On Tuesday night in Downers Grove, a quaint Chicago suburb, the Village Council 4-3 voted to remove the only Republican, logistics executive Bill Nienburg, from its six-member, appointed village library board. Nienburg publicly opposed repeated initiatives intended to make the library more “progressive.”
As reported by Dupage Policy Journal, in 2022, Nienburg was the only board member who did not support a “drag queen bingo” event for children at the library featuring a male cross-dressing stripper.
The board’s plan to spend approximately $160,000 on an “anti-racism” and also to replace the Pledge of Allegiance with a “land statement,” which would declare that the town was formed on land “stolen by white Christian men from the Indians,” were also criticized by Nienburg.
In another blow to the radicals, Nienburg refused to put his “pronouns” on the library board’s “about” page.
Democrat Leslie Sadowski voted in favor of a resolution to remove Nienburg
Sadowski told a crowd of more than 100, mostly attending in support of Nienburg, that she felt he should be removed because his ideas are “unsafe.”
“This has nothing to do with political affiliaton, and everything to do with dangerous extremism,” Sadowski said.
She said that she offered Nienburg “coaching” on how to get along with his liberal Democrat library board members, but that he refused.
Although Mr. Nienburg did not attended the meeting which ousted him, he sent a letter to Dupage Policy Journal:
The politically active Downers Grove Public Library administration and library board moved on February 28, 2024 to censure nonconforming library board member Bill Nienburg for sharing nonconfidential information with a Downers Grove taxpayer regarding a window painting policy at the library.
In a 5-0 vote the board moved to censure Mr. Nienburg and entered a request to the Downers Grove Village Council for his removal from the board. These actions all occurred when Mr. Nienburg was out of town and unable to attend this meeting and thereby denying him an opportunity to defend himself.
Bill Nienburg began his tenure with the Downers Grove Public Library Board in November 2022.
In this role as a library board member Mr. Nienburg exercised his fiduciary duty to the Downers Grove taxpayer by asking tough questions to and holding the library administration to account.
Last year he asked why a Native Land Statement is read before each meeting, but no Pledge of Allegiance. Suddenly the Pledge is now recited before each meeting.
During budget review Mr. Nienburg asked specific questions regarding increases to certain budget items, as well as how the budget can be proposed with no exact numbers.