Published Mar 22, 2024 • Last updated 9 hours ago • 3 minute read
The City of Edmonton announced Friday that city manager Andre Corbould will be leaving the city effective April 3, 2024. Photo by Greg Southam /Postmedia, file
Edmonton is on the hunt for another city manager.
In news release sent out late Friday, the city confirmed that Andre Corbould will officially leave his post on April 3.
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“Council appreciates Mr. Corbould’s work and dedication to Edmonton,” Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said in the news release. “He has led the City of Edmonton through a very long and difficult pandemic, supported the transition of this council, helped advance council’s work on anti-racism and reconciliation, helped support thousands of evacuees and provided exceptional leadership during the recent security incident at city hall.”
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Sources with inside knowledge confirmed to Postmedia that Corbould’s departure was the main point of discussion during a private council meeting rushed onto the schedule Wednesday and continued on Friday afternoon.
Tensions at City Hall
In an email sent to municipal staff Friday night, Corbould said it was his decision to leave a little over three years into his term.
What precipitated that move is unclear, but it comes after a very difficult start to the year in which the city manager has been thrust into controversies around grim municipal finances, a near-strike from Civic Service Union 52 members, and the shooting at city hall in January that has left the building off limits to the public for two months.
Tensions on council have been frayed of late over their demand for Corbould and his team to find hundreds of millions in savings. The effort, known as OP-12, has been a struggle in recent months as the city has grappled with a big deficit in 2023, inflationary pressures and other challenges to revenue and costs.
Council approved a 6.6 per cent property tax hike in December, which is the highest increase in a decade, and there are concerns that the rate may have to go even higher when council meets late next month to set the final operating budget for 2024.
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“This marks my 40th year in public service and I am proud of the progress council and city administration have made in implementing The City Plan, recovering from the pandemic and managing community growth,” Corbould said in the news release. “I have every confidence that the executive leadership team and 11,000 staff right across the organization are well positioned to carry the city forward even further.”
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Manager turnover
The departure leaves city administration very thin in top executives, after five deputy city managers left their posts in the past year, including some that were moved out by Corbould as part of a cost-saving restructuring.
Corbould’s exit also means the city will soon be on the hunt for its fifth city manager in less than nine years. Prior to Corbould assuming the role in early 2021, it was filled on an interim basis during the pandemic for about a year by Adam Laughlin, who then returned to his deputy role in charge of infrastructure. Laughlin left the city of his own volition in February.
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Prior to Laughlin, Linda Cochrane served as city manager for a little over four years. She inherited the job after council fired her predecessor Simon Farbrother.
The city news release says Eddie Robar — the deputy city manager for city operations — will serve as acting city manager until a formal interim appointment is made at the next council meeting on April 3. A recruitment process for Corbould’s full-time replacement will follow.
Of the city’s four current deputy managers, none have been in their roles more than two years.
Corbould came to the top job at the city after serving a number of years as a deputy minister with the Alberta government. Before that, he had a 28-year career in the Canadian Armed Forces with tours in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan.
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