City manager Glen Peace is calling it quits after four years as Hamilton's top bureaucrat.

His resignation will take effect June 30, unless city council decides it wants Peace to exit sooner to effect a smoother transition.

Peace says he's leaving after 37 years in local government to pursue other opportunities.

"I'm going to take some time to relax, recharge my batteries, and test the market," he said in an interview yesterday.

"I'm really going to look at doing something different."

Stories have been circulating for several months that Peace, 57, has been looking for other work.

It's believed at one point he was shortlisted for the city manager's job in St. Catharines, an opening since filled.

Peace declines to comment. He says he decided at Christmas that this was going to be his last year with the city, even though his contract doesn't run out until March 2009.

Mayor Fred Eisenberger says he's disappointed Peace has decided to move on but he understands.

"It's a bittersweet day for me," said Eisenberger. "I'm happy for Glen because he's doing what he thinks is right for his time of life. I'm saddened for this organization because I think he's going to be dearly missed."

"He'll be very difficult shoes to fill."

Eisenberger says it's premature to say whether council will look for a replacement externally as well as internally.

Certainly there's no shortage of qualified internal candidates who might want the job.

Scott Stewart, general manager of public works and the ranking city official in the recently concluded HSR and CUPE negotiations, may be the logical front-runner.

Stewart is highly regarded for both his straightforward management style and far-reaching grasp of the municipality's issues.

But Joe-Anne Priel, general manager of community services, would also be another strong contender.

Joe Rinaldo, general manger of finance, would normally be considered in the running. But Rinaldo is widely believed to be close to retiring.

The dark horse could be Chris Murray, director of the city's housing division. Before taking on that role, Murray was the director of the challenging Red Hill Valley Parkway project, a role he fulfilled with diplomatic aplomb and personal integrity.

The drawback for Murray might be his lack of general manager experience.

Peace's annual salary and benefits amount to about $220,000.

As city manager, Peace is particularly proud of his drive for efficiencies through departmental reorganizations and audits, and efforts to improve the often rocky relationships between senior managers and councillors.

In many ways, Peace is a Hamilton success story. Raised by a single parent. Worked in the steel mills. Joined the Hamilton Fire Department. Rose through the ranks to be assistant deputy chief.

He left the Hamilton service in 1996 to become Burlington's fire chief but returned to lead the Hamilton department in 1999.

In 2001, he was seconded to act as general manger of community services. In 2003, he became general manager of emergency services.

When city manager Bob Robertson was fired in 2004, Peace was named interim city manager, a position that became permanent three months later thanks to the strong backing of then-mayor Larry Di Ianni.

Though highly regarded by other senior staffers, he was a lightning rod for criticisms from a few councillors, especially Sam Merulla who accused him of building his own "bureaucratic fiefdom" and all but called on Peace to resign.

Peace took flak for not reacting quickly enough to the legionnaires' disease outbreak under Di Ianni.

But speculation he was too closely aligned with Di Ianni to get along with Eisenberger proved unfounded. They work well together, perhaps because they see eye to eye on certain key issues.

Eisenberger praises Peace as a champion for city employees and for maintaining a strict separation between the governing role of council and the operational duties of staff.

"If that line gets confused, it all becomes pretty much a mudfest."

Andrew Dreschel's commentary usually appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

adreschel@thespec.com

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