The City of Calgary has shaken up its senior executive, removing its long-time Chief Financial Officer Carla Male and another director.

In an email to City of Calgary staff, and obtained by LiveWire Calgary, City Chief Administrative Officer David Duckworth informed staff of the changes.

The news was later confirmed to LWC by the City of Calgary. It comes on the cusp of critical mid-cycle budget adjustments for the City of Calgary.

“I have decided to take the Corporate Planning and Financial Services department in a new business direction and, as such, some changes within the organization were made today,” a statement emailed to LWC read.

“Our Chief Financial Officer Carla Male and our Director of Corporate Planning & Performance Chris Stewart are no longer with The City.”

Male joined the City of Calgary nearly eight years ago as the City Treasurer and the Director of Finance. She was responsible for the City of Calgary’s multi-year budgeting, taxation and long-term financial strategy. According to her City of Calgary profile, she was also listed as the Deputy City Manager and General Manager of Corporate Planning and Financial Services.

Stewart led a department responsible for strategic and business planning, along with performance measurement, performance reporting and service reviews for the City of Calgary.

CAO Duckworth said he was deeply appreciative of their contributions and dedication to the public service.

“I wish them all the best in their future endeavours,“ Duckworth said.

The statement said that Les Tochor will step in as acting Chief Financial Officer and General Manager for the Corporate Planning and Financial Services department.

Reaction to the dismissal of CFO Carla Male

Ward 8 Coun. Courtney Walcott spoke with reporters before the resumption of Tuesday’s regular meeting of council. He said that there’s no single person that makes an entire department, and there’s always a succession plan in place.

“How this should be looked upon is very much so just a personnel matter, where I have a lot of love for Carla and a lot of love for her team, and I think that, I hope that, people will be able to respect those decisions, but not be concerned there’ll be any changes at budget or anything significant, because there are other people to keep the machine rolling,” he said.

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek initially said that questions around Male’s dismissal should be directed to CAO Duckworth, as it was his decision. The mayor said that they will proceed with the city budget in November, as normal.

“There is a very good team in place, and we have the documents coming to us right away,” she said.