After weeks of disagreement regarding the trustee reappointment process, the Garfield Board of County Commissioners and Garfield County Public Library District Board of Trustees are set to finalize an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) that will clarify appointments moving forward.

A public meeting to discuss the county and library district draft IGAs is slated for 1 p.m. Thursday at Garfield County Administration, 108 Eighth St., Room 100, Glenwood Springs.

The ongoing dispute centers on the appointment and reappointment process for library district board trustees, which was altered earlier this year after a small group of community members began a petition calling for restricted access to Manga for adult readers in the Garfield County libraries in 2023.

The county’s proposed IGA states that the original agreement, established in 2006 when the libraries board was created, “failed to include a provision regarding the ‘method of trustee selection’… the parties desire to rectify this omission and clarify the current policy of the board and method of trustee selection.”

According to the county’s draft, all trustee applications will be submitted to county commissioners, who will conduct interviews and make appointments. A library district representative can participate in interviews, the draft IGA states. 

Trustees seeking reappointment must also appear before the commissioners, although the proposed IGA specifies that reappointment should not be denied without “good cause,” as outlined in the library district board of trustees bylaws. The bylaws define ‘good cause’ as “willful misconduct, refusal to obey an order of the presiding officer, or neglect of duty in office.”

The library district’s draft IGA, however, proposes that trustees reclaim control of the appointment process. Under this IGA, trustees receive applications, solicit interviews and recommend an appointment, which county commissioners ratify or reject. Commissioners may provide up to five interview questions, designate representatives to observe interviews, attend a public candidate recommendation and request resumes and candidate rankings. Trustees seeking reappointment would not need to reappear before county commissioners. 

The debate over the trustee appointment process began earlier this year, when commissioners passed a resolution altering the system that had been in place for over a decade.

In 2006, commissioners adopted Resolution No. 06-111, establishing library district trustee appointments as a responsibility of county commissioners.The resolution also stated that “Subsequent appointments to the board of trustees and the terms of the board of trustees shall be undertaken by the board of county commissioners or specified in the bylaws of the Garfield County Public Library District as appropriate.”

The library district board bylaws state that “any new member of the board shall be presented to the Garfield County Commissioners to affirm an appointment.” Adrian Rippy-Sheehy, president of the board of trustees, referenced this point while reappointing trustees Jocelyn Durrance, Carbondale, and Susan Use, Glenwood Springs, on Nov. 7.

In 2008, commissioners verbally amended resolution No. 06-111, allowing the board of trustees to recommend appointments instead of commissioners making the selection directly. 

The arrangement was overturned in March with the passage of Resolution 24-12. “Whenever a vacancy on the board of trustees occurs, due to the expiration of a term of office or otherwise, the board of county commissioners, acting as a committee, shall appoint a qualified person to fill the vacancy,” the resolution states. 

The upcoming meeting on Thursday aims to resolve these differences and finalize the IGA for trustee appointments moving forward.