Dear Editor,
There is an error in the reporting in the August 19th issue of the Journal, concerning my appearance before the Appleton City Board of Aldermen. I did not say that the Journal had slandered me. I never refuted the 3 claims made against me by the library board president, though I find them tedious and ridiculous, in light of the actual circumstances, with which I will not bore the readers. The misquoting by the reporter smacks of the possible reasons why it’s a conflict of interest for a reporter to serve on local boards, as is the case here.
I did, however, note that boards are intended to be meeting places of the minds and are served well when there are members from diverse walks of life and opinion. Boards are called upon to follow procedure, work together, to compromise, and to pass on knowledge to the incoming members, which, hopefully, include the upcoming generations. Board presidents hold no more power than any other seat on the board but only serve as a moderator of the group, generally speaking. I don’t feel that is happening in this situation and Appleton City ultimately loses.
There are many more points to this story that I could list and discuss, but since other witnesses, former board members and librarians are unlikely to want to be involved, and the general public does not choose to demand better (think lack of people willing to serve) I am done with my attempts to fight for the “right thing”. I’ve settled for the fact that my efforts resulted in the library board seats remaining at 9 members (though 3 remain empty) and the clearing up of the requirements for being a board member (living within city limits). There are still other issues that should be clarified and resolved...but I leave that to someone else for another day - should we be so lucky for that to happen.
Sincerely,
Cindy McEvoy
Appleton City, Mo
