LAPEER, Mich. — Several residents used the board's public comment period on Aug. 14 to press the Lapeer County Board of Commissioners to respond to the actions of a Lapeer District Library trustee who supporters said has been collecting signatures for an Axline Tax petition to eliminate property taxes.

Holly Nolan of Luthaer Township told the board she is concerned that a trustee's public advocacy for eliminating property taxes conflicts with his fiduciary duty to the library and said he should resign. "If John DeAngelis wants to eliminate property taxes, that is his prerogative. He just can't do it as part of the library board and should resign," Nolan said.

John DeAngelis, identified during the meeting as a Lapeer District Library trustee, told the commissioners that collecting petition signatures "does not extinguish any voter millages" and defended library meetings and actions. He said repeated interruptions at library meetings led library trustees to call police for order and asked critics to observe meeting conditions and noise factors when assessing board conduct.

Other speakers at the board meeting also weighed in. Rhonda Lor, who said she attends library and ad hoc committee meetings, disputed a county commissioner's description of library critics as "outsiders" and provided a breakdown she said showed 21 speakers at a recent library meeting—3 supporters and 18 critics—whom she described as local residents including librarians, teachers and parents. Heidi Elfer said the library should be a place that "welcomes all and discriminates against none" and criticized what she described as attempts to censor books and direct library acquisitions by non-experts.

Susan Huff presented a circulated letter signed by more than 200 community members calling for trustee John DeAngelis's resignation. Huff asserted that the Axline Tax petition would end voter-approved millages 45 days after passage and said that could eliminate nearly 90% of the library's funding. She asked the county board to tell DeAngelis to resign; she acknowledged the board has no direct removal authority.

Commissioners responded with clarifications about their authority and the structure of library governance. Chairman Howell reminded the public that the Lapeer District Library is a separate district—not a county-run library—and that the county appoints four of seven trustees; local units appoint the remainder. Commissioner Kemp said he had viewed video of a recent library meeting and that he "did not see any reason for the police to be called" in his review; Kemp said that statement had been misinterpreted by some. Several commissioners emphasized they have the power to appoint trustees but not to remove them.

No formal action was taken by the board at the meeting; commissioners and residents said the library issue will likely return to future meetings and that appointments and trustee conduct remain matters for the library board and the appointing authorities.