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| July 23, 2024 Library Board Meeting |
By Gretchen Garrity
As residents continue to pressure the Christian County Library to relocate inappropriate books from the children and teen sections of the library, the staff and some members of the board of trustees continue to resist commonsense solutions.
At the July 23, 2024 board meeting, several things occurred that point to President Allyson Tuckness as a vector for at least part of the resistance. For some months now, the library has hired off-duty police officers to attend the public board meetings and to keep the peace. This has proven wise since there was a physical outburst by a citizen who had to be removed.
In an effort to keep tight control of the public meetings, Tuckness had enforced stringent rules for the public, including limiting speakers to 10, limiting speech time to three minutes, and attempting to limit audience reactions such as clapping or holding of signs. After she was roundly admonished by Rep. Jamie Gragg she has since allowed both clapping and signs, as well as sometimes allowing for more than 10 speakers:
Although the Missouri Public Library Trustee Manual (from the Secretary of State) states that board meetings “generally should be completed within two hours,” most Christian County library board meetings are targeted to end within one hour. They usually end on time or nearly so.
After the meeting on the 23rd, at least 12 or more citizens remained talking in the parking lot in small groups. The meeting ended a little later than usual, about 7:08 p.m. Distributed among those groups were current board of trustee members, as well as a citizen who is a constitutional coach with a nationally known organization.
At one point the security officer approached the citizens and requested they disperse. Citizens resisted and were told the library parking lot was private property. After assuring the officer the parking lot was public property the officer stepped away to consult a supervisor, only later to come back and again assert that because it was now a closed business, citizens were being asked to disperse and that it “was a little suspicious.”
“My sergeant said, ‘Yes it is a government building, but it is closed at this time, and that the president requested to disperse,'” the officer stated. So, Library Board President Allyson Tuckness was behind the manipulation of public peace officers to remove citizens from a taxpayer-funded library property.
After no less than three police cars converged in the Nixa library parking lot and conferred with citizens, it was agreed that all were peacefully assembling and had a right to be present in the parking lot, regardless of the time and the wishes of the library board president.
After the meeting on the 23rd, at least 12 or more citizens remained talking in the parking lot in small groups. The meeting ended a little later than usual, about 7:08 p.m. Distributed among those groups were current board of trustee members, as well as a citizen who is a constitutional coach with a nationally known organization.
At one point the security officer approached the citizens and requested they disperse. Citizens resisted and were told the library parking lot was private property. After assuring the officer the parking lot was public property the officer stepped away to consult a supervisor, only later to come back and again assert that because it was now a closed business, citizens were being asked to disperse and that it “was a little suspicious.”
“My sergeant said, ‘Yes it is a government building, but it is closed at this time, and that the president requested to disperse,'” the officer stated. So, Library Board President Allyson Tuckness was behind the manipulation of public peace officers to remove citizens from a taxpayer-funded library property.
After no less than three police cars converged in the Nixa library parking lot and conferred with citizens, it was agreed that all were peacefully assembling and had a right to be present in the parking lot, regardless of the time and the wishes of the library board president.
This kind of behavior on the part of the library board president is unacceptable. To get an idea of how she treats the public, watch July’s meeting as Tuckness refuses to allow board member Echo Alexzander to address allowing more than 10 citizens to comment. Her excuse was that the issue was not on the agenda. Later, she interacts with a citizen who had noted that the timekeeper, Tory Pegram, was starting the timer late with certain citizens, allowing them more time to speak. Forward to the public comment section at about 36:00 minutes. Tuckness specifically mentions “no raising of voices.” Watch her raise her voice when a speaker asks to reclaim time on the clock that had apparently been running while the board took pictures of one speaker’s sign. Timestamp: 43:42.
To a great extent, the friction between the public and the library board and staff is due to an ongoing refusal to address concerns and to disrespect the public by ignoring questions and pleas about child safety within the library. Having made child safety a political issue, the board and staff are now having to deal with a growing number of citizens who insist the library must address relocating inappropriate books to the adult section, where parents may decide for themselves if they want their children exposed to them.
Board President Tuckness is politically motivated enough to sic the police on citizens, including other board members with whom she may disagree. It is to the police officers’ credit that they ultimately refused to go along with her dictate.
Board President Tuckness is politically motivated enough to sic the police on citizens, including other board members with whom she may disagree. It is to the police officers’ credit that they ultimately refused to go along with her dictate.
NOTE: This article is cross posted at Hick Christian's Substack.
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