New Trustee Mum on Atheist Magazine Flap

A fifth member of the Escondido Library board of trustees, chosen Wednesday by the Escondido City Council, gave no immediate indication of whether he would vote to accept or reject a gift subscription to American Atheist magazine--an issue that has raised more than usual interest in the library’s governing board.

Tom DeMitor, appointed by a 4-0 vote by the council, said he wants to review the magazine and hear the head librarian’s recommendation before making a decision.

The library board deadlocked, 2-2, at its last meeting on whether to accept the magazine, and DeMitor--a self-described non-practicing Roman Catholic--might be seen as the tie-breaker, except that some trustees on both sides of the fence have since waffled on their earlier positions. It was unclear Wednesday how the board will finally vote when it meets at 4 p.m. next Thursday in the library’s board room.

The subscription to American Atheist was offered by Steven Thorne, an Escondido resident and director of the San Diego County Chapter of American Atheists. Thorne argued that the library should be a storehouse and forum for a wide range of ideas, including those not necessarily endorsed by society’s mainstream.

Thorne enlivened the brouhaha when he applied for the vacant, fifth seat on the library’s board, generating still more interest in the library appointment. On Wednesday morning, the City Council heard all nine candidates tell why they should be selected.

Only one person alluded to the controversy over the magazine, saying he had applied for the library post before the atheism issue made local headlines and generated other applicants. Others talked about their love for libraries and mentioned their educational, business or library volunteer backgrounds as reasons they felt qualified to hold the post.

Thorne avoided reference to the magazine, saying that, if he was appointed, he would campaign for the purchase of a bookmobile that could visit schools and retirement homes.

DeMitor, 52, described himself to the council as “a relative conservative” who relishes the library as a tangible city service where residents can enjoy the fruits of their tax dollars.

Without discussion, council members cast votes for each of the nine candidates; DeMitor was the only candidate who received all four votes of the council (Councilwoman Doris Thurston was absent.) and Thorne received no votes.

Outside the council chambers, DeMitor immediately promised Thorne he would give the magazine a fair hearing and asked Thorne to provide him with copies of the publication to review.

DeMitor said he was a “born-and-raised but non-practicing Catholic, but even if I had a personal view, I wouldn’t allow it to influence my decision. I don’t have any particular feeling, one way or another. I don’t think I have a right to.”

He said, however, that he is a fiscal conservative who “believes in the proper expenditure of funds for the best value of the tax dollar.”

Head Librarian Graham Humphrey had recommended to the trustees that the magazine be rejected because, even though it was a free subscription, it would cost the city money in terms of staff time to file the magazine monthly. He also recommended against the magazine because its articles are not referenced in magazine indexes, it has not been requested by library patrons and it might not hold up to the physical abuse to which library material is subjected.

Some trustees, on the other hand, said they were wary of being branded as censors if they voted to reject the magazine.

DeMitor is retired after having spent 26 years in broadcast journalism as a cameraman and reporter, including time with ABC News. He ran unsuccessfully for the City Council in 1984, and laughingly said the council appointed him to the library board “to get me out of their hair.”