VOTE YES
This Recall Matters
Ballots will be mailed out July 10th to Ward 1 voters.
Ballot Box is located at : 989 Broadway, in the City Hall parking lot
Drop it off today!
Last fall Councilor Dillard began to raise the prospect of restricting access to books.
He proposed the following:
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Creating a committee to tell you what you can have access to read based on their personal beliefs could subject thousands of titles to restriction
The Library already has an independent board. The library board is tasked with reviewing any book challenges. They follow very clear guidelines based on legal precedent which is provided by professional associations like the American Library Association and Oregon Library Association.
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Where will the funding come from for the expansion of the library? In Idaho many smaller libraries are moving to adult only access due to similar policies.
Where would the funding come from for the additional staff needed to monitor this?
Restricted access is censorship. How are you supposed to know what books are available if they are behind a locked door?
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Professional organizations provide expertise and legal guidance to local libraries so that each library does not need to individual procure those resources. They help ensure that our library is in compliance with the latest case law in a complicated are of constitutional law.
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Mr. Dillard is not a constitutional lawyer. Children do have first amendment rights. There are numerous court cases occurring around the country right now about this very issue. Freedom of speech, access to information is winning. Cities who have moved to violate these rights have had to pay out large sums of money. Mr. Dillard's proposals could potentially subject Seaside to similar outcomes. Read more here And here
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This is a red herring, these proposals are about control. The government should not tell you what you have access to read.
We believe protecting first amendment rights protects everyone’s children.
Parents get to decide what’s appropriate for their children to read, not the government. Appropriate safeguards already allow parents to guide their child’s learning.
Seaside Public Library Policy
•Children under the age of 10 must be accompanied by their parent or guardian.
•Children 11-17 must have their parent or guardian’s permission to have a library card.
FACTS
Mr. Dillard did not file the book challenges, and tango makes three and When Aidan became a brother in an attempt to remove the books from the Seaside Library. He supported the efforts of those who did file the challenges.
However Steve Dillard’s proposed policy changes could make it easier to remove books like these from the library.
Restricted Access to Books, To Information is:
CENSORSHIP
Censorship : The suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable or a threat to security
How libraries determine what can be censored
They use the Miller Test.
The Miller Test is the primary legal test for determining whether expression constitutes obscenity named after a US Supreme Court Decision Miller v. California (1973)
•(1) whether the average person applying contemporary community standards would find the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest;
•(2) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law; and
•(3) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.
Libraries also use time, place and manner restrictions.
The Recall was a last resort.
Residents of Seaside went and shared their opposition for months.
I put a post on Nextdoor to see what other Seaside residents wanted to meet about this issue. 37 people showed up to listen to a stranger ( that’s me! ) speak.
We collectively decided on a plan of action and wrote a mission statement together.
1.Meet one on one with Mr. Dillard
2.Ask one more time at the May 13th city council meeting, the Question: What are your intentions with our library?
3.If Mr. Dillard decided to continue to ignore his constituents, file for a recall petition.
Steve Dillard ran unopposed, there were people in the room that voted for him and were appalled by his actions since being elected.
I met one on one with Steve Dillard for an hour and half on Saturday 5/11/2024. I caught glimpses of his motivation in that meeting and left very concerned.
176 people signed on to a statement that was read at the May 13th City Council Meeting asking Mr. Dillard what his intentions were with our library. His response was disappointing, no acknowledgement of how the residents of Seaside felt.
City Councilor Posalski, asked Mr. Dillard “ Is this something you are going to be bringing a motion to the council to move forward with” , simple yes or no. And Steve refused to answer. You can watch this exchange starting at 2:18:00 on the 5/13/2024 council meeting recording.
The next day RJ Marx, former editor of the Seaside Signal filed the recall petition.
We want to protect our library . We want to live in a town where everyone is free to read.
JOIN US: VOTE YES
