Board Meeting minutes – 4/11/2022

Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 10:02 am.

Member Roll Call: Present were John Shewalter, Dave Ochenreider, Brian Shoemake, Dee Mounts, Kameron Mitchell, and Shanna Gibbons. Guests present were Leo Blundo, Alysha Wogee, Michelle Nelson from the District Attorney’s office, and members of the public.

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

Trustee/Director/Liaison Comments: A short discussion about a future Science Day was held between the Trustees.

Approval of the Agenda: Item 7 (Emergency Items) was stricken from the agenda. The agenda was approved as amended.

General Public Comment:

Carolene Logue – Read a letter from the American Library Association on the ALA’s stance with the Ukrainian library community.

Bruce Schoenberger – Voiced his concerns regarding why the library board needs to be instructed on an association’s views of disinformation.

Dwight Eornkorf – Voiced his displeasure as a Viet Nam marine veteran with the manner in which the current administration is running our country.

Allan Michels – stated his concerns on when better lighting would be available on the tables. He understands that there is a larger project envisioned, but could there be an interim solution sooner.

Trustee Shewalter – responded that improved lighting is needed but it will take some time. Also, asked Shanna Gibbons to look into a temporary solution, budget allowing.

Jane Goodrow – spoke on the ALA letter’s intent to support Ukrainian rights.

Trustee Shewalter – responded that he is trying to keep politics out of decisions made by the board. The ALA will not set policy for the library.

Agenda item 8: A motion was made by Shoemake to close the meeting for the purposes of interviewing applicant Vanja Anderson for the position of Library Director. Mounts seconded the motion. The motion was approved by a 5 – 0 vote.

The Board went into closed session at 10:24 am.

The public meeting was reconvened after the closed session at 11:25 am.

Agenda item 5 was reopened to strike agenda items 10 and 11 due to the inability to contact H.B. Fach to interview.

The meeting then recessed until 1:00 pm.

The meeting reconvened at 1:03 pm.

Member Roll Call: Present were John Shewalter, Dave Ochenreider, Brian Shoemake, Kameron Mitchell, and Shanna Gibbons. Via teleconference was Dee Mounts. Guests present were Leo Blundo, Alysha Wogee, Michelle Nelson from the District Attorney’s office, and members of the public.

Agenda item 12:

Trustee Mounts stated her concerns that Vanja Anderson was nervous, was uncomfortable with the second amendment issue, and hadn’t lived in a small town before.

Trustee Mitchell stated that Vanja Anderson was nervous as can be expected of anyone. She met all the requirements needed to be the Director. He saw no reason to not offer her the position.

Trustee Ochenreider concurred and he felt she would be up to the challenge of the position.

Trustee Shoemake felt that Miss Anderson was professional and intelligent and willing to learn. She meets the requirements. She is willing to make the move and we need somebody now. In regards to the second amendment issue, she was willing to work within the law and the library policy on a professional level. He sees no reason to not offer her the position.

Chairman Shewalter felt the board asked her a lot of questions and that she answered them appropriately and to his satisfaction. She has the capabilities to spend a lot of years here at the library if appointed. She will do a good job in guiding the staff in the day-to-day operations.

Shoemake moved to appoint Vanja Anderson to the position of the Pahrump Library Director. Shewalter seconded the motion.

Public Comment: Bruce Schoenberger – voiced his concern that the candidate held four jobs in six years which may be a negative.

Trustee Mounts was unavailable for the vote via teleconference.

The motion to appoint Vanja Anderson to the position of the Pahrump Library Director passed by a vote of 4 – 0 with one absent.

Agenda item 13:

The Board deliberated on the three sub-items of this agenda item. Shewalter would like her first day to be 9 May to meet the Board and the public; offer her $50,000 annual salary; and offer $3000 for reimbursable expenses. Mitchell felt that it would be better to have her start on 2 May to have a little time to settle in before being put on display. He agreed with the other two offers. Ochenreider agreed with items two and three; but May 16^th to the 23^rd would be a better start date. Shoemake said Vanja Anderson could be here in three weeks, so let’s give her the option of between 2 May and 9 May.

Shewalter moved that the start date be between 2 May and 9 May, the starting salary to be $50,000 and the moving expense reimbursement be up to $3000. The motion was seconded by Mitchell.

Public Comment: Rich Bushart commented that we are in an inflationary period and the dollar has devalued by about eight percent so you might want to reconsider the salary.

The motion and second were withdrawn before completing the vote.

After numerous motions concerning the start date were stated and withdrawn, a final motion by Shewalter was to set the start date of the applicant for the position of Director to be May 2, 2022 and no later than May 9, 2022. The motion was seconded by Mitchell. The motion passed with a vote of 4 – 0 with one absent.

Shewalter moved that the starting salary for the applicant selected for the position of Director be $50,000 per year. The motion was seconded by Mitchell. The motion passed with a vote of 4 – 0 with one absent.

Shewalter moved that we provide for receipted, relocation reimbursement for the applicant selected for the position of Director not to exceed $3000. The motion was seconded by Shoemake. The motion passed with a vote of 4 – 0 with one absent.

Public Comment: Leo Blundo stated the Board was gracious in providing expense reimbursement and the salary was indeed higher than the previous salary.

The motion passed with a vote of 4 – 0 with one absent.

