Vote Jalon Peters for library board

Labeling people as “extremists” and warning of things like “book banning” are not only divisive to a large swath of East Bonner County residents; rhetoric like this is the hallmark of an entrenched bureaucracy that wants to maintain its power by instilling fear of change and demonizing anyone who dares question it.

It’s this kind of fear-mongering that the current library board has engaged in for over a year. The result: scores of constituents & taxpayers who are left alienated, marginalized by those who are tasked with representing us, but instead protect the entity to which they were elected to oversee.

And that’s why we need voices like Jalon Peters’. Jalon brings a fresh perspective to a board mired in groupthink, where only voices with whom they agree are considered, regardless of the fact that all of us contribute tax dollars that support the library’s operation.

That’s not how a representational government is supposed to function. And it’s not how a board with the power to run tax levies that raise our taxes should treat the very people whose tax dollars they’re collecting.

We need balanced representation on the library board, and Jalon Peters will bring that fresh voice. He’s a man of character and principle and will never kowtow to pressure or groupthink. Instead, he will act on behalf of his constituents and consider a diversity of perspectives, just as elected officials should.

Please vote Jalon Peters on May 18.

KAREN HANNA

Ponderay