Richmond Hill's revolving door: City manager departs abruptly

Council has been marked by a series of exits by senior officials

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 3, 2022
Yoyo Yan

Richmond Hill's revolving door keeps on spinning. Shortly after the city elected a new mayor, the city announced a sudden departure from it's top staffer.

"Mary-Anne Dempster has advised her last day as city manager for Richmond Hill was Jan. 28," the city said in a brief statement Jan. 31 afternoon.

Richmond Hill was notified that Dempster has accepted the position of chief administrative officer in Clarington effective Jan. 31.

However on Jan. 27, Clarington has already issued a statement welcoming Dempster joining the municipality as new CAO.

"As a resident of the Region of Durham, I am happy to help steer this community and support the area as it grows and expands," said Dempster in Clarington's statement.

It remains unclear whether Dempster resigned or was forced to resign since the city didn't provide details on her leaving.

Darlene Joslin, the city's commissioner of community services has been appointed as interim city manager. A recruitment process has been initiated by council to recruit a permanent city manager, according to the city.

In June 2020, Dempster was appointed as city manager after the mysterious departure of her predecessor Neil Garbe.

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.