Charlottetown council closes meeting, maintains lock on audit of Kelly years

The citizens of Charlottetown are going to have to wait longer before hearing the results of an audit connected to financial concerns raised regarding former CAO Peter Kelly's tenure.

Council met Monday night and discussed the report in a closed door session. Mayor Philip Brown said last week the report had to be reviewed for legal reasons, and said following Monday's meeting that review is ongoing.

"We're not hiding anything. We're just making sure all the Ts and the Is are dotted when it comes to the legal ramifications of releasing the report," said Brown.

"I didn't know that it would get this complicated, but when you're speaking about persons or organizations or non-government organizations, anything that could relate to this report, there are liabilities."

The audit, performed by the accounting firm BDO, looks at allegations made against Kelly by his former deputy Scott Messervey.

Messervey was fired by Kelly in January of 2019. Days later, Messervey delivered a letter to council saying Kelly was spending millions of dollars of the city's money without following proper procedures.

Kelly was fired without cause by the city last year.

"It will be released. The report will be released," said Brown. "We're trying to get this to the public as soon as possible."