Will Defiance Be Punished?

The sobering moment of last night’s election results was after the initial ‘Dude, we did it!  We achieved the first step in protecting Samuels!’ was oh crap, think of the damage the current board could do between now and January.

I am aware that a lot of what I am about to say is speculation, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable considering the past course of actions taken by the four supervisors hell-bent on ruining Samuels Public Library. There is still that contract with LS&S; it was sent back for revisions. What does that mean? No one has a clue, and there are so many things they could do with ‘revisions’.

In CyberSecurity, we walk a fine line between educating the public about vulnerabilities, issues, and scams, and alerting the threat actors.  In other words, we debate if making this information public puts people at more risk, because we are telling the threat actors ways they can exploit people.  I am in the camp that believes it’s important to start the dialogue because my duty is to the public.  Threat actors already know the ways they can attack the community, but the community doesn’t know/consider all the ways they can be hurt.

I say this because I don’t think anything I am about to say gives anyone any new ideas.  It does potentially inform the community of ways they could be hurt and things to consider.

Let’s say in the revisions, they increase the fee for cancellation?  I feel confident that there is a breaking point that the community can absorb.  Would they make it that number, forcing the contact to stay in place?  The original was a ten-year contract, so that will cost us the taxpayers millions of dollars. Both ways hurt our wallets, steal money from other places, and can be avoided if the contract isn’t signed.

On another front, I have been critical of the potential security issues with this contract.  If they address them just enough that it sounds safe, but to a trained nerd like me, we see the risks, will I be able to get the general population to care?  If you don’t think that’s feasible, think about all of the terms you agree to when you sign up for a website.  No one reads them, and you are giving up your privacy and security every time you click accept.

They could make the contract just tolerable enough that ‘the middle of the issue people’ suddenly don’t care if it gets enacted.  Then they could tout that they worked with the community to come to a compromise.  Yet we still are on the hook for a library that we don’t need and won’t be able to provide the level of services that Samuels already does.

On a non-library related issue, what if they put in someone unqualified to fill Mr. Daley’s position and give them a sweet ‘golden parachute’ if their contract is terminated early?  Could we afford that in the short term?  And let’s not forget the long-term cost of having someone ‘learn as they go’ in that vital position.  Plus, we’ve already spent money on the team that was hired to find Mr. Daley’s replacement.  Even if we don’t use their suggested candidate, we still paid them for their expert services to no real benefit.

We’ve already seen the cuts in the budget from education to emergency personnel.

While I feel vindicated that the community came out and showed support for a return to sanity/civility in local politics and the library, we still have to survive the next six months.  What are we as a community going to do if the four decide to go scorched Earth?

My personal opinion is that they’ve already shown they are willing to see personal vendettas through to the end; even if it’s not what their constituents want.  I seem to recall at one point the board said that sometimes they need to do what’s best, even if the community doesn’t realize/agree that it’s in their best interest.

It’s my job to see potential threats coming, prepare for them and alert the correct people.  So what I am asking is for the community to not look at yesterday’s results as the end of this.  We still have a storm to weather, and I am afraid that our ‘defiance’ has potentially angered them.

To the supervisors themselves, I’ve never hated you.  I’ve been appalled by your actions, but no matter what I’ve always given your office the respect that it expects.  I am now asking you to do the same thing, give your office the respect it deserves.  Listen to the entirety of your voting district and don’t try to punish us.  Don’t let your legacy be one of spite.  Let’s work together to actually make Warren County stronger, together.

Finally, to everyone who voted, no matter how you voted, thank you.  America is what it is because we have freedom of speech and the right to vote.  These two things are essential to democracy.

Sydney Patton
Warren County, VA

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