Sumner County personnel committee pauses names of Westmoreland Library director candidates pending legal review

The Sumner County Library Board Personnel Committee voted Feb. 18 to delay any public discussion of the names of applicants for the Westmoreland Library director position and to seek guidance from legal counsel on how to protect applicants’ identities.

The committee said 11 people applied to the posted vacancy and four candidates have been interviewed so far. Committee members raised concerns that airing applicants’ names in recorded public meetings or in minutes could harm candidates who remain employed elsewhere. The committee approved a motion to consult legal counsel and to refrain from discussing the identities of “any and all” candidates until it receives guidance; the motion carried.

Committee members said they are balancing transparency with candidate privacy. Several members noted past searches took multiple months between application and start date: one member cited the prior Westmoreland hire, Alicia, saying the posting appeared in March, an interview occurred in June and the new director started in July. Members asked whether existing hiring policy requires listing applicant names in public minutes or recordings and called for the legal department to clarify what the committee may lawfully disclose.

The committee also discussed whether to re-open or extend the search while awaiting legal guidance. After debate, members said they preferred to ‘‘trust the process’’ and to proceed with the current pool of applicants unless legal guidance requires reopening the search. They did not take a vote to extend the recruitment during the meeting.

Procedural details the committee flagged included: that minutes and recordings for public meetings may include applicant names even when the committee prefers to protect privacy, and the need to reconcile that with the library’s written hiring policy. One member likened the privacy concern to limits analogous to health privacy rules when discussing sensitive employment information.

The personnel committee asked staff to contact the legal department for an advisory opinion on what names and candidate details the committee must disclose in minutes and recordings and to report back to the committee before moving forward with public action on a finalist. The meeting ended after the committee approved a motion to adjourn.

The committee did not select or nominate a candidate at the Feb. 18 meeting.