newly appointed Commissioner, Richard Cimino felt that board appointments should not just be a routine rubber stamp and that diligent thought and review in board makeup is a good thing to aspire for. He felt the GCLD board should open the positions to new applicants.
Commissioner Merrit Linke cited that he did not have any issue with these trustees, but wanted to address any lingering questions about financial transparency. Commissioner Cimino suggested to delay the reappointments to meet with Douden and Knoohuizen or other represenatives of GCLD to address ongoing concerns about transparency.
GCLD board president, Mary Chance, said, “I was disappointed to learn that the BOCC chose not to reappoint Annie and Nancy. Because of the work of these two women over the past year we have reached a place where the library district is solvent, we will have balanced budgets going forward without drastic reductions to library services, and we can even handle the current situation involving the YMCA because our finance committee under Nancy’s direction planned ahead. Annie’s work on the mill levy was integral to its success. Given what all has happened at the county level I can understand concerns about financial transparency but everything the library district does is easily available on the website or by request. Annie and Nancy are two of the board members who stuck by the district in the wake of resignations during the last row with the BOCC. They will be difficult to replace if they are not reappointed.”
This is not the first time that the BOCC failed to reappoint a trustee. In July of 2016, the BOCC refused to reappoint then GCLD president Kim Jenson.
