The Central Falls (R.I.) Free Public Library was shut down for 90 minutes April 20 as city police searched a staff member’s computer for political documents. Detectives went to the library when the building opened on the orders of Mayor Charles Moreau, who said in the April 22 Pawtucket Times that he had received an anonymous tip that employees had done political work at the library for his predecessor Lee Matthews.
Moreau claims an officer found and printed out campaign speeches on a computer used by CFFPL Systems Administrator Donald D. Twohig. But a few hours later when police discovered someone had apparently deleted the files, Detective Sgt. Kevin Guindon asked Director Thomas Shannahan to clear the building and lock the doors so they could conduct a thorough search.
Police reported finding no evidence of criminal activity, although Moreau contends the political work violates a city ordinance, the Times reported.
Shannahan, who a week earlier had announced his resignation as director effective April 30, told American Libraries that the trustees who govern the privately owned building are “contemplating some type of legal action against the city” because the police did not have a search warrant. He said the action was harassment on the part of the mayor to “justify or downplay” his resignation. “I’ve had problems with this administration from the first week it took office in January,” Shannahan said.
However, Moreau claims it was his questioning of contract work on the facilities and grounds by Twohig’s father that led to Shannahan’s decision to resign. “Tom Shannahan has done a great job,” Moreau told the Times, “but it appears the purchasing procedure has been circumvented.”
Shannahan told AL that the reason the mayor objected to Twohig’s maintenance work was because he had supported Matthews in last year’s mayoral election. “At one meeting,” he said, “the city attorney, who is appointed by the mayor, simply said he did not want Donald Twohig Sr. working at the facility.”
Posted April 23, 2004.