Grants Pass Friends of the Library will hold a rally outside the Anne G. Basker Auditorium on Thursday at 10 a.m..
The "No Shushing" rally will be held outside while the Josephine County Board of Commissioners meets inside for its weekly business session.
Rally organizers say the event is a response to Board Chair Andreas Blech's abrupt adjournment of the August 14th meeting in which he cited audience "disrespect" in applauding a long-awaited vote on the lease for the Grants Pass branch library.
Out of concern that Commissioner Blech will take any murmur of either critique or appreciation as a chance to once again shut down the meeting, Grants Pass Friends of the Library encourages supporters to attend the "No Shushing" rally outside. A continuation of the public hearing on the library lease is on the agenda.
Jennifer Roberts, co-chair of Grants Pass Friends of the Library, said "it appears Commissioner Blech will take any excuse to shut down a meeting to avoid a vote on the lease and we refused to give him one." She said they would rather be loud outside the meeting than "shushed" inside the meeting.
The library lease was terminated by the Board of Commissioners with 30 days' notice on January 6th. Despite two months of negotiations with Board liaison Chris Barnett and over seven months of waiting, no vote has been held.
