MILFORD- Five former Pike County Library Board members voiced their concern about the present board to the Pike County Commissioners.  Bill Griffin, read from a letter he coauthored with Betty Hague, Charlotte Zulick, Gayle Schuster and Rob Rohner, at the weekly Commissioners meeting.

The group came up with nine reasons why they claim the present board should be replaced:

• The board has shown inability to raise sufficient operating funds for the past four years.
• They’ve shown poor judgment in the handling of finances resulting in the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
• They’ve shown poor judgment by focusing solely on an $8.5 million design and ignoring their responsibility to the entire Pike County Library System.
• They refused to allow professional librarians have any involvement in the process.
• They refused to allow the past planning committee to go forward in its attempts to negotiate with Lehman Township for the purpose of obtaining land  for a future library site.
• The board has demonstrated difficulty in maintaining positive relationships with public officials, or with anyone with disagrees with them.
• The board paid out excessive amounts for Public Relations and lawyers on a campaign for a million dollar referendum.
• The board practiced deception in the wording of the referendum itself by not disclosing how tax dollars would be spent.
• They have refused to update Board procedures to post 1961 state standards, thereby allowing themselves to maintain complete control without having  to be accountable to anyone but themselves.

The former board members felt that the Commissioners’ decision to withhold funding until there is municipal representation and updated by-laws was a just one. They also call on the people of Pike County to support the Commissioners’ decision.