Art Zuidema is out as city hall CAO, raising questions about how much, if anything, his departure will cost taxpayers.

After a night of intrigue – Zuidema attended the start of city council’s debate, then oddly disappeared – Mayor Matt Brown declined to clarify to The Free Press the nature of his departure.

“Just like any other HR matter, we deal with decisions like this in closed session,” Brown said when asked whether Zuidema quit or was fired. “It’s important that it be dealt with confidentially.

“I can confirm he’s no longer an employee of the Corporation of the City of London and we wish him well with his future endeavours.”

Martin Hayward, city hall’s treasurer, takes over as interim city manager. It’s unclear whether he will assume the job permanently.

Questions have been raised about Zuidema’s contract, which stipulates a potentially rich payout if he’s fired. Brown wouldn’t discuss that as the clock ticked toward midnight Tuesday.

Attempts to reach Zuidema were unsuccessful.

Zuidema has been at the middle of a quiet power struggle, playing out behind closed doors, between city council – some of whom wanted him gone, others who sought to keep him.

Zuidema had become a polarizing figure among his 15 city council bosses, some of whom supported his track record atop city hall, while others have openly clashed with him.

After formalities to start Tuesday’s council meeting, with Zuidema present, council went into closed session to discuss a number of items. That’s customary.

What was unusual was that Zuidema didn’t return to the council meeting once the public debate resumed. A high-profile item, Uber’s local future, was on the agenda, making his absence all the more conspicuous.

Over the next few hours, several politicians were mum when asked by The Free Press about Zuidema’s whereabouts.

Twenty-four hours earlier, on Monday, politicians met behind closed doors to discuss a personnel matter. It came with an interesting caveat: no senior staff was allowed to attend.

Now Zuidema, who had no shortage of critics on council and in the community, is out.

Zuidema, who lives in Brantford, earned a reputation for being non-communicative, particularly with the London media. It’s a trait that doesn’t fit the high-profile job, and was made even more glaring when contrasted with the open style of his predecessor, Jeff Fielding.

It was under the reign of Mayor Joe Fontana that Fielding resigned, seeing Fontana’s twin demands – increase city investments while freezing taxes – as a no-win situation.

In 2012, council hired a consultant to help find a new top manager. Zuidema, who’d never before held a top municipal job, was hired from Hamilton city hall by council.

In the nearly five years since, some members of that council have since expressed disappointment – both publicly and privately – over his performance.

According to public records, Zuidema was paid $234,982 in 2015, the most recent figures available.

pmaloney@postmedia.com

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