Commission Keeps Library Board at Nine, Seats Riley Gaines and Steve Wasilowski After 5 1/2 Hours

Riley Gaines and Steve Wasilowski Appointed as Commission Holds Library Board at Nine, With Calls for Absentee and Conflict Policies Left Unanswered

 

By Paul M. Graden, Ph.D, Founder/Senior Editor

 

GALLATIN, Tenn. | October 21, 2025

 

Key points at a glance

 

• After 5 1/2 hours, commissioners voted 16 to 6 to keep the Library Board at nine members and to appoint Riley Gaines and Steve Wasilowski.

 

• The crowd applauded when the tally was read, and the mood mixed relief with celebration before most people left as the meeting moved to other business.

 

• Only four speakers urged shrinking the board to seven. More than thirty six supported keeping nine or expanding to eleven.

 

• Faith themes were central for many speakers, who said the proposed policy reflects the teachings of Jesus and aligns with what they described as the traditional values of roughly 96 percent of county residents. The tone was passionate and often persuasive.

 

• Prior Library Board votes on the collection policy were ties, not defeats, which meant staff could not implement changes in either direction. Ties persisted because the ninth seat remained vacant for months.

 

• Several recent Library Board meetings ended without a quorum, with members who opposed the policy absent, which frustrated residents who had waited for a vote.

 

• Two county libraries still lack directors because the board could not convene to hold hiring votes. The vacancies have meant shortened hours, reduced services, and a gap in on site leadership.

 

• The Board Chair was not renewed for another three year term, a mixed outcome alongside the appointments.

 

• Two governance gaps remain. The Commission did not adopt an absentee policy for Library Board members. The Commission also did not set a conflict of interest policy, even though a sitting commissioner serves on the Library Board and led the push to reduce it to seven while opposing the two new appointments.

 

What the Commission decided

 

I attended Monday’s meeting and watched the sequence of motions, clarifications, and pauses that concluded with two decisions. The Sumner County Commission voted to maintain the Library Board at nine members, then voted to appoint Riley Gaines and Steve Wasilowski to fill two vacancies.

 

The tally was 16 to 6. When the result was read, the room broke into applause. It sounded like a crowd that had been waiting for closure and finally got some. Within minutes, many attendees began to file out, and the meeting continued on other matters for quite a while.

 

Public comment was steady and, at points, precise. Only four speakers called for reducing the board to seven. More than thirty six urged the Commission to retain nine or consider expanding to eleven. The arguments were familiar. Supporters of nine pointed to continuity, broader representation, and fewer procedural collisions. They stressed the importance of protecting the county's children.

 

Those backing seven spoke about efficiency and clearer lines of authority. The decision to hold at nine set up the appointments, and together the votes closed a chapter that had been stuck on repeat.

 

Why the vote mattered

 

A few basics deserve to be on the record. Prior Library Board votes on the proposed collection policy did not defeat the proposal. They tied. Because the votes tied, library staff lacked authority to implement changes in either direction. That limbo persisted because the ninth seat on the board went unfilled for months, leaving an even number and, in effect, a coin that kept landing on its edge. Monday’s appointments resolved the vacancy and, with it, the structural reason ties became the norm.

 

There was also the matter of meetings that never quite happened. Several recent Library Board sessions ended without a quorum, with members who opposed the proposed policy absent those nights. Whether those absences were orchestrated or not, many in the audience came to believe they were. After hundreds of speakers had lined up across multiple meetings, the sense that the board could not even convene grew into open frustration. That sentiment traveled into Monday’s Commission meeting, shaping how people viewed both the board size debate and the timing of the appointments.

 

Faith and values in public comment

 

Another thread ran through much of the testimony. Many speakers grounded their remarks in faith, saying the proposed policy reflects the teachings of Jesus and is consistent with what they described as the traditional values of roughly 96 percent of county residents.

 

Several quoted scripture or referred to church life as part of their reasoning. The tone was earnest, sometimes emotional, and, to many in the room, persuasive. Others spoke in secular terms about parental rights and age appropriateness, but the faith language framed a clear portion of the evening’s support.

 

Staffing consequences from missed meetings

 

The absence driven quorums were not just a procedural headache. They carried a practical cost. Two county libraries still do not have directors because the Library Board could not field a quorum to take hiring votes. In both locations, the vacancies have translated into shortened hours, trimmed services, and the lack of a steady hand on site.

