Only two of four area public library board of trustee races were contested in the election earlier this month, which also saw some incumbents edged out of holding on to their seats.
Two, six-year terms on the Barrington Area Library board were up for a vote, representing residents in parts of Cook, Lake, Kane and McHenry counties. According to vote totals posted to each county clerk’s website, Jennifer J. Lucas earned the highest vote percentage.
Newcomer Anne Ordway, a real-estate agent, earned grabbed the second highest vote totals, according to the clerks’ results.
“I’m excited to be on the library board and look forward to working with the other board members and making a difference,” Ordway told Pioneer Press in a phone interview. “I’m committed to getting the meeting rooms and study rooms open and using social distancing guidelines when the library reopens.
Without providing specifics, she said she feels the library, which serves the village of Barrington and other nearby towns, has overtaxed taxpayers and could be “smarter” with that money.
Incumbent Denise Tenyer was edged out of winning another term on the Barrington library board. Candidate Josie Croll was also unsuccessful.
Read more here.
Croll exposed the mismanagement, the library carrying $9.2 million in cash reserves while levying an additional $7.9 million this year. For what?! They haven’t even been open for a year! The fact that Tenyer (the current treasurer, no less) and Lucas couldn’t explain the finances should have been enough to oust them. Thank goodness we got in Ordway and Stenberg. Croll clearly scared someone. Her not being on the board is the community’s loss.
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Imagine, if nobody had run against the incumbents, would the library have ever even thought of re-opening the study rooms, meeting rooms, or returning to regular hours of operation? Taxpayers have been paying for a library that was closed for most of the year.
Here is how you got a book out of the library when it was closed:
1. Reserve the book online.
2. Wait days for an email confirming the book is ready.
3. Drive to the library.
4. Call the library from your car.
5. Open the trunk of your car.
6. Library employee walks a book to your car and places the book in your trunk.
It’s no surprise that Amazon sales are soaring when the library makes it hard to get a book out. Hopefully, more Barrington residents will hear the call to action and run for boards.
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