Richmond Hill's Revolving Door: City's community services commissioner leaves post
This council has been marked by a series of exits by senior officials, eight confirmed so far
Yorkregion.com
March 5, 2020
Sheila Wang
Another senior staffer has quietly left the City of Richmond Hill for unknown reasons in the latest turnover of higher-ranking employees.
Ilmar Simanovskis, commissioner of community services, left the position Feb. 26 after serving the city for about a year and a half, the city confirmed on Mar. 3.
It remains unclear if Simanovskis resigned or was fired as the city declined to provide details on his leaving.
Simanovskis, who was in the council chambers at the last meeting, was in charge of recreations & culture services, community standards, public works operations and fire & emergency services, according to the city's latest guidebook.
His departure comes two weeks after the city announced the abrupt departure of former city manager Neil Garbe, another six-figure earner at the city.
It also came shortly after council nixed a $65,000 arts and cultural grants program under the community services department, which the former commissioner oversaw.
Simanovskis was appointed department head in September 2018 through a motion by then Regional Councillor Vito Spatafora and seconded by councillor David West.
This term of council has been marked by a series of exits by senior officials who left for a variety of reasons, but mostly with no details publicly available.
Mayor Dave Barrow would not comment on the spate of the recent staff exodus, stating he does not “speak to HR or personnel matters of the city.”
Here are the senior staff members that we know so far who have left:
- Deborah Anschell: integrity commissioner, fired.
- Carol Moore: communication services manager, retired.
- Louise Procter Maio: chief executive officer of Richmond Hill Public Library, retired.
- Jeff Baker: Supervisor, bylaw/ licensing enforcement, unknown.
- Gloria Collier: deputy clerk, unknown.
- Samara Kaplan: director of human resources services, unknown.
- Neil Garbe: city manager, unknown.
- Ilmar Simanovskis: commissioner of community services, unknown.
