The Colorado Springs City Council voted Tuesday to go against its decision in May and approved Kaname “Kenny” Kuniyuki to a seat on the Pikes Peak Library District Board of Trustees.

The council voted 6-3 to approve Kuniyuki to join the board. He will fill a seat that expired in December that has been held by Dora Gonzales for nearly a year until this appointment.

In May, the council had voted 6-3 against having Kuniyuki fill the open seat. Several council members cited Kuniyuki’s relatively brief time living in Colorado Springs as a concern, along with his soft stance on the library board’s decision to let the Rockrimmon Library branch close last fall.

The council members who changed their vote were David Leinweber, Roland Rainey and Brandy Williams.

The El Paso County Board of County Commissioners had unanimously approved Kuniyuki for the seat in May.

“Council will demonstrate to the county commissioners that they don’t need to compromise and find a solution that council also agrees with. Just wait and we will reverse our decision,” council member Dave Donelson said.

The vote angered many residents who were closely watching the process to manage the library board.

As recently as Sept. 12, the Joint Appointment Committee for the library district announced that the open board seat would accept a new round of applications from the public.

The committee members, including two City Council members and two county commissioners, restarted the search to correspond with the applications for a second board seat that will become vacant at the end of the year.

Less than a week later on Sept. 17, the second vote for Kuniyuki was listed on the council’s agenda. He was not officially reapproved by the joint committee until a special meeting Monday.

Veronica Baker has been a vocal follower of the library board since the decision was made last year to close the Rockrimmon branch. Baker said that she had been excited to encourage residents to apply for both board seats after the first meeting in September. She felt that the turnaround in the past two weeks was underhanded.

“When decisions are made publicly and quickly undone behind closed doors, trust erodes. When one candidate is given more opportunities than others, trust erodes,” Baker said during the council meeting.

Kuniyuki did not attend the council meeting on Tuesday. At previous meetings, Kuniyuki said he had been stationed in Colorado Springs around 2012 while serving in the Army and chose to move back to the city with his family in 2024. He had been involved with the public libraries in Texas while stationed there.

Leinweber said he voted against Kuniyuki the first time because he did not seem familiar with how the Rockrimmon closure had politicized that fight over the library. At some point, Leinweber changed his mind and said he viewed that separation as a positive.

“Government needs to get out of the way and let people do the job,” Leinweber said. “With the next nomination, we can move forward with the new process we have discussed.”

Williams said state laws and local rules governing appointments to the library board were lacking and could be strengthened in the future. For the current proposal, Williams said she had been convinced of Kuniyuki’s qualifications for the library board after an impromptu interview with him.

“If everything he told me wasn’t true, that is a different conversation, but I trust the people who put themselves in this position,” Williams said.

The Joint Application Committee was reformed this year to create a more formal process for library board appointments. Kuniyuki was one of 51 citizens who applied for the seat in fall 2024 and one of roughly a dozen whom committee members interviewed.

Several of the public commenters who opposed Tuesday’s appointment said that County Commissioner Carrie Geitner, who chairs the Joint Application Committee, was the problem.

According to council member Nancy Henjum, Geitner had said the library board was a political appointment that was not required to hold an interview process. City resident Jennifer Walker said Geitner openly refused to consider candidates who live near the former Rockrimmon Library for the board seats.

The Pikes Peak Library District Board voted in August to buy the buildings housing the Ruth Holley and Ute Pass library branches. The combined purchase for the two buildings cost $2.6 million.

During the city work session on Monday, Pikes Peak Library CEO Teona Shainidze Krebs and board President Julie Smyth provided the council a big-picture update on the library.

Donelson asked Monday whether the library had a timeline for replacing the Rockrimmon branch with a new location in the northwest section of the city.

Smyth said the board couldn’t commit to a deadline but that the library was actively looking at options for buildings both there and in the northeast Council District 6.

Applications for the library board seat held by Debbie English will open to the public before the end of the month.

The Colorado Springs City Council voted Tuesday to go against its decision in May and approved Kaname “Kenny” Kuniyuki to a seat on the Pikes Peak Library District Board of Trustees.

