September 25, 2008: THE TORONTO STAR

By: Donovan Vincent 
      CITY HALL BUREAU

Joe Pennachetti was confirmed as Toronto's new city manager yesterday, but not without a tense debate at city hall over the way he got the job.

In late July, when Shirley Hoy announced she was leaving her post as city manager effective in October, Mayor David Miller announced that Pennachetti, deputy city manager and the city's chief financial officer, would be her successor. 

As council debated the mayor's recommendation yesterday, right-wing critics blasted him for not doing an open search for Hoy's replacement.

"For the past 18 months it has not been this council that has been supreme, and this vote (to confirm Pennachetti) cements that statement,'' Councillor Karen Stintz, a frequent Miller critic, said before yesterday's vote.

Councillor Michael Walker tried to get a motion passed that would have halted the appointment and set in motion an executive search across Canada and the U.S. using a professional recruitment agency.

The motion also suggested the job be rotated among three deputy city managers until a suitable candidate was found.

Walker's idea lost by a 24-14 vote.

With the executive search option off the table, a subsequent vote to confirm Pennachetti passed 35-3.

Several councillors opposed to the process said they had no problem with Pennachetti himself, adding he would make a good city manager.

But by not looking outside, the city may have overlooked other suitable candidates, they said.

Councillor Mike Del Grande argued that appointing Pennachetti is in keeping with the so-called "strong mayor'' system Miller has adopted at city hall. The system has resulted in vesting more decision-making powers in a hand-picked executive committee.

"I don't feel that I have the same kind of power and authority that I did in the last council,'' Del Grande said.

Miller, who said Pennachetti's appointment was part of a succession planning model that ensured a "seamless transition'' in that important post, told reporters he had a "duty'' to Torontonians to give his best advice for the city manager job.

"That obvious choice is Mr. Pennachetti,'' Miller said.