Rabbitt Hires Counsel, Will Fight Removal As Library Trustee

WOBURN, MA — Janet Rabbitt, the president of the Woburn Public Library's Board of Trustees who Mayor Scott Galvin said he had removed this week, called his actions "patently illegal" and said she had retained legal counsel, Saturday.

"I was deeply saddened and shocked at the mayor’s attempt to terminate my role as a library trustee, a position that is my greatest honor, especially in our decades-long push to renovate the existing library and to build our beautiful, state-of-the-art addition," Rabbitt said.

Galvin delivered a letter to Rabbitt Wednesday saying he had removed her as a member of the Board of Trustees and the Library Corporation, under his power as the mayor, following a contentious recent Board meeting which he had called "appalling."

"I have retained legal counsel and believe the Mayor’s actions in this and related matters are patently illegal and represent a serious overreach of his powers," Rabbitt said. "As this is an ongoing legal matter, I cannot comment further at this time, but I look forward to more information coming out in the days ahead."

At the recent meeting, Rabbitt said that the Board had hired an attorney to review and respond to open meetings law complaints against it, prompting questions from two members who said they had no recollection of hiring an attorney and that they have been left out of recent meetings.

"You would have voted against it anyway, so what's the point?" Rabbitt asked at one point.

Galvin was asked about the meeting days later on the Woburn Public Media Center show "Today In Woburn."

"I'm not at all happy with the actions of the president and it needs to be addressed," Galvin said on the show.

Galvin also introduced legislation to City Council Wednesday to end the board's unusual lifetime trustee structure. His proposal, which will need both the council and the state's sign-off, would "immediately cease" the terms of the board's lifetime trustees if they have sat on the board longer than the proposed term length of three years.

The recent confrontation between the trustees traces to a labor battle that began over the summer, with the library threatening layoffs. The library faces a number of open meeting law complaints and public records requests, some of which it is attempting to fight.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.