Meehan Resigns From Library Board After Sharing Private Information
By Barrhaven Independent Staff
Gloucester-South Nepean councillor Carol Anne Meehan is off the city’s library board after disclosing private information.
Meehan offered her resignation as a library trustee on Friday, March 4, after sharing information from a closed in-camera meeting. The information, about a proposed new library coming to the Barrhaven community, was shared with the local Business Improvement Area during a board meeting.
“I like to tell the truth,” Meehan told the Ottawa Citizen’s Jon Willing, noting she wanted to bring some good news to the BIA. “It was not deliberate. It just came out in the course of conversation.”
Somehow, Danielle McDonald, CEO of the Ottawa Public Library, and board chair Matt Lulloff, found out about slip of tongue.
Lulloff called Meehan to ask about the accusation, and she was honest about what happened.
The Orleans councillor, who says he didn’t call for her resignation, announced the news of Meehan’s decision during the Library board meeting on Tuesday.
“Before we begin I just want to confirm that we have received and accepted the resignation of trustee and councillor Meehan, and I want to thank her personally and on behalf of the board for her service to the OPL over the last three years,” Luloff said at the beginning of the meeting.
Meehan said she doesn’t like to make mistakes and wanted to do the honourable thing.
“I never reveal what happens in in-camera meetings and it was a mistake,” Meehan told CBC Ottawa. “I don’t like making mistakes, so I decided to do the honourable thing and offer my resignation.”
With about seven months left in this council term, it’s not needed to fill Meehan’s seat at the table. With quorum being five people, Lulloff said he’s recommending they leave the seat unfulfilled.
Last month Meehan stepped down from the Ottawa Police Services Board to show solidarity to ousted board chairman Diane Deans, and board member Rawlson King, who also resigned from the position.