 

Patrons notice this, even if they do not connect it to a calendar of missed meetings. The difference between a full schedule and a reduced one is a child’s story time that disappears, a community room that sits dark, or a help desk that cannot be staffed through the afternoon rush.

 

A mixed outcome on leadership

 

The push to reduce the board to seven was not only pitched as a structural fix. It was presented in a way that would have displaced the sitting Board Chair and another member who had supported bringing the policy forward for consideration.

 

The final outcome landed somewhere in the middle. The board remains at nine and the vacancies are filled, yet the Chair was not renewed for another three year term. That leadership change will matter. Chairs do not decide outcomes alone, but they shape agendas, pace discussions, and oversee committee work. Sometimes that is where the real schedule gets set.

 

Unresolved governance issues

 

Two gaps remained conspicuously open by the time the room had emptied.

First, the Commission did not address an absentee policy for Library Board members. Many speakers called for a clear rule, and quite a few urged that members who miss two consecutive meetings be removed.

 

There are nuances worth sorting out, such as allowances for verified emergencies, remote participation options that comply with state law, or an appeals process that is transparent. Even so, the thrust was simple. If a board cannot reliably convene, it cannot govern.

 

A straightforward attendance standard, measured over calendar months rather than just meeting count, would reduce the risk of another long stall. It would also protect against knock on effects like prolonged director vacancies and the reduced hours and services that follow.

 

Second, the Commission did not establish a conflict of interest policy for board service. One sitting commissioner currently serves on the Library Board, a dual role that complicates lines of authority. She proposed reducing the board to seven and actively opposed the appointment of the two new members. That does not make every vote improper. It does raise a predictable concern that can be avoided.

 

A clear policy would help, for example by prohibiting commissioners from serving on boards they appoint and oversee, requiring recusal when a commissioner’s board service or advocacy is directly implicated, mandating public disclosure of potential conflicts at the start of relevant meetings, and setting out a documented process for enforcement. In a county that has seen meetings stretch past midnight, cleaner rules would save time and trust.

 

The larger debate, still ahead

 

Although the evening’s attention centered on structure and appointments, the policy debate that drew overflow crowds remains unresolved. The question, reduced to its working parts, concerns age placement and review standards for titles that address gender identity in youth collections. If a revised proposal returns to the agenda, the text will matter more than the slogans.

 

Definitions, criteria for placement or relocation, the composition and training of a review panel, timelines for initial decisions and appeals, record keeping, and how parents are notified of outcomes. Two drafts can sound nearly identical at a podium, then function very differently at the branch desk on a Wednesday afternoon.

 

The path from here

 

With a fully seated board, a decisive vote on policy is more likely, though not guaranteed. The board will need to elect a chair, assign committee work, and settle the calendar. If the recent pattern holds, the room will fill quickly on nights when a draft appears. A small practical suggestion, based on what I saw Monday: Arrive early, read posted materials in advance, and anchor remarks to lines and sections rather than themes alone. In crowded forums, specificity does not just clarify, it lowers the temperature.

 

Why this matters for everyday library life

 

It is easy to lose sight of routine when meetings run long. The Sumner County Library System is not only policy language and roll calls. It is daily use across the county. On ordinary days, a child leaves with picture books, a teen asks for help finding a biography, a retiree prints a form that will not load at home, a parent picks up a hold before practice. When hours are shortened and services trimmed because director hires stall, the cumulative effect shows up here, quietly but clearly.

 

A few closing notes

 

Monday’s meeting delivered clear decisions and an audible response. Relief, some celebration, then a quick thinning of the crowd while the agenda carried on. It ended a tie driven stalemate and restored a full board. It also left two governance tasks unfinished. An absentee standard, so the board can reliably meet and fill crucial roles like branch directors without delay. A conflict of interest policy, so county roles do not blur. Neither is partisan. Both are practical. They can be written in a page or two and will probably save the county months of headaches later.

 

What comes next should be easier to schedule than to predict. That is probably fine. A board that can meet, vote, hire directors, and explain what it did is already a step forward. The rest will depend on the text that lands on the table and the patience of a community that has, for better or worse, learned to sit through long nights at the courthouse. And it will depend on restoring full hours and services where they have been cut, which is the kind of measure residents feel right away, long before they read a policy line.