Larry Randle was hired as Medicine Hat's city clerk in 2023. Courtesy: City of Medicine Hat

By Eli J. Ridder

EXCLUSIVE

Medicine Hat city clerk exits role amid leadership crisis, source says

Jul 13, 2024 | 12:00 PM

City Clerk Larry Randle, who has not been present at a public council meeting in months, has left his role with the City of Medicine Hat and is being replaced amid a leadership crisis at city hall, a source close to council has told CHAT News.

The source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, added Randle’s departure is related to “the amount of abuse they were taking from the public”, specifically from a pair of online commentators and a local resident.

Meanwhile, Cypress County confirmed to CHAT News on Saturday its chief administrative officer has left her role.

The city typically does not comment on the status of individual employees, as per best practice, a statement repeated by a spokesperson when reached for comment about Randle’s absence on Friday.

However, the spokesperson did add a new line to the response that was not stated during previous inquires that indicated an announcement was pending.

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“I can share that in the near future, we will be in a better position to provide clarity to the community,” they said.

City council is holding its regular bi-weekly meeting Monday evening, but there’s no item on the agenda as of Saturday morning that pointed to any announcement.

The city clerk, like all staff, reports to the city manager and is one of the required officers of municipalities across Canada.

They are the repository of all council-related information, making sure that all minutes of every meeting are recorded in an impartial way, a municipal affairs expert told CHAT News.

Randle is still listed as the city clerk on the administration staff page and Randle has “city clerk” as is his present role on LinkedIn as of Saturday morning. Attempts to contact Randle for comment were unsuccessful.

The city published a job posting for an interim city clerk in late May that stated there was “potential for permanent employment”.

At the time, a spokesperson said they would not comment on the employment status of individuals.

Randle’s city email address now has “Larry Randle-archive” as the contact name.

The source who spoke to CHAT News explained Randle was mimicked and mocked by the two individuals that produce commentary under the local brand “Community TV”.

The former city clerk, according to this individual, was also overwhelmed with emails from Medicine Hat resident Nicole Frey, known for her criticism of city hall over the issue of transparency and for launching an effort to remove the mayor last year.

‘Highly regarded’

Randle came in during a period of high staff turnover in 2022 and 2023.

Randle was the former Lethbridge County director of community services and was Medicine Hat’s fourth city clerk in 18 months when he was brought on in August 2023.

Randle was proceeded by Arlene Karbeshewski, who was in the role for about eight months. Karbeshewski replaced Angela Cruikshank, who left the city after a decade as the city clerk.

The last public council meeting he attended was a committee-of-the-whole budget meeting on April 23. Since the regular public meeting on May 6, Lovejoy Sibanda and Rondi Korven have been rotating as acting city clerks.

George Cuff, a nationally-renowned municipal consultant, said the city clerk role is one that is highly-regarded and crucial to city leadership as it works to understand both staff and council in an unbiased, apolitical way.

“Most of the people that hold that position are highly regarded because they’re apolitical, they’re very professional and they do their work without a major degree of public claim,” Cuff explained.

George Cuff address council in late May. Eli J. Ridder/CHAT News

“Most of the public doesn’t know they exist other than when they resign or there’s a farewell party for them.”

Medicine Hat has been in the throes of a leadership crisis — first behind the scenes and then more publicly — for a majority of the time since Randle started last summer.

Mayor Linnsie Clark was sanctioned and had her salary cut in half earlier this year after council found her guilty of breaking its code of conduct during a tense exchange with the city manager in August 2023, a meeting Randle was present at.

Cuff said that normally Medicine Hat would have no issue attracting top candidates for the clerk role due to its amenities and quality of living, but the tensions at city hall could make it harder to find a replacement.

“The challenge now is somewhat escalated because anybody who’s involved in government would be aware of the friction between the council and the mayor and the mayor and city council and so on,” Cuff said.

“Nobody wants to move in and find out they’re now in the eye of the hurricane and they’re about to get toasted six months into the job,” he added.

“It adds a layer of complexity to recruit; you want to make sure you get somebody that can operate in a highly politicized environment and still do their job effectively.”

Cuff spoke to council about its leadership role at city hall during a public meeting in May at the request of City Manager Ann Mitchell.

Cypress county CAO leaving

Another source told CHAT News the next permanent city clerk would be coming from Cypress County.

A county spokesperson on Saturday confirmed that Tarolyn Aaserud is leaving her role as chief administrative officer.

Aaserud has agreed to speak with CHAT News on Monday to give further details.

There has been no formal confirmation from either the county or the city that Aaserud will be the new city clerk.