Halifax’s chief planner out of office

Halifax’s chief planner is no longer employed by the municipal government.

“I hadn’t planned to make any changes,” Bob Bjerke said on Wednesday.

His departure happened on Tuesday without any prior public notice.

“I’m not going to get into the specifics of why I left, that’s something I’ve been advised not to speak of,” said Bjerke.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I'm not going to get into the specifics of why I left, that's something I've been advised not to speak of," said Bjerke.

He began the position in April 2014 and was previously fired from a similar position in Regina years prior.

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“Some councillors and definitely builders and some citizens were frustrated with the process in the planning department,” said Coun. Matt Whitman.

“I’m not surprised that it happened. I’m surprised that it happened right now.”

Bjerke said he believed he had achieved “good results” as chief planner.

“I’m really pleased to say that the kind of impact that I’ve been able to have in a relatively short period of time is probably more than I had expected,” he said.

Bjerke said he’s reviewing his options and will keep the details of the departure private for now.

“The specifics are yet to come. We’ll talk more about that later,” he added.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The specifics are yet to come. We'll talk more about that later," he added.

The government is not revealing many details about his departure either.

“As is the case with all personnel matters, I’m not in the position to be able to speak publicly about that type of thing,” spokesperson Brendan Elliott said.

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“It’s not something that’s going to hold up any projects.”

Kelly Denty, previously a manager in the department, has been appointed as acting director.

“In short order, we will be doing a full recruitment drive,” Elliott said. “We will be searching high and low across the country.”