The City Council voted 6-3 to approve Kuniyuki to join the library district board. He will fill a seat that expired in December, but has been held by Dora Gonzales for nearly a year until this appointment.

In May, the council had voted 6-3 against having Kuniyuki fill the open seat. Several councilmembers cited Kuniyuki’s relatively brief time living in Colorado Springs as a concern, along with his soft stance on the library board’s decision to let the Rockrimmon Library branch close last fall.

The councilmembers who changed their vote were David Leinweber, Roland Rainey and Brandy Williams.

The County Commissioners had unanimously approved Kuniyuki for the seat in May.

“Council will demonstrate to the County Commissioners that they don’t need to compromise and find a solution that council also agrees with. Just wait and we will reverse our decision,” councilmember Dave Donelson said.

The vote angered many residents who were closely watching the process to manage the library board. As recently as Sept. 12, the Joint Appointment Committee for the library district announced that the open board seat would accept a new round of applications from the public. The committee members, including two City Council members and two El Paso County Commissioners, restarted the search to correspond with the applications for a second board seat that will become vacant at the end of the year.

Less than a week later on Sept. 17, the second vote for Kuniyuki was listed on the City Council’s agenda. He was not officially re-approved by the joint committee until a special meeting Monday afternoon.

“When decisions are made publicly and quickly undone behind closed doors, trust erodes. When one candidate is given more opportunities than others, trust erodes.” – Veronica Baker

Veronica Baker has been a vocal follower of the library board since the decision was made last year to close the Rockrimmon Library branch. Baker said that she had been excited to encourage residents to apply for both library board seats after the first meeting in September. She felt that the turnaround in the past two weeks was underhanded.

“When decisions are made publicly and quickly undone behind closed doors, trust erodes. When one candidate is given more opportunities than others, trust erodes,” Baker said during the council meeting.

Kuniyuki did not attend the City Council meeting on Tuesday. At previous meetings, Kuniyuki said he had been stationed in Colorado Springs around 2012 while serving in the army and chose to move back to the city with his family in 2024. He had been involved with the public libraries in Texas while he was stationed there.

Councilmember Leinweber said he voted against Kuniyuki the first time because he did not seem familiar with how the Rockrimmon closure had politicized that fight over the library. At some point, Leinweber changed his mind and said he viewed that separation as a positive.

“Government needs to get out of the way and let people do the job,” Leinweber said. “With the next nomination, we can move forward with the new process we have discussed.”

Williams said state laws and local rules governing appointments to the library board were lacking and could be strengthened in the future. For the current proposal, Williams said she had been convinced of Kuniyuki’s qualifications for the library board after an impromptu interview with him.

“If everything he told me wasn’t true, that is a different conversation, but I trust the people who put themselves in this position,” Williams said.

The Joint Application Committee was reformed earlier this year to create a more formal process for library board appointments. Kuniyuki was one of 51 citizens who applied for the seat in the fall of 2024 and one of roughly a dozen whom committee members interviewed.

Several of the public commenters who opposed Tuesday’s appointment said that County Commissioner Carrie Geitner, who chairs the Joint Application Committee, was the problem. According to Councilwoman Nancy Henjum, Geitner had said the library board was a political appointment that was not required to hold an interview process. City resident Jennifer Walker said Geitner openly refused to consider any candidates who live near the former Rockrimmon Library for the board seats.

The Pikes Peak Library District Board voted in August to purchase the buildings currently housing the Ruth Holley and Ute Pass library branches. The combined purchase cost for the two buildings was $2.6 million.

During the city work session on Monday, Pikes Peak Library CEO Teona Shainidze Krebs and board president Julie Smyth provided the council a big-picture update on the library.

Donelson asked Monday whether the library had a timeline for replacing the Rockrimmon branch with a new location in the northwest section of the city. Smyth said the board couldn’t commit to a deadline but that the library was actively looking at options for buildings both there and in the northeast council District 6.

“We’re primarily looking at the quality of the available options rather than the timeline. Obviously, we’re very proactively looking,” Smyth said.

Applications for the library board seat currently held by Debbie English will open to the public before the end of the month.