By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – Anyone following the ongoing book controversy at the St. Tammany public libraries knows that there is no lost love between St. Tammany Library Accountability Project leader Connie Phillips and Parish Council Chairman Jake Airey, who is now the newest member of the Library Board.
But the differences the two have with each other, which have been publicly stated as the book controversy reaches new heights of passion, moved to a slightly new level on Monday night at the board meeting.
Phillips was the parish resident who authored four of the five challenged books that were up for review at the meeting. However, she did not attend due to a personal situation in her family that she had told Parish Council members about in an e-mail on Friday, March 24.
Airey apparently didn’t see that e-mail since he commented publicly at the Monday meeting when learning Phillips wasn’t there, stating “it was cowardly of her to not be here since she challenged four of these five books.”
Airey said he would have tried to move the meeting to another date if he had known, but Phillips reminded Airey on Tuesday that she did, in fact, send an e-mail on March 24 to all council members.
The e-mail stated: “Parish Council members. Thank you for facilitating the streaming of the LBOC meeting. We know this would not happen without your involvement. I for one will be out of town on Monday and will take advantage of this streaming service. We appreciate your efforts as we have been silenced and bullied by the Democratic Party in this Parish and the radical left for 8 months.”
When Phillips heard about the remark from Airey, she sent out this e-mail on Tuesday.
“I had to move my son from Wisconsin to Houston this week. Jake Airey somehow thought it was appropriate to call me a coward at the Library Board meeting, which is of course laughable. There are a lot of cowards in our Parish, but I am not one of them. If Jake Airey did his job, I wouldn’t have to do it for him.
“As far as I’m concerned you all can have the consequences failing to protect our kids. I didn’t run for office. I brought this issue to you for help. Let them read it. It won’t be on my conscience. Up to you. I have a very full and happy life. My kids are grown. $12 million for a Democratic library? Now you tell me Mr. Airey, who is the coward? I don’t think you are a coward though. I think you are one of them.”
Airey said the absence by Phillips was “frustrating considering how long this meeting went after I had a long trial all day today.” He offered no other comments about the “cowardly” remark.
Phillips’ criticism of Airey and the entire Parish Council revolves around the fact the Accountability Project believes that more could be done to restrict the books from children.
After a recent Attorney General’s opinion was issued on the matter, Livingston Parish Council used the support to get their library director and assistant to resign, and they fired one of the board members in a similar situation.
“Livingston Parish changed people who were allowing kids to see this filth,” Phillips said. “They didn’t have a lawsuit because of it or any other consequences. But our Parish Council continues to sit back and do nothing about this.”
Phillips, who has headed the work of the Accountability Project along with Slidell attorney David Cougle, said she continues to get death threats and things mailed to my house, like a pile of poop.
“The people against us are getting violent,” she said. “There were threats against some of our people at the meeting, with one woman trying to get one of our members to go out to the parking lot with her. It’s very clear that if they could kill me, they would. They call me the vilest names you can imagine, but we will not quit this fight because we are protecting our children. It would be nice if more of our public officials would see how important this is, but so many are doing nothing.”