Council proposes new chapter to library ordinance

By Craig Howard Splash Contributing Editor

In the early days of the Liberty Lake Muncipal Library, materials were housed in a makeshift space at the Greenstone Building on Meadowwood Lane and volunteers filled shelves thanks to support from neighborhood book drives.

The original library space came about after residents of the new city agreed that it didn’t make sense for a burgeoning community to rely on the nearby Otis Orchards Library or, for that matter, to merge with the Spokane County Library District.

“We wanted our own library,” said local library catalyst and future City Council member Patrick Jenkins years ago, summing up the independent rally cry of local residents.

Over the years, the city of Liberty Lake and the library have enjoyed a harmonious relationship, keyed largely by inaugural Library Director Pamela Mogen and a devoted Board of Trustees who set the tone for the library’s culture along with Friends of the Library, a robust volunteer group.

Ordinance 119, passed by the City Council in late 2003, laid the foundation for the municipal library and has remained largely unshifted since the governing board passed it two decades ago.

Recently, the ordinance has been dusted off and reviewed in light of a debate last May that ended with council voting 4-2 to uphold the Board of Trustees’ decision to retain a controversial book, with a consensus around the dais that the duty of monitoring reading materials at home falls upon parents.

At a workshop on Jan. 17, City Council revisited the ultimate authority over library policies and later in the meeting came to a vote on amending the long-standing ordinance to put the final say on library matters with council.

Council Member Wendy Van Orman told her fellow council members that she recalled library policies coming before council when she served previously as mayor and on council. She pointed out that the Washington Municipal Research and Services Center (MRSC) denotes two categories of libraries – separate entities and branches of code cities.

“Being a code city, we’ve treated the library like a department, we finance them like a department,” Van Orman said. “Like any other department, the library policies would come before the council.”

Ordinance 119 states the city has financial oversight but not policy oversight. A statement on the library page of the city’s website notes that the Board of Trustees “will have a role in determining the mission of the library, setting the policy of the library that governs the library and overseeing the general management of the library.”

Ordinance 119 also states the “management of the Liberty Lake Library shall be vested in the Board of Trustees” while indicating that trustees can adopt bylaws, supervise care of all property of the library, make recommendations concerning functions of the city librarian, submit a budget and accept gifts on behalf of the library.

Mayor Cris Kaminskas said the existing ordinance has served the city and the library well.

“In the words of some very wise council members, this has been in place since October of 2003 and it’s not broke, so don’t fix it.” the mayor said.

Mayor Pro Tem Phil Folyer said the push for change was more about consistency in dealing with departments.

“We’re not looking to take away any power of how they want to operate, we’re just trying to treat the library like any other department,” Folyer said. “We can mold this in a way that best fits how we operate as a city.”

Council Member Tom Sahlberg quoted from the MRSC that “no council has the right to abolish or reduce its functions” –referring to the board – and also referenced Revised Code of Washington (RCW 27) that states library trustees have the authority to establish their own bylaws.

Council Member Chris Cargill brought up the issue of accountability.

“Is the library board accountable to us, are they accountable to the citizens, who are they accountable to?” asked Cargill. “I’m not concerned so much for my sake but I am concerned about the citizens, related to decisions that boards or commissions might make. This is about the final say, like every other department in the city. It’s another form of checks and balances.”

City Attorney Sean Boutz said authority is delegated to the city to create a library board and review and approve library budgets as part of the overall municipal agenda.

“Council doesn’t want to get involved in the day-to-day functions but they want to have a say in what may happen,” Boutz said.

Boutz said language could be added to the effect of “with the approval of the City Council.”

“To me, it seems to revolve around that particular item.” Boutz said.

“Maybe the problem is that there’s never been a problem to this point, that we’ve all worked in unison,” Folyer said. “For me, they can come up with any policy they want as long as council signs off on it.”

Council Member Dan Dunne drew contrast with other departments like Human Resources and Building and Planning that do not consist of volunteers like the Library Board of Trustees.

“That’s where the analogy ends,” Dunne said.

Folyer emphasized the city was not questioning the ability of trustees to fulfill their role.

“The people on that board are great people and they’re doing a great job but if there are citizens who want to make a change, how do they do that?” Folyer said. “The only way is to sit up here (as part of council).”

Cargill asked what would happen if there wasn’t a response from the trustees related to a citizen concern to which Dunne said it would be the responsibility of the council to make a change with the trustees.

The ordinance makes it clear that a library trustee can only be removed by a majority vote of council.

Cargill suggested bringing back a proposed amendment to 119 that consists of five words: “Subject to City Council approval”

Cargill’s motion passed 4-3 with Folyer, Van Orman, Jed Spencer and Cargill in the majority and Dunne, Sahlberg and Annie Kurtz opposed. The approved motion means city staff will move ahead and bring the amended Ordinance 119 back for a final vote.

During the public comments portion at the end of the meeting, two library trustees voiced their concern with how council had approached the conversation without the trustees at the table.

“I had to take a little bit of time to digest the workshop that happened earlier today,” said Trustee Brad Hamblet. “I’m a little surprised that a motion was made to amend the ordinance without having that discussion or including the Board of Trustees in on that.”

