Endorsement: Clear choices in Meridian Library board election | Opinion

The decision in this year’s race for Meridian Library District board of trustees is an easy one.

Two of the candidates want to build up the district, support it and help it grow.

The other two have a history of wanting to destroy it — literally.

Incumbent board chairman Jeff Kohler and newcomer Garrett Castle are the easy choices in this May 20 election, in which four candidates are running for two positions. The top two vote-getters win those two seats.

Their opponents, Phil Reynolds and Mike Hon, led an effort a couple of years ago to disband the library district over the far-right bogeyman of pornography in libraries, and librarians as groomers.

They were part of a small but noisy group that brought a petition to the Ada County Commission to have voters decide whether to dissolve the district.

Electing them now to the library district board would be like putting the foxes in the henhouse.

The Idaho Statesman editorial board endorses Kohler and Castle for the Meridian Library District board.

Kohler and Castle are qualified

But this endorsement isn’t just a statement against Hon and Reynolds, which is easy to make; this is a statement in favor of Kohler and Castle, who impressed us in their interview with the editorial board.

Kohler has been on the board since 2019, pre-pandemic, so he has plenty of experience, and he should get a medal for crisis management, first with the pandemic and then with the silly anti-library group.

“I had no idea that it would turn into this controversial position that it has become in six years, but I am happy to continue to serve, and hope to continue to have the confidence of the Meridian voters,” Kohler said.

Kohler speaks with as much authority about the library district’s budget and its $14 million plant facilities expansion over the past five years as he does about the district’s policies handling challenges to books on the shelves.

The district has had four book challenges. In each case, the district kept the books in their current location, with unanimous board approval.

“One thing I like to tell people is, there are books in the library that offend my moral sensibilities, that don’t fit my family’s values, that I wouldn’t want my kids to read when they were little, and that I don’t choose to read myself,” Kohler said. “What people don’t understand is that my point of view may be different from other people’s point of view.

“When I put on my trustee hat, I have to represent all of the citizens of Meridian. … I wouldn’t want to act as a government official and say that I get to decide what your children get to read, what’s appropriate for your children.”

He said the decision to keep or remove a book isn’t as simple as someone seeing a passage or a picture in a book they don’t like.

“Having been on the front lines of this for six years, the issue is so much more complex,” Kohler said. “You’ve got First Amendment issues, you’ve got intellectual freedom issues, you’ve got all kinds of other considerations that fall into place, and people think that it’s a quick decision. It’s not.”

Kohler noted that the recent state law that requires libraries to address content challenges or face a lawsuit is legally and logistically problematic. He demonstrates a much deeper knowledge of the law than the legislators who approved the bill.

Castle’s views

Castle was in agreement with Kohler on the issue of ensuring First Amendment rights are protected for all patrons, and he’s running for all the right reasons.

“A lot of the reason why I’m running is just because I just look at what’s kind of going on with the current board, and I go, ‘Yeah, we’re going in the right direction. We’re doing the things that we should be doing as a board,’” Castle said.

He pointed to the district’s expansion over the past several years and the library’s handling of book challenges, and to handling the efforts to disband the district.

He also said he feels that east Meridian is a little underserved and that if elected, he would explore options for expanding services in that part of town.

Reynolds and Hon decline interview

Both Reynolds and Hon declined to interview with the editorial board. We generally do not endorse candidates who do not agree to an interview. We feel it’s important to have a conversation with candidates, ask them questions on issues that are important to the community, listen to their answers and ask follow-up questions if necessary.

We also feel it’s important that any government official demonstrates a commitment to transparency. Refusing to answer questions about their views hardly demonstrates such a commitment.

Hon and Reynolds emailed candidate statements. Neither of their statements addressed their connections to the group that accused the Meridian Library District of giving pornography to children.

Reynolds moved to Idaho from California, where he was a candidate for city council and Congress, in a Republican primary in which he finished fifth.

According to the San Jose Spotlight, Reynolds was at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, where he posted on social media at 12:19 p.m.: “The war has begun! Citizens take arms! FREEDOM SHALL PREVAIL!!! WE MUST DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTION TO THE DEATH!”

Reynolds was consequently asked to resign from the Santa Clara County Republican Central Committee. He no doubt feels his views are more welcome in a Republican-dominated state such as Idaho.

If that includes inciting war and shutting down our libraries, it’s up to voters in the Meridian Library District to let him know that his views aren’t welcome here.

Kohler has been an ideal steward of the library district and your tax dollars, and Castle promises to be the same.

Voters have an easy choice to make: Kohler and Castle for Meridian Library District.

This story was originally published May 13, 2025 at 4:00 AM.