The Colorado Springs City Council rejected the recommended board member of the Pikes Peak Library District Board of Trustees, extending the process over questions about how long he lived in the city.

The City Council voted 6-3 against naming Kenny Kuniyuki as the next library board member. The three votes in support of Kuniyuki were councilmembers Lynette Crow-Iverson, Brian Risley and Tom Bailey.

Earlier on Tuesday morning, the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners unanimously confirmed Kuniyuki to join the board. The appointment is a joint decision by both governments that oversee the library district and needs to be passed by at least two-thirds of both groups.

The appointment will be sent back to the joint committee of City Council and County Commission who oversee the board appointments to either resubmit Kuniyuki or recommend another person. The decision extends a six-month process to name the successor to former library board director Dora Gonzales after her term expired in December.

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Kuniyuki is a retired Army colonel who moved to Colorado Springs with his family at the beginning of 2024, though he said that he was stationed in the city in 2012. Kuniyuki had volunteered with the Harker Heights Public Library while stationed in Texas and said he taught swing dancing lessons last year for homeschool students at East Library.

“Libraries have to evolve. The Library of Alexandria (ancient library in Egypt) would be great for a bibliophile like my wife, but I don’t know if that is a library for tomorrow. How do you connect people? How do you add technology?” Kuniyuki said.

Kuniyuki told the City Council that he had researched the library’s finances and some of the state tax laws that limited how the library could raise money to prepare for the position. He told the council that he wanted to help the library balance its aspirational goals with the continued growth of the city.

Karla Powers, organizer of the neighborhood advocacy group COS Reads, has been one of the most vocal advocates to replace the Rockrimmon branch and place more oversight on the library board. Powers said that while Kuniyuki seemed like a sincere candidate for the position, she wanted to see a more active advocate for libraries on the board.

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“Right now, we need someone with a strong financial background to figure this out. We need someone who understands libraries and what they mean to people in this area,” Powers said.

The library appointment process has been scrutinized for months after the Board of Trustees voted last year to end the lease for the Rockrimmon Library, allowing the branch to close. Councilmember Dave Donelson asked Kuniyuki if he would oppose future neighborhood library closures.

“I don’t think I currently can commit to that. I think it will be a decision the board will have to have at that time,” Kuniyuki said.

“You can commit to it, and you can be outvoted on the board,” Donelson replied.

Councilmember Roland Rainey said that he liked the comments Kuniyuki made about his military experience and hoped he would apply again. Right now, however, Rainey voted against the appointment to reopen discussions about the library’s future in the Rockrimmon area.

“With this vote to go back to the joint committee, I hope there is a larger conversation about the process and they find someone who has been embedded in that community,” Rainey said.

The joint committee members interviewed seven of the 51 people who applied for the position before nominating Kuniyuki last week. The city and county representatives held separate private interviews with candidates before the public joint meeting, a change in approach made to ensure the group complied with Colorado’s Open Meeting Law.

Commissioner Bill Wysong said during the county meeting Tuesday that he hoped the process would change again in the future to be even more transparent and bring in more public involvement.

Commissioner Carrie Geitner, who is the chair of the joint appointment team, said there was public misinformation around the interviews and final recommendation. Geitner said the library board roles and other volunteer boards were “political appointments” with more subjective qualifications than a job hire.

After the council meeting, Kuniyuki said that he would not officially pull his name from consideration and let the joint commission make its decision. Kuniyuki said he hoped the extended process would get people more involved with the library and local government in general.