Richmond Hill city manager Neil Garbe leaves office effective immediately

Announcement came 1 day after Garbe interacted with councillors at council meeting

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 14, 2020
Sheila Wang

Neil Garbe is no longer the city manager of Richmond Hill effective immediately, the city announced in a news release Feb. 13.

The city did not provide any details on why Garbe, who served the city for about five years, left.

Garbe was not immediately available for comment.

Mary-Anne Dempster, the city’s commissioner of corporate and financial services, has been appointed as Interim city manager, the news release says.

The announcement came one day after Garbe had public interactions with councillors at a council meeting.

At the meeting, Coun. Greg Beros pressed the city manager for answers about financial incentives for the purpose of preserving the Jefferson Schoolhouse.

"I simply don’t know," Garbe said, noting he needed to gather more information from staff, after Beros expressed dissatisfaction over his initial response.

The councillor also suggested going to an in-camera session for further discussions, which Garbe declined.

Garbe took the helm in Richmond Hill in July 2015 to replace his predecessor, Joan Anderton, as the town’s chief administrative officer.

His titled changed to city manager when Richmond Hill changed its status from a town to a city last March.

In 2018, Garbe was elected to Association of Municipalities Ontario board of directors to serve on its large urban caucus from 2018 to 2020.

Prior to joining Richmond Hill, Garbe worked as the Town of Aurora’s CAO for 10 years.

The city manager is the most senior official in the city's administrative structure. The city manager provides corporate leadership and direction in the overall management of the city's departments, and reviews and approves all recommendations made to council and committees of council.

Mayor Dave Barrow could not yet be reached for comment, according to spokesperson Meeta Gandhi.

“We do not discuss personnel matters," Acting Mayor Joe DiPaola responded later.

Check YorkRegion.com for updates.