Regina city council fires city manager Niki Anderson, approves budget increase for indoor aquatic facility
Niki Anderson is 2nd person to be terminated from the role to be in 3 years
The firing of Regina city manager Niki Anderson remains cloaked in mystery.
Niki Anderson is the second person to be terminated from the role in three years.
Mayor Chad Bachynski repeatedly said council had decided to go in a "new direction" in voting 10 -1 to approve the firing of city manager Niki Anderson without cause.
"We're going to be looking to get someone in place to align with our strategic direction and our direction as this new council," said Bachynski.
Council spent less than five minutes introducing and debating the topic. The report provided no explanation for city staff's recommendation to terminate Anderson's contract and the recommendation was not made public before Wednesday's meeting.
Only Ward 8 Coun. Shanon Zachidniak broke from her city council colleagues by voting against the motion. Zachidniak said she's heard from numerous residents that they have no desire to see the City of Regina fire people without cause and then pay out severance.
"Since I've been elected in 2020, we've paid out more than $1,000,000 to folks by firing them without cause and paying them out accordingly. So if we want to talk about being efficient with our money, that's a clear way that we could certainly find some savings," Zachidniak said.
Anderson has been on leave since April. Bachynski declined to answer when asked if Anderson's leave had anything to do with her termination. He said he had a "very professional relationship" with Anderson.
Anderson was hired on Nov. 1, 2022, becoming the first woman to hold the job, after her predecessor Chris Holden was abruptly fired two years before his contract expired.
Anderson's contract term was for five years. The city is now required to make a severance payment, but it's not clear what that payment will be.
According to the city's 2024 public accounts, Anderson received $317,112 in salary that year.
This is the second city manager in a row that has been dismissed without cause. Holden received more than $850,000 when he was fired in 2022.
The City of Regina's entire executive team has turned over since Holden's dismissal.
The search for a new city manager is not yet underway, but Zachidniak said she's wary of the message sent to possible candidates.
"Who is going to want to come work for our city if we've fired the past two city managers without cause?" she said.
Bachynski disagreed.
"Regina is a growing, vibrant city and I think we have a lot of reasons to to come to this city," the mayor said.
Budget increase for pool approved
City council also approved a $40-million budget increase for Regina's planned indoor aquatic facility.
The approval passed in a 9-2 vote, with only Ward 1 Coun. Dan Rashovich and Ward 10 Coun. Clark Bezo voting against.
The project is now expected to cost a total of $280 million, mostly due to inflation and labour shortages.
The city will cover the increase by redirecting $30 million from other projects and taking on an additional $10 million in debt, bringing the total debt financing to $156 million for this project.
Some cost-conscious councillors attempted to delay the vote or modify the project to shrink the cost. Those efforts were swiftly defeated by the majority of councillors.
"Let's move on, let's move forward to pave something new that this council wants to do for our community. Please, I cannot continue to rehash decisions that have already been made," said Ward 7 Coun. Shobna Radons.
Regina will be on the hook for $205.9 million for a project originally forecast to cost a total of $180 million in 2021.
The federal and provincial governments are contributing $79.2 million through a federal government infrastructure program.
The latest budget update is a Class-B estimate, which means it's considered accurate within a margin of error of 10 to 15 per cent.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
