Ex-Saugus library chief faces hearing

SAUGUS – The Saugus Board of Selectmen voted unanimously Tuesday to hold a disciplinary hearing for the former interim Library Director after a more than two-hour long executive session.Ewa Jankowska served as temporary director from 2007 until new director Diane Wallace took over in June 2011. She is currently listed as the Head of Technical Services at the library.?Based on preliminary findings that we adopted from the auditor and based on additional information that we received in executive session, I recommend to the board that we go ahead and schedule a disciplinary hearing regarding the director,” said selectmen Chairman Scott Crabtree. “We can have our labor attorney take care of necessary procedural issues and move forward with that.”The vote came almost a month after former library administrative assistant Linda Duffy, who is accused of funneling more than $800,000 from the library, pleaded innocent in U.S. District Court in Boston to four counts of mail fraud, 10 counts of money laundering and one count of aggravated identity theft.The board voted at its Jan. 3 meeting to suspend Jankowski with pay based on findings by forensic auditor John Sullivan of the accounting firm Melanson Heath and, on Dec. 21, the board asked for the resignation of the Library Board of Trustees.According to the findings, “Neither the trustees nor the interim director fulfilled the responsibilities of their positions based on the guidelines issued the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. Specifically, they did not maintain complete and accurate records of library finances or prepare and issue reports of library receipts and expenditures. Supervision was lacking and too much responsibility was assigned to the administrative assistant without any set of checks and balances.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].