The City of Hamilton’s Senior Leadership Team, which is overseen by City Manager Marnie Cluckie and includes eight city staff in total, is undergoing a major shake-up, with some members having moved on to new positions, some “no longer employed,” and another newly hired.
The Senior Leadership Team includes the City Manager, the General Manager of Healthy and Safe Communities, the General Manager of Finance and Corporate Services, the General Manager of Planning and Economic Development, the General Manager of Public Works, the Executive Director of Human Resources, the Director of Communications and Community Engagement, and the Chief Information Officer.
However, in March 2024, the city’s General Manager of Planning and Economic Development, Jason Thorne, announced his resignation and left for a private sector position.
Thorne has since been hired as the City of Toronto’s Chief Planner.
Steve Robichaud, who was previously Hamilton’s Chief Planner, was named Acting General Manager for Planning and Economic Development – a spot he has held for 14 months as the city searched for a permanent replacement.
The city finally announced last week that Thorne’s permanent replacement had been hired.
Arvin Prasad, currently Commissioner of Development Services at the City of Markham, a city with around 350,000 people, will become the new City of Hamilton General Manager of Planning and Economic Development effective June 16.
Prasad also used to work for the Region of Peel in both Policy Planning and Research and Integrated Planning within the Corporate Services Department.
In another recent major development, the City of Hamilton suddenly announced at the end of April that Carlyle Khan, the General Manager of Public Works, and Angie Burden, the General Manager of Community Services, were “no longer employed” by the city.
It appears that the decision was made by City Manager Marnie Cluckie and released only through an internal memo. No further information was given.
In a written statement, Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath said, “As this is a personnel matter, I will not be sharing further details. As Mayor, I hired the City Manager and trust in her judgment to build and lead the team that supports her work.”
Following those two changes, Cluckie said that the Senior Leadership Team was also being downsized from nine members to the current eight members.
Burden, who just left the city, was one of two General Managers of Community Services who led the Healthy and Safe Communities Department.
Grace Mater was the other General Manager of Community Services, but she will now be the only General Manager in charge of the Healthy and Safe Communities Department.
Meanwhile, Jackie Kennedy, Director of Engineering Services, has been named Acting General Manager for Public Works.
The city created a job posting to hire a new General Manager for Public Works and the application deadline was set for May 30. It remains to be seen if anyone has been hired.
Meanwhile, Cosyn Heath, the City of Hamilton’s Transit Director, announced that she is leaving the role to become the Transit Director for the City of Mississauga.
Although the Director of Transit Services is not a part of the City of Hamilton’s Senior Leadership Team, Cluckie has yet another major vacancy to fill.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
