Suspended city employee resigns as acting CAO

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This article was published 19/02/2015 (3916 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Veteran city employee Deepak Joshi resigned Wednesday, ending speculation about his future since his suspension in mid-January.

With a deadline looming this week for city council to either reinstate or dismiss Joshi, Mayor Brian Bowman announced Wednesday morning Joshi had resigned.

“Executive policy committee has accepted the resignation of Deepak Joshi from the City of Winnipeg, effective today,” Bowman said in a short news release immediately following a lengthy, closed-door session of EPC to discuss an unidentified personnel matter. “Additional details cannot be provided as this is a personnel matter.”

Bowman suspended Joshi with pay Jan. 16, saying he had lost confidence in him.

“Winnipeggers voted me in to bring change, to act with integrity. I believe I have done that,” Bowman said at the time. “All I can tell you is that as of today, I’ve lost confidence (in Joshi) and exercised my power accordingly.”

Joshi’s suspension was unexpected because it’s believed he wouldn’t be in the position much longer. He was appointed to the post on a temporary basis until a permanent CAO could be hired. A CAO search began in 2014 but was suspended for the civic election. The search was renewed following the election, and Bowman promised to have a new CAO in place by the end of February or the beginning of March.

Bowman would not answer any questions about Joshi’s departure Wednesday, including whether he is receiving a settlement or severance.

Financial details surrounding Joshi’s payout likely won’t be made public until July 2016, with the release of the city’s annual employee-compensation disclosure report.

Council appointed Michael Jack, the interim chief operating officer, to handle the acting CAO duties until a permanent replacement is hired. Bowman said he still expects to have a new CAO in place next month.

No specific reason was given for Joshi’s suspension when it was announced in January, but speculation linked it to the administration’s handling of CentreVenture’s involvement to build a hotel on Carlton Street — an initiative harshly criticized by Bowman.

Joshi was appointed interim acting CAO in October 2013, following the abrupt departure of Sam Katz confidant and close friend Phil Sheegl. Joshi was promoted in lock-step with Sheegl, trailing behind him and ultimately taking over as head of the public service.

His appointment as interim acting CAO was opposed by some members of council, who felt he had been too closely linked to Sheegl and the problems that plagued the fire hall replacement programs and the cost overruns with the police headquarters project.

But it’s believed Joshi played a peripheral role in those scandals, with the blame falling on Sheegl. Audits into those projects and 31 other real estate deals identified several instances of administrative mismanagement, poor decision-making and preferential treatment given to private developers.

Council asked Manitoba Justice to review the findings of the audits, and the province subsequently called in the RCMP on the police headquarters project.

That has turned into a full-blown criminal investigation, with allegations of inflated bids and cash payments to at least one member of council.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca