The City of St. Albert is facing the loss of another of its senior leadership team after chief financial officer Mike Dion was fired.
The City of St. Albert is facing the loss of another of its senior leadership team after chief financial officer Mike Dion was fired.
Glenn Tompolski, who's acting as city manager while interim city manager Chris Jardine is on vacation, confirmed Dion was let go effective July 19. He emphasized he could not speak for Jardine, who is scheduled to return Aug. 15, but explained what he had been told about the decision.
The decision came after a review of the organizational needs of both the corporation and the financial services decision. After the review the span of control of the senior leadership team was deemed too narrow so the chief financial officer was let go, Tompolski said.
He explained Jardine determined the senior-management roles could include a broader range of responsibilities, with managers at the lower-tier director level doing much of the work as effectively as the senior managers.
Tompolski said the move is “not necessarily downsizing, but just reorganizing to better fit the needs of the organization.”
Assessment director Greg Dahlen has taken on the acting role of heading up the finance department, and further decisions about the future of the department will wait until Jardine returns next week.
Tompolski said he was unaware of what Jardine's plans are with respect to hiring a replacement.
“He's still reviewing exactly how that will play out,” he said. “He hasn't indicated anything to me about how he's managing that in the future.”
As for the potential impact on council's annual budgeting process, which ramps up in the fall, Tompolski said much of the budgeting work is done in individual departments, with the finance department bringing it all together to present to council. Much of that work is done below the senior-management level.
“We don't see really any impact at all in terms of the budget process,” he said.
Dion was with the city for just two years before being let go; he was hired in July 2014. At the time, he said he was focused on transparency and accountability, noting his passion for public service.
“I feel there is part of giving back to society and making a contribution to society and one of the best ways to accomplish that is in a civic setting as opposed to being part of a corporation,” he told the Gazette. “You can really make a difference.”
He replaced Anita Ho, who was with the city for just two years from April 2012 to May 2014. She had replaced Dean Screpnek, who left the city for a position in Edmonton in August 2011.
