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City of Bartlesville
Posted: Jan 10, 2025 2:59 PMUpdated: Jan 10, 2025 3:01 PM
City Councilor Wants Re-Vote on Library Literacy Grant Stalemate
Nathan Thompson
A Bartlesville City Council member who voted against a grant to fund a literacy, citizenship and language program at the public library is requesting the council to revisit the matter next month.
Ward 2 City Councilor Larry East joined Ward 1 City Councilor Tim Sherrick in attempting to add a requirement for participants in the program to provide documents that they are in the United States legally. That motion failed in a 2-2 tie vote when Library Director Kylie Roberson told the council it was not within the city's authority to add that stipulation.
When the vote came again to approve the grant contract without the stipulation, the motion failed again in a 2-2 vote, ending in a stalemate which left the literacy program unfunded.
East told Bartlesville Radio on Friday he's been contacted by several constituents about the vote and has had some time to think about his vote. He says he wishes he would have tabled the matter rather than allowing the program's funding to cease.
East says he is going to continue studying what local government can and cannot require for a grant program brought down from the state and federal levels. He says he supports the citizenship and language programs at the library and wants to see them continue.
East says he plans to place the grant back on the City Council's agenda for their February meeting.
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