To the editor:

Conspiracy theories concerning the public library, secret files, and the targeting of political appointees sound like the plot line of the latest thriller airing on your favorite streaming site. Unfortunately for Tiverton, at least one town councillor is having trouble distinguishing between that kind of on-screen fantasy world and reality.

Opening scene: Jan. 28 meeting of the Tiverton Town Council. Council member Justin Katz, his voice full of self-righteous indignation, rails at the library Board of Trustees for having had the audacity to interview candidates for an opening on the board and - still worse - to summarize those interviews and provide a recommendation on the appointment to the Town Council. (Never mind that the chair of the trustees and/or the full board has been holding such interviews and providing the names of recommended candidates to the Town Council for decades.)

Now cut to a local politics page on social media: Katz floats his theory - stating it as established fact, of course - that the library created secret files so that the trustees could use them later to bring down Katz’s preferred candidate, a political ally, for the board position. Secret files? He’s referring to what the rest of us call incident reports. You know, the type that every municipal agency keeps to record safety and security issues that occur from time to time and that are public records. Anyone can get a copy of them under the Access to Public Records Act.

No doubt Katz is hoping his fanciful narrative will deflect attention away from the content of the incident reports, which document several occasions over the past year when Katz’s preferred candidate verbally harassed library staff and displayed belligerent behavior toward them. The trustees identified the (mis)behavior described in the reports as a “major concern,” and recommended a different candidate for appointment. Rather than admit that his candidate’s behavior should disqualify him from serving on the board, Katz doggedly continues to champion the man and to point the finger at everyone and anyone else instead.

The final scene? Tune in or, better yet, show up at the next Tiverton Town Council meeting on Feb. 11 when council members will vote on the appointments and reveal whether they want to serve the best interests of the library - and the town - or their own political ends.

Carol Herrmann

Tiverton