Tempers flared October 4 during a meeting between the Jeffer- son County Commission and two members of the Boulder Community Library Board.
Danielle Lattin and Jackie Thiel accused the commission of lying to them or at least trying to pull the wool over their eyes on a budget issue. The commissioners denied the accusations, calling the claims insulting.
At the center of the dispute was $5000 in funding requested by the library board to do lawn maintenance and snow plowing. “The snow is a safety issue,” said Thiel. “We don’t have anyone to plow the parking lot.”
Lattin warned the commission the county and taxpayers could be held liable if someone were to fall due to the lack of maintenance. “There’s $5000 in that budget for that purpose,” said Commissioner Bob Mullen, who serves as the commission liaison to the library. “The money is there to allow you to hire someone to do that.” The two library reps said they were surprised after the commission had said the $5000 would be included for those needs to find that the total budget had risen only $405.
Mullen said it was the commission’s intent to include the $5000 requested. In response to the accusation that the commission was lying or trying to pull a fast one, and an allegation that he had not even bothered to come to a library meeting on the issue, Mullen said, “I’ve never been so insulted in my entire life.”
He said Commissioner Leonard Wortman went in his place due to a conflict, something Wort- man acknowledged. Commission chair Cory Kirsch said the commission would not have changed the proposed budget without discussing it with librarian Jodi Smiley. “We wanted to give you the money,” he said. Thiel and Lattin said Smiley does not have the authority to set the budget, an authority that lies with the board. As to why the budget total did not go up by $5000, the commissioners said they would review the matter. “We don’t want to work against you, honest we don’t,” said Kirsch. “We want a nice library, too.”
