The Christian County Commission has appointed two new board members to the Christian County Library District’s Board of Trustees.
Seats to represent the Highlandville/Spokane region and the Nixa area both opened up recently due to board members Echo Schneider and Mary Hernandez de Carl relocating, but at their meeting Thursday morning, the County Commission overrode Library District bylaws prioritizing regional representation, due to a lack of applications.
The Commission shared they’d received two for Nixa, and two additional applications from Ozark residents, but had not received any applications to serve the Highlandville / Spokane region.
Commissioner Bradley Jackson suggested they prioritize filling the board regardless, falling back on statutes that supersede library policy.
Former Board President Echo Schneider had relocated to and applied for Nixa and was reappointed. For the Highlandville / Spokane seat, the board chose Ozark resident Koleman Parsley. Parsley’s LinkedIn shows he attended Ozarks Tech and Evangel. He is a developer with digital marketing experience, including time in digital marketing at James River Church.
Parsley was chosen over fellow Ozark resident David Rice. Rice is a blogger, regular public speaker at library board meetings and longtime critic of the library district, including former board president Schneider. Breaking with another common practice, the Commission said they opted not to interview Rice, stating he’d been interviewed recently enough for another board opening.