The Crawford County Commissioners appointed two new trustees to the Library Board at their May 19 meeting. They appoint one or more trustees every year, but usually no one notices. This year, it was noticed.
The Library Board consists of five trustees. 2025 revenue was $824,428 with $775,981 coming from real and personal property taxes. Spending was $593,576. On 12/31/2025, they held $663,927 in checking and $1,348,199 in CDs. In my opinion, people who control this much taxpayer money should be elected, not appointed; but that is a story for another day.
Associate Commissioner Mark Pfeiffer conducted telephone interviews with each candidate. Associate Commissioner Jared Boast spoke with current Library Board trustees. All commissioners were contacted by voters expressing their preferences. Pfeiffer and Presiding Commissioner Steve Black said they took voter preferences into consideration. All commissioners mentioned numerous voter complaints comparing the library tax to the road tax. No commissioner even suggested he considered taxes when making his decision. Tax is relevant here only because of the insight it later provided into one of the current trustees.
Steve and Mark voted for Faith DeRennaux and Julie Jensen; after apparently thinking about it for a few moments, Jared followed suit to make the vote unanimous.
Ellen Bowles, currently serving on the Library Board, was not reappointed and clearly didn’t like it; ergo, my reference to sour grapes.
Bowles addressed the commissioners, first stating their vote removed her from the board. Her tone and demeanor suggested she felt entitled to reappointment. She couldn’t understand how they could make their decision about based on library tax when the candidates had not addressed that issue.
This is where I obtained insight into Ms. Bowles. She didn’t even mention voters. For years people have complained about attending Library Board meetings, expressing concerns, and getting no meaningful response. If all trustees are like Bowles, I can see why people feel ignored. She hears what she wants to hear and ignores everything else.
Bowles thought she was entitled to reappointment, so she didn’t bother to hear the commissioners describe numerous citizens expressing preference for other applicants. She didn’t bother to hear the commissioners explain their decision-making process. She falsely claimed she was not reappointed because the commissioners improperly considered taxes.
People who hold a position on a board have a duty to listen and respond to citizens. Complaints about the Library Board suggest that board has not been listening. Perhaps new members will bring change.
Jackie Hunt
Cuba
