- April 26, 2024
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Dear Editor:
Thank you to the Observer for reporting on the Volusia County Council’s decision to consider the elimination of several citizen advisory boards, including the Library Board.
As to that particular board, what are they thinking by proposing its elimination? That communities no longer care about their ability to advise elected officials about free access to information? That the citizenry has forgotten that democracy cannot survive when the freedom to read is subject to political control? Even now, we are in a battle against an assault on school libraries and curriculum. Is this threat to be carried further into the county’s adult library collections?
Extremism of any kind is thwarted by access to the marketplace of ideas, which local libraries have provided for generations. The founders of this nation knew it, and so did General Dwight Eisenhower, when he said, "The libraries of America are and must ever remain the home of free and inquiring minds. To them, our citizens — of all ages and races, of all creeds and persuasions — must be able to turn with clear confidence that there they can freely seek the whole truth, unvarnished by fashion and uncompromised by expediency." Keep Volusia citizens involved. Keep the Library Board.
Laurel Robinson
Ormond Beach
Dear Editor:
This is my continuating rant of the very misguided Feb. 20 Volusia County Council meeting. A perfectly valid question from Chairman Brower to Councilman Dempsey after bragging he worked on building a motocross (currently under consideration) on this very location for years: "What kept you from finishing the motocross project?"
The purpose of the question was to understand what obstacles might be encountered by the project, yet it seemed all council members were at first dumbfounded then angered at Brower for asking it. It's a perfect question, as this is how we learn what "not to do" or "what doesn't work." Eventually, after the shock of the question, Councilman Dempsey blamed the bureaucracy of the issue.
So one might ask, "Has the bureaucracy been eliminated or does he just want the project under someone else's frustration? Council Dempsey maybe should reflect more on his feelings of frustration, as it is likely experienced by many regular everyday Volusia County citizens who do not have a legal background nor resources to plow through their own "red tape" rather than his "pet project."
The closing comments continued with Councilman Johansson chastising Chairman Brower for referencing the United States Constitution in the State of the County Address. Really? If these councilman do not realize how shameful, disrespectful, and childish they appear, I strongly suggest they actually watch meeting recordings (since August 2023) for a new perspective on how the public sees them!
Cecilia List
Ormond Beach