Hamblet went on to ask council how expectations would change if the amendment was made.

“Does that mean the council would like the Board of Trustees to bring every policy we review and change before you, red-lined and for your approval? I’ll look forward to hearing from someone about including us in any further discussion.”

Trustee Shawna Deane appealed to council for clarification related to the proposed changes, asking for a workshop to review a myriad of questions.

“If the City Council is going to change the ordinance to have to approve all rules, regulations, policies then we’re going to need a lot more direction other than just an amended ordinance,” Deane said. “Is it the Library Board that determines the policies or the rules or the regulations then we bring it to you for approval, then it’s approved or not? Are you expecting workshops where we’ve discussed everything we’ve already discussed? Then I’m not sure what the point of the Board of Trustees is.”

Kaminskas speculated that the second council meeting in February would be the earliest an amendment to Ordinance 119 might be revisited. She said clarification to the document would need to happen first.

“The goal is to take a 20-year-old ordinance and make it make more sense,” the mayor said. “I want to take the time and do it right. In the end, I think we will be able to work through this.”

Parks and Arts Commission working to create art, recreation and parks

By Nina Culver Splash contributor

The Liberty Lake Parks and Arts Commission has only existed for four years, but its mark can be clearly seen in the art on street corners and in the city’s parks.

“They’ve brought a lot of art to the community,” said Operations and Maintenance Director Jen Camp, the city’s liaison to the commission. “They’ve been heavily art focused since the beginning.”

The commission started in January 2018 and public art could be seen on the street by the end of that summer. The first project was six utility box wraps, four of them featuring work by local elementary students and two in Pavillion Park featuring historic photos of the area. The utility box wrap program continues to this day and more are planned this year.

Camp said that the wraps beautify the area while also deterring the graffiti that tends to appear on plain boxes. “It’s been proven that it prevents vandalism,” she said. “It brightens people’s day.”

The projects the commission takes on are funded and approved by the city council. Some, however, also involve sponsorships. STCU partners with the commission to help pay for the utility box wraps.

“There’s some projects that have sponsorships because it resonates with the community,” said commission chairwoman Nancy Hill.

The commission also helped facilitate the donation of a statue to the city that has been on display in City Hall since 2018. The abstract piece, titled “Family Pieces,” was created by Cheney artist Richard Warrington.

In 2019, the commission installed a story walk in Rocky Hill Park. Students at Spokane Valley Tech designed and created 20 stands that each hold two pages of a book displayed in a waterproof display case. Families can read the story as they walk down a path that meanders through the park. The staff at the Liberty Lake Library select the books that appear in the story walk, which are switched every few months.

In 2020, a piece of art created around the theme “Liberty Lake Together” was installed in Rocky Hill Park. The steel art titled “Growing Together,” which includes four flowers of various sizes, was created by artist Matthew Dockrey. The sculpture sits between the story walk and an old red barn on the edge of the park.

Artists Rolf and Peter Goetzinger created a huge 40-foot mural on the side of a building in Pavillion Park that depicts the history of the area and the original Pavillion that was on the edge of Liberty Lake. The mural, which focuses on the musical history of the original Pavillion, features musicians that performed in Liberty Lake as well as historical figures, all of whom are riding carousel animals.

Those depicted include Stephen Liberty, a French settler whom the lake is named after, and Andrew Seltice, chief of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe during the same era. The musicians include guitarist Robert Cray and former Spokane Symphony music director Eckart Preu.

Not all the art funded by the commission has been permanent. In 2020 the city sponsored a sidewalk chalk art competition in order to engage a community partially shut down by COVID. As a way to encourage people to participate, local artist Stacie Boyer was selected to create a chalk art piece in Pavillion Park.

Boyer played off the mural already in the park by singling out a frog being ridden by a musician. She created a rock-lined pond with a frog perched on one end. The frog was playing a horn shaped like a flower with butterflies coming out the end of it.

Hill said she likes that the Pavillion Park mural is so bright and colorful and can be enjoyed by people who might not know the historical significance of it. “That pop of color, even if you’re not a history buff, brightens the whole park,” she said.

Hill, who was the director of the Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service for decades, said she has been enjoying her time on the Parks and Arts Commission. “Coming from a position in government, I refer to it as the fun commission,” she said.

She lives in Liberty Lake and said she has always enjoyed the city’s parks, which is one of the reasons she wanted to serve on the commission. “After 32 years in animal welfare, I wanted to do something different and I wanted to do something in my community,” she said.

She was recently elected chair of the commission. She joined during the height of the COVID pandemic when all meetings were held over Zoom. Hill said she much prefers meeting in person, which the commission has been able to do for the last year.

“It’s so much better,” she said. “Everybody is so engaged.”

The seven commission members aren’t letting any grass grow under their feet, however. Several projects are in the works for the near future, including working with Hooptown USA to create a community basketball court covered with a mural.

The city has selected a double court in Pavillion Park, which is due to be resurfaced this year, for the project. Hill said a call for artists will be released soon in the hopes that the project can be completed this summer.

“We’re really, really excited to see what artists submit designs,” she said. “We’re hoping it creates