Gunter, Ray grateful for voters' support

SANDPOINT — Gloria Ray and Wayne Gunter are thanking voters for electing them to the East Bonner County Library District’s board of trustees on Tuesday.

Gunter said he’s looking forward to working together with Ray, incumbent trustees, the district librarian and its staff in a spirit of goodwill to improve library operations and services.

“Nothing is too good for our library’s users. Library staff also deserve the very best,” Gunter said in a post-election statement.

Gunter and Ray finished the four-way race with 523 and 509 votes, respectively. Incumbent Trustee Jim Spagon finished the race with 265 votes, while Susan Shea collected 211 votes, a respectable sum for the race’s only contestant who did not have prior ties to the district.

Gunter is a retired district librarian with 27 years of service. Gunter was the district’s assistant director for more than 20 years before becoming director in 1997. Gunter retired in 2010.

“I certainly agree with Wayne’s statement and look forward to working with him, the Board, staff and district residents to provide the best library services possible,” Ray said in her own statement.

Ray said her priorities include increasing advocacy so the community is better aware of the district’s services, networking with other organizations to avoid needless duplication of efforts and obtaining feedback on library services and areas of improvement.

Gunter has expressed an interest in investigating the possibilities of opening the library earlier in the day, extending book loan programs and finding novel ways to improve library services to the community.