Regina director of city planning is out, in a move the city calls 'mutual'

Another high-ranking city official is out at Regina City Hall: Diana Hawryluk, who was the executive director of city planning and community development. 

Hawryluk was integral in the development of the city's official plan and was with the city for more than 10 years. 

In a press release issued Wednesday morning, the city said it "mutually agreed to part ways" with Hawryluk. CBC has reached out to the city to be put in touch with Hawryluk.

"I am grateful to all the staff and collaborative relationships I have been privileged to be part of over the years," Hawryluk said in a news release from the city.

"As I transition to the next chapter of my career, I feel blessed to have worked with a great team that contributed to improving the lives of the residents of our city."

Interim city manager Jim Nicol told reporters Wednesday that while it is a big loss, the city is ready to move forward.

"I think I'll acknowledge that we've lost some significant corporate memory and expertise," he said. "I'd also say that we've got a lot of bench strength in this regard, and so we have worked to fill those [roles] quickly."

Nicol came to this interim job following the firing of his predecessor, Chris Holden, one month ago.

Deborah Bryden will replace Hawryluk in an interim position. She is currently the director of assessment and property revenue services. 

Nicol said the conversations between himself and Hawryluk were friendly. 

The city said it will begin recruiting for a permanent replacement later this year, after it hires a new city manager.

Councillor surprised at timing, lack of notice

Coun. Dan LeBlanc, who represents Ward 6, said council was not given any advance notice of the departure. 

Council only has the power to terminate the city manager's contract. They do not have say in personnel matters other than that, as that is the purview of administration.

Even so, LeBlanc said that given the fact that Nicol is very new to the city manager position, advance notice or consultation with council could have been appropriate. 

"It is quite surprising to me that we would lose a city manager and one of our, essentially, four sub-leaders within a month with this low level of communication," LeBlanc told CBC on Wednesday. 

"Our city manager is an interim city manager and that would be surprising to me at least if an interim city manager was making a decision to this extent without consulting with council or without advance notice," he said. "And that's to say if it was the city's decision to end the relationship, and I don't know."

LeBlanc confirmed that Hawryluk went on a six-week leave of absence after a contentious debate on a rapid housing project in Regina, an initiative that came out of her office. It is not clear if the leave was taken because of the project. 

She was back for a short amount of time, and has now left, LeBlanc said. 

LeBlanc acknowledged also that it's entirely possible Hawryluk initiated the departure and that it didn't have anything to do with the housing debate. 

"We as an organization need to think about attracting and retaining skilled employees at all levels, and it's sort of brought to a head here," he said. 

"But it makes me value the current employees we have and to be honest makes me nervous to some extent of what our other employees, including unionized employees, might be thinking about the City of Regina at the moment."