Achi news desk-
As his tenure as city manager comes to an end, Andre Corbould’s dismissal arrangements are being finalized by the City of Edmonton.
Just after 7 pm on Friday, the city sent out a news release announcing that Corbould was leaving his post, effective April 3. The statement did not say whose decision it was to leave.
According to the city, Corbould was hired for the position in January 2021, making $350,267.94 a year.
While previous city managers were hired to term positions, the city would not confirm if that was the case in Corbould’s case.
“There is a season at all and I would have guessed it would have been on a five-year deal,” political analyst John Brennan told Global News Monday.
7th officer to leave in a year
Corbould is the seventh high-ranking city official to leave in less than a year.
In April 2023, following a reorganisation, two deputy city manager posts were abolished.
Kim Armstrong had been the deputy city manager of employee services since August 2018.
Catrin Owen has been deputy city manager of communication and engagement since September 2018.
The following month, Hoa Quach left his position as city auditor. That role and the role of city manager are the only two positions employed by and reporting directly to the city council.
A month after Quach left, longtime city employee Gord Cebryk left his position as deputy city manager of city operations.
While he has been in that position since 2018, Cebryk started with the City of Edmonton in May 1988.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Cebryk now works for Sturgeon County.
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In July, Stephanie McCabe left. She had also been a long-time employee, starting with the city in January 2003 and serving as the city’s deputy manager of urban planning since February 2019.
Corbould’s predecessor was Adam Laughlin.
Starting with the city in 2014, Laughlin served as interim city manager from December 2019, guiding the city through the COVID-19 pandemic until Corbould was hired in January 2021.
Laughlin then returned as deputy city manager of integrated infrastructure services until his sudden departure in February 2024.
Brennan, who worked for the City of Edmonton during Don Iveson’s tenure as mayor, says turnover is high for such a short time.
“It tells me there’s been a lot of turmoil at City Hall,” Brennan told Global News.
Indeed, the first three months of 2024 have been busy for Corbould.
The year began with Edmonton police demolishing a number of homeless encampments that had sprung up across the city.
The deputy city manager’s office was supposed to be involved in decisions to remove high-risk encampments.
Multiple city councilors told Global News that the process by which the closure occurred did not match their understanding of the camping policy passed by council.
Then, on January 23, a gunman walked into Edmonton City Hall and fired at random, causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage although he did not physically injure anyone.
Corbould said he was taking the lead in deciding how long city hall would remain closed and what safety measures would be put in place before the public could return.
The building reopened to the public on Monday with measures including metal detectors in place.
In March, Corbould was the face of the city in contract negotiations with CSU 52. The union expressed frustration at what it said was a lack of communication with Corbould’s office.
A strike that would have seen rec centers and libraries shut down was narrowly avoided at the eleventh hour.
Corbould’s departure comes during a week when the council is not sitting – which means that he, the mayor and councilors at City Hall are not to be questioned.
“It strikes me as a very strange time for the city manager to be leaving when there are really important council meetings coming up in April,” Brennan said.
When meetings resume, one of the first orders of business will be spring budgeting.
Although not a full budget session, councilors will receive several requests for funding from organizations and determine the mill rate.
On April 3, Eddie Robar will officially be appointed interim city manager.
Robar has been with the city since 2016 when he was hired as the Edmonton Transit Service branch manager. He is currently the city’s deputy operations manager.
The city says formal recruitment will follow.
“In my experience, after working in city hall, this takes about six months. We’re not going to see a new city manager until the fall,” Brennan said.
Corbould’s predecessor Linda Cochrane left the position in December 2019, after more than 37 years with the City of Edmonton.
Cochrane’s departure was announced by her at a news conference. She had started with the city as a lifeguard and worked her way up.
Before her, Simon Farbrother served as city manager from January 2010 until September 2015. He was fired amid delays to the LRT Metro Line, through which the city said at the time that no single issue was causing the departure.
Farbrother was paid about $800,000 in severance.
& copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
