Managing Director Out the Door
Dennis Egert, Managing Director of Corporate Services, is no longer with the City of Medicine Hat effective January 10 2025. This comes as a shock to many residents - there had been no indication of Egert retiring or seeking another position. Egert has been with the City of Medicine Hat since 2014, he has been Managing Director for the last 5-1/2 years.
This is the third, sorry - fourth - high level departure since City Manager Ann Mitchell started in February 2023.
Timeline
Things started going sideways early in Mitchell’s tenure. Right away Mitchell changed the City Clerk position to report directly to the City Manager instead of to the City Solicitor. This meant that Mitchell now had the power to hire and fire the City Clerk which was previously under the City Solicitor’s purview. She has effectively crowned her self Queen.
Feb 2023 At Mitchell’s second council meeting she made a public apology to Councillor Hirsch for trying to disband the Municipal Planning Commission (which Hirsch chaired) without consultation.
May 2023 Departure 1 The City Clerk who had been hired from Edmonton less than a year previously (to replace Angela Cruikshank who had been the City Clerk for 10 years).
May 5 2023 Departure 2 Managing Director of Energy and Infrastructure Brad Mayne left during a reorganization initiated by Mitchell. Mitchell bypassed Administrative Organizational Bylaw 4662 which resulted in the Shitshow Showdown in August.
May 23 2023 Karla Kochan was hired as the head of Human Resources in May. On the day Kochan was hired Human Resources no longer reported to the Managing Director of Corporate Services, her department now reported directly to the City Manager.
August 21 2023 Larry Randle is present for his very first council meeting. He is Mitchell’s former co-worker from Lethbridge County (not the same as the City of the Lethbridge, the county is much, much smaller). Randle seemed to be well qualified, nobody had a bad word to say about him. He served the City with professionalism at all times.
Apr 2024 Departure 3 Randle left suddenly after a recorded phone with Community TV / MH Owl about the removal of the media table from Council Chambers was published on our website and Youtube. (The table was relocated to the nosebleed section of Council Chambers.) Randle admitted that it was Mitchell that dictated the change in the media table.
Randle appears at his last council meeting less than one year after he was hired, it was announced in July that he was leaving permanently. He took a job in Coalhurst AB.
January 10 2024 Departure 4 Dennis Egert leaves suddenly just when the City is facing pressures about FOIP Follies. The news recently came out that apparently there is NO information relating to city worker living expenses.
January 13 2024 Posting for Managing Director position goes up on City website.
Developing story, more to come…
