Library board shifts slightly right

By John Labriola - The Citrus County Library Advisory Board (LAB) shifted slightly to the right last week as county commissioners made their annual appointments to the nine-member board, which has been the focus of many cultural flashpoints over the last several years.

About twenty residents, divided between conservatives and LGBT activists, shared their lists of recommended candidates during public comment, many urging the appointment of members aligned with the county's conservative values, and others demanding candidates who advocate for taxpayer support for the promotion of "diverse" lifestyles.

Dean Bales of Homosassa asked the board to name candidates with "common sense" and not dishonest leftists who want to give children access to homosexual pornography under the guise of opposing "book bans" and advocating for "free speech" and "intellectual freedom." 

"Notice how on a dime they turned on Charlie Kirk and became the book banners themselves?" he said, referring to when a mob of hateful leftists stormed a LAB meeting in October to viciously attack an unsuccessful motion to have a temporary display of Kirk's books following his assassination. "I told you that would happen. That's the nature of who these people are."

Ray Kalavsky of Inverness reminded board members that this is a conservative county, and that the left has no problem completely shutting out conservative voices wherever they gain power.

"We cannot let these kind of people even be close to any kind of power, collectively or individually," he said. 

Liberal resident Anita Olbeck-Tooker of Lecanto, who asked the board to appoint local LGBT activist Rebecca Beattie, labeled applicants who oppose providing taxpayer-funded LGBT smut to children as "witch burners" and blasphemously repeated the left-wing lie that Jesus was an "undocumented immigrant," an absurd claim even left-wing Politico rates as "False." 

The commission, which was sitting in its capacity as the Library Governing Body, was joined by Inverness City Councilwoman Crystal Lizanich and Crystal River City Councilwoman Gabrielle Satchell, both liberal Democrats, who are part of the seven-member nominating body that appoints LAB members. 

Five of the LAB's nine seats were up for appointment.

After about an hour of public input, Chairwoman Diana Finegan made a motion to renominate the three incumbent LAB members seeking reappointment – conservative Lenora Nelson and moderates Edith Ramlow and Bob Bramlette – and also appoint former LAB member Elaine Kleid, a conservative who was removed from the board last year, and newcomer James Pirotta of Homosassa, a respected conservative educator and author, to fill the two seats vacated by liberals.

Her motion was not seconded. 

Commissioner Rebecca Bays then nominated Terry Morriston, a liberal former LAB member who has advocated for leftist policies in the library system, including supporting LGBT Pride propaganda displays and opposing the 2023 decision to end the library system's affiliation with the far-left American Library Association. Commissioner Jeff Kinnard asked Bays if she would also support reappointing the three incumbents and appointing James Pirotta, as Finegan suggested. When she agreed, he seconded the motion. 

Many of the LGBT activists who spoke during public comment had already expressed support for Morriston along with leftist applicants Rebecca Beattie, Gordon Myhre, Janet L. Borton, Laura Gatling-Wright, Karen O'Brien, Virginia Owen, and Denise Martinez. A number of these candidates and their supporters have been active in the far-left Coffee Coalition that has organized anti-ICE and other leftist demonstrations next to the Old Courthouse in Inverness, and they have Facebook pages full of hateful posts about President Donald Trump and other Republicans. 

Morriston was also nominated by liberal Commissioner Holly Davis and Councilwomen Lizanich and Satchell, who all also expressed support for several of the other leftist candidates. 

Reopening the debate about LGBT Pride propaganda displays in Citrus County libraries, which were canceled in 2022 following a major public backlash, Satchell suggested libraries should be places to affirm children in sexual confusion who are "struggling with identity" and "may not be who you are."

When the board's support for Morriston was clear, Finegan wisely closed nominations to avoid an avalanche of leftist appointments. 

The final vote was to reappoint incumbents Lenora Nelson, Edith Ramlow and Bob Bramlette and to also appoint Terry Morriston and James Pirotta. 

They will serve two-year terms.