CALGARY—Jeff Fielding, Calgary’s city manager, is stepping down more than a year before his contract is set to end.

Fielding said Tuesday that “circumstances have changed” for his family, leading to a decision to move back to Ontario. He’s set to begin work April 1 as chief of staff for Toronto city manager Chris Murray.

It’s a newly created role for the City of Toronto, and Fielding said he’s still learning about it himself.

In an email to City of Toronto staff and council members that was obtained by StarMetro, Murray said Fielding has “the right measure of education, leadership experience and zeal for continuous improvement to make a great contribution to the city and our workforce as a member of our leadership team.”

Fielding started with the City of Calgary in 2014, after working as the city manager in Burlington, Ont., and London, Ont. He previously also worked in Winnipeg for nearly two decades. Fielding’s original four-year contract as Calgary’s city manager was extended twice, and his current contract was set to end in June 2020.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi noted that Fielding was hired at a moment of transition for Calgary: just after the 2013 flood, and right before collapsing oil prices triggered a major economic downturn.

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“When we were interviewing (Fielding), part of our pitch was, ‘It’s a city that’s growing, it’s a city that’s booming, it’s going to be totally different than what you had to deal with in cities that might have been going through economic troubles,’” he said, joking that oil prices dropped “the moment” Fielding stepped into the job.

The city manager is departing at another difficult time for Calgary, as the city faces the task of finding a way to make up the non-residential property tax revenue triggered by persistently high downtown office vacancies and massive devaluation of downtown buildings.

Fielding has also been known for his sometimes blunt assessments of city issues and his willingness to speak critically to councillors at times.

“There’s times you need to be frank with council, but you also know you can’t use that tactic too often,” Fielding said. “If you overplay your hand, it’ll come back to bite you. There were a number of times, I think, where I may have overstepped my bounds.”

Nenshi said that honesty is something he has “valued extraordinarily” from the city manager.

“We knew we would always get an honest answer, a real answer. ... (Fielding) was never, ever shy about that,” he said.

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“There was probably once or twice when, sitting next to him in council, I might have given him a bit of an elbow, but I would say you never overstepped your bounds in that.”

Nenshi said city council will begin the conversation about finding a new city manager next week, but there will likely be an acting city manager in place temporarily — Fielding’s last day on the job in Calgary has yet to be announced. City council will convene a hiring committee to conduct an international search for Fielding’s replacement.

Ward 12 Councillor Shane Keating praised Fielding for guiding the city through the ongoing economic downturn, promoting fiscal restraint and instilling a “private sector philosophy” at city hall.

“There are those who don’t want to give the city any credit, but in many ways over the last five years, the city has grown leaps and bounds as far as changing the style and mentality of delivering services,” said Keating.

“I’ve often said that cities should operate like a business but behave like a service organization, and I think that’s exactly what he did,” he said.

Ward 1 Councillor Ward Sutherland agreed with Keating’s assessment, calling Fielding’s departure “a really sad day.”

“He also spoke his mind, which I think is the appropriate thing to do. And at times, you know what, council needed to hear it. I respect him for doing so.”

Fielding’s announcement comes after other recent senior management departures. Mac Logan, the city’s general manager of transportation, also left his job in late 2017.

Sutherland said he considers some turnover at the city healthy, and he thinks it’s important to focus on finding the right fit for Calgary and city council.

“(Fielding), for example, was a manager of two other cities and did some significant changes in those cities and got results. So we’re going to be looking for someone who has a proven track record,” he said.

With files from Trevor Howell and Jennifer Pagliaro

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