Michael Jack, Winnipeg's top civil servant, resigns
Efforts to recruit a new chief administrative officer will begin shortly, city says
Winnipeg chief administrative officer Michael Jack has submitted his resignation notice to the mayor and his executive policy committee.
Officially his last day will be June 28, but Jack is using vacation time until then, which means he is effectively gone already, says a letter sent by Mayor Scott Gillingham to city councillors.
Deputy CAO Moira Geer will serve as acting CAO on a temporary basis, the letter says.
The resignation was announced in a news release issued Monday morning by the City of Winnipeg.
The letter doesn't give a reason, but the decision comes less than a week after an audit of the city's workforce found a lack of processes for reviewing staff performance and progress on key goals.
In his letter to council, Gillingham said "I would like to remind us all that as elected officials, we have a duty to treat all city employees with respect. As many of us may receive media enquiries regarding this matter, I would kindly request you ensure any responses are factual and refrain from making statements that could be construed as damaging to Mr. Jack's reputation."
Coun. Janice Lukes said she couldn't speak about the resignation because it is a human resources matter, but she implied that Jack's decision isn't a surprise.
"We can't get into any details but I think the audit report speaks volumes. [It] speaks to some major issues in the City of Winnipeg that need change," she said, citing performance management reviews, operations systems reporting, documentation and adding "the list goes on."
All of that, and the accountability that goes with it, lies at the feet of the CAO, she said.
"The report … is very clear and explicit on issues that were never addressed [and] that, in my opinion, are unacceptable."
Gillingham, when asked if the workforce audit was the reason for Jack's resignation, said that question would need to be posed to Jack himself.
Gillingham was also asked if a suggestion was made to Jack that he resign.
"Mr. Jack made the decision and his submission to depart the City of Winnipeg has been announced today," is all Gillingham would say about it.
Coun. Ross Eadie, however, leaned more into the audit being a direct reason.
"We had a very tense meeting about the audit's report … and I think Mr. Jack has probably seen some writing on the wall," Eadie said.
Jack started his career with the city in July 2000 and was appointed CAO in July 2021. He was city solicitor, chief corporate services officer and deputy chief administrative officer before taking on the top job.
He was a senior city official when the Sam Katz administration approved two construction projects that later embroiled the city in scandal — the fire-paramedic station replacement program and the construction of the new Winnipeg Police Service headquarters.
Interim CAO
Last week's audit of the city's workforce found 10 out of 12 leaders interviewed did not have formal documented performance measures for evaluating their staff. It also found many positions, including senior management roles, have outdated job descriptions or none at all.
"We clearly need to do better," Jack said last week in response to the report and its 13 recommendations.
Gillingham intends to make a motion at Tuesday's executive policy committee meeting to nominate Sherwood Armbruster as interim CAO, said a city news release that came out after the resignation announcement.
Armbruster has been senior election official and manager of strategic initiatives for the city since 2012. He is responsible for recruiting, training and managing a staff of more than 2,000 people during general elections, the release said.
He previously served as interim CAO at Siloam Mission and as chief of staff and deputy chief of staff to former mayor Sam Katz.
Pending approval of the executive policy committee, and then of council, the appointment of Armbruster would be effective June 28, the release said.
Efforts to find a new permanent CAO will begin shortly with the appointment of a recruitment and selection committee.
Lukes expects Jack's successor to bring regular reporting to the executive policy committee.
"It sounds pretty basic, but we are here — councillors are here — to deliver services to the public. The public pay taxes to have their services delivered … [so] it's important to optimize the delivery of the services," she said.
"How do you optimize the delivery of the services [without accountability]?"
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With files from Cameron MacLean and Bartley Kives