Two of the City of Calgary’s top bureaucrats will be departing from their roles this year.
On Wednesday, Mayor Jeromy Farkas announced the city’s chief administrative officer, David Duckworth, will be leaving his role at the end of the year after an agreement was struck with city council.
The city’s chief operating officer, Stuart Dagleish, will be retiring in June after 37 years at the City of Calgary, Duckworth announced.
“I am grateful to the people and teams, whether internal or external to the city, with whom I have had the privilege of working with and serving Calgarians together, and from whom I was fortunate to learn and become a better person,” Dagleish said in a statement.
“I’m confident our city team is well positioned to work towards an always bright and better future for Calgary.”
According to Farkas, Duckworth will remain in the role until Dec. 1, but will move to an advisory role if a successor found before then.
The mayor called Duckworth’s departure “a steady and planned transition.”
“It comes at a time when there is a great deal of important work underway across the city, from advancing the new feeder main and strengthening our water system to managing complex challenges and continuing to deliver essential services,” Farkas said at a press conference.
Duckworth, who was appointed the city’s chief administrative officer in 2019, also called the move a “planned transition” after months of discussion with city council.
“It’s important for me to exit this organization to provide leadership stability, to get council through their budget process, to help with the recruitment of a new chief administrative officer,” Duckworth said.
Duckworth’s departure will come eight months ahead of the end of his contract in August 2027, and Farkas confirmed he will receive 16 months of severance. The base salary for the chief administrative officer in 2025 was $410,000.
The move comes after a lengthy closed-door session with city councillors that ended late Tuesday night.
Council voted 11 to four in favour of a series of confidential recommendations related to an update from the city’s chief administrative officer, with councillors Landon Johnston, Nathaniel Schmidt, Raj Dhaliwal and Myke Atkinson opposed.
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There has been a growing sentiment amongst a group of city councillors that a change is needed in the city’s senior leadership after a critical city water line ruptured for the second time in less than two years.
An independent panel tasked with reviewing the circumstances that led up to the pipe’s original failure in June 2024 found systemic issues with the management of the city’s water system dating back two decades, including repeated deferred inspections and gaps in oversight and governance.
“We’ve heard a lot in these reports about culture, about a culture change,” Ward 13 Coun. McLean said at the time. “If you want culture to change, maybe it has to start at the top.”
Although a vote on Duckworth’s future didn’t take place in January, council did approve a series of recommendations aimed at tightening up the measures and standards of him as part of his upcoming performance review.
The chief administrative officer is the only employee of city council.
Both Farkas and Duckworth denied the move was a firing.
“I do not feel like I was pushed out,” Duckworth said. “I wouldn’t be here today if I was being pushed out. I’ve agreed for a transition to carry through to the beginning of December so that there’s stable, calm leadership.”
Although several city councillors declined to comment on the move, Ward 12 Coun. Mike Jamieson told reporters “a majority” of council supported a change in leadership.
“Calgarians, they voted last year, and that’s why we have 10 new councillors and a new mayor,” he said. “Calgarians wanted Calgary to pivot and go a different direction, and to properly make that happen, you need a new CAO to go that new route.”
Ward 4 Coun. DJ Kelly said it was the “natural time” for council to see “if we have the right leadership.”
“This is about us looking forward,” he said. “How do we start to change the culture? How do we start moving in the direction we want to? It’s a very nice, natural transition point with a new council and new council priorities.”
The City of Calgary will soon undertake a recruitment process for Duckworth’s replacement.
According to city officials, the search will focus on finding somebody with experience managing growth, delivering major infrastructure, and leading a high-performing municipal organization.
Prior to his appointment as the city’s chief administrative officer, Duckworth served as the City of Calgary’s general manager of Utilities and Environmental Protection.
He also held leadership roles in Vancouver and Kamloops.
Duckworth said serving as the city’s chief administrative officer has been and honour and a privilege, and the “pinnacle” of his career.
“The things that stand out are the people that I work with every day,” Duckworth said. “I don’t think the average Calgarian understands my 20,000 colleagues, including those in Calgary police, are incredibly dedicated, committed people that work so hard every day under intense scrutiny to deliver on everything that we deliver.”
Duckworth hadto navigate the worst city councils imaginable and Pathfinder was on those councils. Hope much blame is he excepting.