Fairhope City Council reappoints library board members targeted by Clean Up Alabama

The Fairhope City Council on Monday reappointed three library board members, including two who had been targeted by Clean Up Alabama and others for removal.

The council voted unanimously to reappoint Anne Johnson, Randal Wright, and Andy Parvin to serve on the board.

Moms for Liberty had called for the resignation of Johnson, who serves as chair of the board, and also expressed concerns about Randal Wright, who also serves as director of Friends of the Fairhope Public Library.

In an email to council members, Clean Up Alabama expressed concerns about two books that remain in youth sections of the library and said Johnson had failed as chair to move the books away from access to children.

“She claims that Parts and Hearts by Jensen Hillenbrand, a book that perpetuates lies to boys and girls by telling them they will wake up happy after choosing to mutilate themselves via surgery, is ‘educational,’” Clean Up Alabama said in an email to followers. “This book teaches children how to transition genders and includes instructions on taking hormones and undergoing surgery.”

The group urged followers to sign a petition calling for Johnson to resign and for the council to withhold $225,000 in funding for the library until the challenged books are removed.

The reappointment of three board members at once provided the potential to flip the board toward Clean Up Alabama’s agenda, but the group won’t likely have that opportunity again soon in Fairhope. 

Instead of appointing all three members to four-year terms, they agreed to be appointed to staggered terms: Johnson will serve two years, Wright will serve three years and Parvin will serve four years.

It is common for library board terms to be staggered to ensure continuity and stability rather than replacing numerous board members simultaneously.

Attorney Brian Dasinger, founder of the Faith Family Freedom Coalition in Baldwin County, said his group had seven people apply for board positions and none of them were contacted.

“Not a phone call, not a letter, not an email—nothing,” Dasinger said. “And then we come here too ind out, ‘Hey. we’re just reaping the same people we appointed before,’ so I guess it’s just business as usual.”

Dasinger said his group has been “treated like radicals” unfairly.

“Our position is very much in alignment with America, with Alabama and with the majority of the citizens of this City of Fairhope,” Dasinger said. “I don’t think the majority of citizens of Fairhope want this woke nonsense and this indoctrination to be pumped to our children.”

One other citizen joined Dasinger in opposing the board appointments, and three citizens stood up in support of the board.

Citizen Gustavo Duay told the council about growing up in Venezuela and comparing the authoritarian government there to the push for censorship in the U.S.

“I am deeply saddened to see fellow residents of Fairhope advocate for censorship by using the exact same tactics that destroyed the country where I was born,” Duay said. “I’ve been through this, and I know how this ends: it ends with one small group of people choosing what material everyone is able to access.”