Edmonton city council has fired city manager Simon Farbrother, saying his hands-off leadership style doesn’t fit a city of this size and complexity.

While frustration over communication, delays, management and traffic issues on the Metro LRT line set council’s vote in motion, Mayor Don Iveson stressed the decision to let Farbrother go is not related to any one project.

“This is about the overall approach and the challenges that lie ahead,” Iveson said at a news conference on Thursday afternoon. “It’s time to make a change.”

“The scale and complexity of the challenges ahead demand a fresh perspective,” Iveson said. “This is about setting our administration on a new path to manage the next chapter in the city’s growth.”

The decision was made after a long council debate held in private Wednesday evening.

It was an 11 to 1 vote, with only Coun. Ben Henderson supporting Farbrother.

Henderson declined to comment Thursday.

The city must pay about $800,000 in severance, which is equal to two years of Farbrother’s salary and benefits.

“We need someone who is on top of absolutely everything,” said Coun. Tony Caterina, reached by phone after Iveson’s announcement.

Caterina said that council hired Farbrother in early 2010 when it was looking for someone to empower staff and change the culture in the corporation. The culture has improved, Caterina said, “but we need a balance. In other circumstances, the person in change needs to be the person in charge.”

Coun. Bryan Anderson also identified Farbrother’s “hands-off” leadership style as the issue. There have been problems with the Metro Line signalling contract and the Walterdale and 102nd Avenue bridge projects. Further back, there was the $47-million photo radar cost overrun when city staff took over the program, he said.

“There’s a number of issues,” Anderson said. “Our population and city council believed hands-off wasn’t the way to go. He should have had his nose in their business earlier than he did.”

Reached Thursday night, Farbrother said he respects the council decision. “That’s their prerogative.”

“I really enjoyed my time at the city,” he said, declining to comment on remarks about his leadership style.

He said he’s proud of the accomplishments he had at the city, including securing the downtown arena deal, the Blatchford redevelopment that’s moving ahead on the former City Centre Airport lands, improving organizational performance and saving taxpayers millions through the budgeting process.

According to his biography on the city website, Farbrother has served in municipalities for 20 years, including as city manager for Spruce Grove and Waterloo, Ont. He recently completed a three-year term as international vice-president of the International City/County Managers Association.

Coun. Ed Gibbons said it was one of those tough decision that “cause you pain in your gut.”

Farbrother played a key role in getting the downtown arena deal for Edmonton and did many other things well, Gibbons said. “But time moves on. You have to move to the next step.”

“I’m not saying one damn thing about the character of this man,” Gibbons added. “This is a very tough decision; this is a very good person and we have to also think of what is right for Edmonton.”

In August, the auditor’s report found the $668-million Metro Line project was poorly managed, with staff infighting and poor working relationships. He found insufficient reporting to senior managers and city council when Thales Canada repeatedly missed deadlines for the signalling contract.

Coun. Mike Nickel called for council to review Farbrother’s performance. At that time, he was the lone voice calling for change.

Nickel went to Iveson to ask for a review; the mayor spoke with other councillors. Council had two meetings to discuss the issue before reaching Wednesday’s decision.

“We have to look at restoring public confidence in the city’s ability to handle major construction projects,” said Nickel. “We’ve got a lot of work to do to regain the public trust.”

Linda Cochrane, general manager of community services, is acting as city manager until an interim city manager can be selected. Iveson said the search for a new city manager will continue into next year.

estolte@edmontonjournal.com

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