Council 'ran out of gas' in closed meeting on CAO Peter Kelly's future

After meeting behind closed doors for more than three hours, Charlottetown city councillors left late Monday night without an agreement on the terms of chief administrative officer Peter Kelly's departure. 

 "I think we ran out of gas," Charlottetown Mayor Philip Brown said after the meeting, which followed the regular monthly council meeting.

"We were trying to get some agreement or consensus among all of council. We didn't get to that point."

Brown wouldn't provide any specifics on the points on which councillors couldn't agree. 

A few other members of council left the meeting quickly when it ended, and appeared frustrated. None would agree to an interview.

The city's mayor did confirm after the meeting what sources have already told CBC News: that Kelly will be leaving his position as CAO.

"It's his wish to leave the corporation, along with our wish," the mayor said.

Brown didn't provide any timeline for that to happen.

Sources have also told CBC News that discussions are underway around a six-figure severance package for Kelly, a former mayor of the Halifax Regional Municipality.  Brown wouldn't confirm whether that was a sticking point during the meeting. 

"There's been a lot of leaks in this corporation, and I just don't want to put myself in the middle of that," he said. 

"What we were trying to do was work out a settlement between the two parties. And we just didn't get to that point."

Kelly has been under fire for weeks over allegations he fired two deputy CAOs after they came forward with concerns about the city's administration and finances.

CBC News has not substantiated the allegations made in separate letters to council written by the former deputies, Scott Messervey and Tina Lococo.

Four city employees added to the controversy last week, when they sent an unsigned letter to council calling the city as a toxic workplace, blaming Kelly for that, and urging council to launch an investigation into his conduct.