LIBERTY LAKE, Wash. — The anger, confusion, and exasperation were readily apparent during Tuesday's city council meeting in Liberty Lake, where a majority of the discussion was around one issue.
"To be perfectly honest with you, I don't have an issue with any of their policies," said Liberty Lake mayor pro tem Phil Folyer. "But there's gotta be the connection. You gotta allow a dialogue between the two bodies and that's the missing link."
Folyer drew some ire from the public and some of his council colleagues by proposing a revised ordinance, 119-D, which would give city council more say over the library and its policies. A prior version of the ordinance passed in May, but within days died after Mayor Cris Kaminskas vetoed it. Folyer said this was a new version based on feedback from the veto.
"I removed the verbiage regarding book bans because the mayor said it was confusing and does not align with the verbiage in the policy. I also removed the term 'retroactive to February 21 2023.' The mayor's veto suggested that this verbiage sets us up for a never-ending cycle of submittals," Folyer said.
Some spoke out on continued concerns this "oversight" is a thinly veiled attempt at censorship and an avenue to ban books, with the removal of that language in this new version prompting some to say it now leaves that door wide open.
Council member Annie Kurtz said she was surprised to see the issue brought up again, especially since it wasn't discussed beforehand at a council meeting. She said citizen concerns about banning books are not unfounded, as many supporters of the ordinance, mostly emails, specifically mention doing so.
"They documented that in their citizen comments because they see it as a vehicle to restrict access. They said they don't want porn. They don't want inappropriate content. They don't want those materials in the library and therefore they support this change to this ordinance," she said.
For many in Liberty Lake, May's failure to override the veto was the end of the discussion.
"We are here again. But why? Why are we here?" asked Abbey Shuster.
"Listen to us again," another commenter said.
Many citizens criticized the timing of the reintroduction of the issue, calling it a "sneaky" attempt to take advantage of a post-election loophole.
When the election is certified next week, council member-elect Mike Kennedy will get a vote immediately. However, Linda Ball, also elected in November, won't get a vote until January.
"This is not a loophole," said council member Chris Cargill in an interview Wednesday.
Cargill says Kennedy is just retaking a seat he previously held, and gave up early last year for health reasons. Tom Sahlberg, who voted against the ordinance, was appointed to fill in. Kennedy won his bid for the seat in November.
"This is actually just returning the council in terms of makeup to what voters originally intended," Cargill said.
He said it's unfair to guess how any council member will vote on the issue.
Ball would surely be a vote against, as she's been a vocal opponent of the ordinance. She said while door-knocking during her campaign, she heard from hundreds of voters.
"These citizens are not concerned that the city council doesn't have enough control over the library board of trustees," Ball said during public comment.
Ball beat incumbent Phil Folyer.
"You're supporting this mockery of the election. I don't see why you guys just don't wait until January," one resident said.
KREM 2 News asked the same question of Cargill.
"You could say why not just wait until January, why not wait until June, why not wait until January of 2025, I mean we've been discussing this issue for a year and a half now," he said.
Cargill is currently under investigation after Sahlberg complained he violated his oath of office after refusing to vote for mayoral appointments or library budget requests following the veto.
When asked why the issue was coming up again at all, Cargill told KREM 2 he believes it will keep resurfacing "until there's oversight."
He says the idea the ordinance is a Trojan horse to ban books is false, but instead, the idea is rooted in the fact that the library is the only city department council doesn't have a say in. He says following a book challenge last year, the library board changed policy without notifying or consulting the council. He says there needs to be more transparency, especially since 25% of property tax revenue goes to the library.
Mayor Cris Kaminskas has previously refuted the idea council ever had oversight over library policies.
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