Shea represents community, not national groups

I’ve been following the East Bonner County Library Board race fairly closely, because the library is near and dear to my heart (and my family’s).

I’ve seen a lot of great reasons to re-elect Susan Shea: her budget management, her analytical approach and her experience as an incumbent are beyond reproach.

One thing that we’re not talking about enough is that she represents our interests instead of some out-of-county PAC. If you listen closely to the “concerns” that have emerged in some of the recent discussions about the library’s collection, you’ll notice something odd: some of the books being named aren’t in the children’s or teens’ sections. Some are e-books, without physical copies on the shelves. Some don’t even exist at our library, but they do exist on nationally circulated lists of books that astroturfed groups should challenge at their local libraries. Shouldn’t the people running for the board know what’s actually in the library? And do we really want a bunch of people from out of our community coming in to tell us what we care about?

We have, in Susan Shea, an incumbent who has repeatedly pledged to work for us, to listen to us and to keep our library running smoothly to serve us.

Personally, I’m going to vote for us. I’m going to vote to re-elect Susan Shea.

AUDREY GATES

Sandpoint