Image Credit: Sumner County Govt.
The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
According to a Sumner County source, the County’s Commissioners may be acting against the will of the people who elected them and going against a Library Board that has been dedicated to making sure the county libraries are safe places for families.
Our source raised concerns that members of the commission are ignoring their constituents and acting in a way that makes it look like there may be a hidden agenda working against the people of Sumner County and the current Library Board.
The majority of commissioners voted against two conservative candidates in January, despite overwhelming public support.
Commissioners received 116 emails in support of Eric Stockton and Mike Ray, both on the list of nominees for the board since April of last year, but it was not enough for Commissioners Harrison, Harris, Becker, Moss, Lamberth, Rogers, and Burgdorf to vote yes. Two other commissioners, Hyde and Wynne chose not to vote at all, however, Hyde was later recorded as having voted No.
The pair were nominated again for the two remaining seats on the board, on February 10th at the Committee on Committee meeting, and will come before the full Commission for another vote on February 24th, 2025, at 7:00pm.
The Sumner County Libraries and Library Board attracted media attention in February of 2023 when Kirk Cameron and Riley Gaines took part in a book reading event at Hendersonville Public Library hosted by Brave Books. The stop in Hendersonville, part of a larger tour, made national news and resulted in the termination of Library Director Allan Morales.
Shortly after this event, the Sumner County Library Board was again in the news due to a board member resigning during the creation of a policy to protect children from sexually explicit materials. The Library Board created the Collection and Development Policy after being instructed to create a policy that aligned with state law.
Board member Beverly Hyde resigned during the Library Board committee meeting in October of 2023, due to her objections over some of the language in the Collection and Development policy. Hyde objected to language that defined sexually explicit content which was added to the policy to allow for clear guidelines for Library Directors when curating their collections.
Despite objections at a November 8th, 2023, Library Board meeting from Westmoreland Library Director Lauren Rippy who spoke against the policy and stated that she was also speaking for Portland Library Director Anita Lamberth, Millersville Library Director Amy Corbitt, and Gallatin Library Director Gabby Cato, the policy passed on November 22nd, 2023. Public support was approximately 2 to 1 with 54 emails in support and 21 against. The Hendersonville Library Director, Alycia Neighbours, who spoke at the November 8th meeting, stated that she was in full support of the policy.
On December 11th, 2023, at the Sumner County Committee on Committee meeting, Committee Chairman Jeremy Mansfield brought to light a postage mailed letter that was sent to each individual committee member from Commissioner Hyde, the husband of Beverly Hyde. The letter, which according to our source was sent in a way that prevented the public from having a record of it, called for the appointment of Commissioner Burgdorf to the Library Board. The letter not only called for the appointment of Burgdorf but also stated that she would bring “maturity” and “sound decision making” to the board.
On Feb 26th, 2024, at the full Commissioner meeting, four names were brought up, one being Burgdorf, to fill the four remaining seats on the Library Board. When the motion for a vote came to the floor, Commissioner Schoaf made a motion to amend the motion to make Burgdorf the only person to be considered in a vote that evening, ignoring the other three candidates who had already been vetted. These three were eventually voted down.
On October 21st, 2024, the Committee on Committee decided to put forward Eric Stockton for the Library Board. Stockton had been on the list of nominees since April of 2024. Commissioner Hyde stated that before pushing Stockton forward to the full Commission that he would like to make a motion to ask if Burgdorf, now on the board, would be able to work with Stockton.
According to our source, “To ask the opinion of a sitting Board member about a candidate for the same board, goes against a statement Commissioner Hyde made at a Committee on Committee meeting on Sept 12th, 2022. At that meeting, he stated that he was concerned with boards or committees doing their own interviewing process and that is the responsibility of the Committee on Committee. So why the change of heart when it comes to Commissioner Burgdorf?”
Last November, the vote for Stockton was brought before the full Commission. Despite the commissioners receiving 47 emails in favor of Stockton, which included 4 pastors and a children’s author, the majority of commissioners ignored this outpouring of public support and voted against him.
About this vote, our source said, “Those who voted against Eric are generally the same people that continually vote against the conservative candidates and they are Commissioners Hyde, Lamberth, Rogers, Burgdorf, Moss, Boyt, Becker, Baker, Wynne, Pomeroy, Sullivan, Harrison, and Harris. Commissioner Schmidt continually Abstains from this very controversial vote. But his abstention counts as a NO. Those Commissioners that voted against Mr. Stockton, along with Commissioner Schoaf, voted in favor of an unvetted candidate that was nominated from the floor. Commissioner Schoaf voted in favor of Stockton and the nomination from the floor.”
Whether the Sumner County Commissioners will listen to the outpouring of public support for Stockton and Ray at the upcoming meeting remains to be seen.