Agenda item 14:

Shewalter moved to reassign Shanna Gibbons to the position of Assistant Director and to set the date of the reassignment to coincide with the start date of the new director. The motion was seconded by Mitchell. The motion passed with a vote of 4 – 0 with one absent.

Approval of the Minutes: Shewalter made a motion to accept the amended minutes of the March 14, 2022 Library Board of Trustees meeting. Ochenreider seconded the motion. The minutes were approved by a vote of 4 – 0 with one absent.

Presentation Treasurer’s Report: Shanna Gibbons presented the treasurer’s report on expenditures and revenues for March 2022. She has been trying to contact the CPA but due to tax time, it has been difficult. In the mean time she has been sorting through the data for the financial reports and budget for the next year.

Approval of Payment Vouchers: Shoemake made a motion to approve the payment vouchers for the period of March 2022 to April 2022. The motion was seconded by Mitchell.

Public Comment: Bruce Schoenberger pointed out that if we do the lighting project with LED lights we might be able to reduce the VEA bill by 30%-40%

The approval was made by a 4 - 0 vote with one absent. The vouchers were signed.

Presentation Librarian’s Report: Shanna Gibbons and Alysha Wogee reported on the March 2022 library activities, which included patron traffic, books checked out, books returned, internet usage, story time, STEAM, website usage, and materials added. See attached report. There was a substantial increase in usage in most areas.

Agenda item 19:

Shewalter moved to direct Brian Shoemake, Vice Chair, to work with Chris Marini of Network Savants to review and make necessary changes to ensure the Pahrump Library District computer network security. Ochenreider seconded the motion.

Mitchell asked how Network Savants was chosen and how much the charges would be for their services.

Shewalter stated the Network Savants was the Library’s current IT provider. Any significant charges would be brought to the Board.

Shoemake provided his background and stated his concerns due to personnel turnover and other reasons for this issue to be looked at. He wants to ensure all the files and workstations are secure and the necessary firewalls are in place. He wants to ensure personnel are trained adequately in computer security. He also wants to ensure there are the requisite security audits made on a regular basis.

The motion passed with a vote of 4 – 0 with one absent.

Agenda item 20:

Ochenreider moved to direct staff to research an audio/video system for the library Board’s consideration. Shewalter seconded the motion.

Public Comment: Bruce Schoenberger felt that for the public’s comfort, the BOCC Chambers accommodations would be better dependent on costs. Bill Newyear asked if there were costs at the chambers as a monthly charge might be less desirable to a single one-time cost for an A/V system. Allen Michels wholly supports the motion. It’s more convenient especially if staff needs to run out to get some needed information. Additionally, taking personnel away from the building would preclude them from helping if an issue might arise here. Jane Goodrow stated her desire to ensure that the A/V system have speakers and microphones for the Board members because we can hear the public comments but not those of the Board members.

Trustee Shewalter stated that this agenda item was developed for most of the reasons Mr. Michels brought up in his comments. Trustee Ochenreider hoped that this room would become a multi-purpose and more useful one. Shoemake felt this could be a good media room with projection system.

Commissioner Blundo stated the county staff is looking into the chambers as an option. Should he direct them to continue? The commissioners were looking to support and he doesn’t think there would be any costs. Shewalter replied that at this point, county staff should stop working on the library using the chambers for Board meetings.

The motion passed with a vote of 4 – 0 with one absent.

Agenda item 21:

Shoemake moved to approve the display of a donated set of the US Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence and to direct staff as to the location of the display. The motion was seconded by Mitchell.

Public Comment: Bruce Schoenberger stated that this is a great idea and it should have been done sooner.

Shewalter stated that this donation came about due to a comment by Ms. Stevens concerning the display of these three documents. He thanked her for those comments. Mitchell wanted to know if there had been any discussion to this point as to the location of the display. Ochenreider stated that the donor left a note where he would like them placed. Shoemake is in favor of this display.

The motion passed with a vote of 4 – 0 with one absent.

General Public Comment:

Allen Michels – followed up on the Friends of the Library. Thanked Shanna and Barbara for their generous time. There were discussions of things to do and some they decided not to do. He brought up the “Little Libraries” in the parks idea and ways to pick up donated books for those who couldn’t get them here on their own.

Bruce Schoenberger – thanked Shoemake for volunteering to assist on the very important issue of IT security.

Tyler Swartzcopf – introduced himself as the assistant head of the IT department.

Jane Goodrow – complimented the display but was concerned that the Board should not direct staff concerning donations.

Trustee, Director, and Liaison Comments:

Liaison Blundo – stated that the Library is on the right track and that a BOCC agenda item is still being worked on for a Library Board presentation.

Shanna Gibbons – we need to change Mitchell from Trustee to Board Secretary on the agenda.

Trustee Mitchell – reaffirmed that he will be discussing the “Science Day at the Library” with Joe Burdzinski for a future agenda item.

Trustee Shoemake – complimented Mitchell on his work on the minutes and thanked Mr. Michels on his suggestions concerning the lighting in the library.

Chairman Shewalter – comments from the public are critical such as the invocation at the beginning of the meeting, library lighting, and the science day and they are acted on provided they are a benefit to the library. He announced that he, Shoemake, and Mounts were reappointed by the BOCC for a full four-year term.

Meeting adjourned at 2:25 pm.

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