EDITORIAL: Hold the tomatoes and fling some praise

Call 'em like you see 'em.

When the struggling new board majority overseeing the Community Library Network agrees to prohibit any of its libraries from opening on Sundays — because of trustees' personal religious beliefs, no less — you call them out.

When that kind of action leads the network's insurer to wonder what in the wide, wide world of sports is going on here and hangs a premium rate hike on top of dramatically reduced coverage because of perceived higher risk, you call the board out.

You call them out again when a member of the library board majority suggests that a local insurance agency with deep red pockets and expensive ties to the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee would be the perfect option — without having any idea how much it would cost or how much coverage it would provide. You turn up the call-out volume when that library trustee says, in essence, "We don't need no stinkin' bid process."

You call them like you see them.

And so you compliment that board majority when they reverse course and decide that libraries will remain open on Sundays so individuals and families may continue to use these vital community assets when it's convenient for them and their kids.

You applaud the network's trustees for hitting a quick pause on the pending insurance crisis, taking a deep breath and deciding to appeal its insurer's notice of higher cost with lower coverage. You clap a little louder when the board opens the door to considering bids from prospective providers.

And then you salute state Rep. Jordan Redman for his letter to the editor published in last Friday's Press. Redman, owner of the local insurance firm that was named by a trustee as the place to just automatically plunk taxpayers' pennies for coverage, respectfully suggested to the community that a formal bid process is the proper approach. Let the best proposal, not the best political pal, win the bid and earn the taxpayers' trust.

The network's board meets again today with more controversial topics on the agenda and more chances to get things wrong — or right. Here's hoping its modest win streak continues.