{"id":805638,"date":"2026-07-16T12:47:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T12:47:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/805638\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T12:47:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T12:47:17","slug":"gerein-blake-desjarlaiss-hiring-at-edmonton-city-hall-was-a-puzzler-so-is-his-exit-after-just-90-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/805638\/","title":{"rendered":"Gerein: Blake Desjarlais\u2019s hiring at Edmonton city hall was a puzzler. So is his exit after just 90 days."},"content":{"rendered":"

The world of politics, as\u00a0I’ve\u00a0learned over the years, is rife with dark\u00a0humour, including an ongoing joke that senior staffers\u00a0probably shouldn’t\u00a0make themselves overly comfortable<\/a> in any new office.<\/p>\n

Being a chief of staff or a director of communications is a tough, grinding gig at the best of times, and these are hardly the best of times. Such jobs are especially precarious in an era of social media excess and hyper-politicization where winning is everything, loyalty is paramount and each success or failure is blown out of proportion.<\/p>\n

When things go well, people are poached to bigger stages. When they go poorly, staffers often take the hit for the elected officials they serve.\u00a0Few make a career out of it.<\/p>\n

Still, even in the context of that world, Blake Desjarlais’s abrupt departure<\/a>\u00a0after just three months as Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack’s chief of staff is a strange turn of events \u2014 especially since there have been no major successes or failures out of that office recently.<\/p>\n

Ninety days is barely enough time for someone to remember their parking stall or find the ideal settings on their desk chair, let alone learn the intricacies of a new job, so the sudden exit raises questions.<\/p>\n

It’s\u00a0even more curious when you remember that Knack took six months to hire a\u00a0full-time\u00a0chief of staff, which should have been ample time to get it right.\u00a0That he\u00a0eventually\u00a0decided on\u00a0a former NDP MP as his right hand\u00a0always\u00a0seemed like a risky idea<\/a>, so\u00a0it’s\u00a0not a great look\u00a0for the mayor to now have\u00a0to find a replacement after such\u00a0a short time.<\/p>\n

Not a good fit?<\/p>\n

As to\u00a0how things\u00a0soured, sources tell me\u00a0there’s\u00a0no scandal\u00a0afoot. There\u00a0were no real performance issues, major policy\u00a0disagreements\u00a0or personality conflicts, but rather just a mutual realization from both Knack and Desjarlais that it\u00a0wasn’t\u00a0a good fit.<\/p>\n

Beyond that,\u00a0it’s\u00a0mostly speculation as to why it\u00a0didn’t\u00a0work, though I have found myself wondering if\u00a0the mayor’s mixed approach to intergovernmental relations\u00a0played a role.<\/p>\n

Local voters may recall that Knack stood out as the clearest opponent to the UCP government<\/a> among the contenders in last year’s civic election.<\/p>\n

Whether intended or not, following up that campaign by hiring an\u00a0NDP politician as\u00a0chief\u00a0of staff sent\u00a0a signal that\u00a0Knack\u00a0expected to be in a fight,\u00a0a move that came\u00a0across as rather aggressive\u00a0\u2014 and contradictory \u2014\u00a0from\u00a0a leader\u00a0who\u00a0had\u00a0repeatedly insisted on the need to keep partisanship away from city hall.<\/p>\n

And indeed, I am told that provincial government\u00a0officials\u00a0did not\u00a0react well\u00a0to\u00a0Desjarlais’s arrival.<\/p>\n

However, of late Knack has taken a far more diplomatic approach \u2014 publicly at least \u2014 than those previous moves might have heralded. During his May state of the city speech<\/a>, he passed up a golden opportunity to criticize the province’s squeezing and downloading. Instead, he’s praised the government’s investments in addiction recovery and expressed optimism about addressing homelessness. Even Alberta Transportation’s latest moves against municipal bike lanes<\/a> have been met rather tepidly.<\/p>\n

As an Edmontonian,\u00a0it’s\u00a0been\u00a0unusual, and even a bit fun, to watch Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas<\/a> get into a bunch of public spats with the Smith government<\/a>, while\u00a0our mayor\u00a0has\u00a0appeared far more\u00a0restrained\u00a0in comparison.<\/p>\n

It may not last, but if that is to be Knack’s\u00a0preferred\u00a0long-term approach\u00a0with the province,\u00a0an awareness\u00a0may have\u00a0set in\u00a0that\u00a0Desjarlais\u00a0probably wasn’t\u00a0the\u00a0ideal\u00a0chief of staff.\u00a0The same could\u00a0probably be\u00a0said for\u00a0relations with the federal\u00a0government, which has\u00a0moved in\u00a0a more conservative direction\u00a0since Prime Minister Mark Carney\u00a0took\u00a0charge.<\/p>\n

Likewise, Knack’s prioritization of economic\u00a0development\u00a0and\u00a0getting on\u00a0friendlier\u00a0terms with the city’s business community<\/a>\u00a0may not have harmonized well with Desjarlais’s strengths and interests.<\/p>\n

In that vein, some insiders suggest the former MP may still harbour political ambitions of his own, and came to realize it isn’t all that satisfying doing the grunt work to help someone else succeed. It wouldn’t be a shock to see him as an NDP candidate in the next Alberta provincial election, provided there is sufficient alignment with Leader Naheed Nenshi.<\/p>\n

As I said,\u00a0much of this is\u00a0educated\u00a0speculation\u00a0on a\u00a0peculiar\u00a0chapter in Knack’s tenure.<\/p>\n

But either way, if it wasn’t going to work, Knack and Desjarlais made the smart call to part ways now, rather than let it drag out.<\/p>\n

\"Edmonton<\/p>\n

Edmonton has found two new cases of Dutch Elm Disease on trees in the Northmount and Rossdale neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n

Dutch elm setback<\/p>\n

As if there\u00a0weren’t\u00a0enough natural calamities plaguing\u00a0Edmonton\u00a0right now, Tuesday brought unhappy news on the city’s battle against Dutch elm disease.<\/a><\/p>\n

In recent months, cautious optimism was rising that Edmonton may have\u00a0managed to\u00a0stop the\u00a0spread of the insidious fungus at a mere seven trees, which would have been a fantastic accomplishment considering how other\u00a0jurisdictions\u00a0have struggled against it.<\/p>\n

But then the city announced the discovery of two more\u00a0cases. One of those is in the same general north-side area as the\u00a0previous\u00a0infections. But the other is\u00a0on city land\u00a0in Rossdale,\u00a0where no cases\u00a0had been reported\u00a0previously.<\/p>\n

It’s just one tree at this point and city crews are doing their best to ensure that’s as far as it goes, but it’s hard to overstate the concern of finding Dutch elm disease in the river valley.<\/p>\n

Edmontonians\u00a0can help by remembering not to transport firewood into the city, and by\u00a0adhering\u00a0to the ban on cutting down or\u00a0pruning\u00a0elm trees\u00a0between April 1 and Sept. 30.<\/p>\n

\"Edmontonians<\/p>\n

Edmontonians fight mosquitoes after city council cancels aerial spraying program. (Cartoon by Malcolm Mayes)<\/p>\n

Summer sucks<\/p>\n

As to Edmonton’s other major pest, it’s no surprise to hear a lot of angry chatter lately about council’s 2022 decision to scrap the city’s aerial mosquito control program<\/a> in favour of attempting a heavier reliance on natural interventions such as birds, bats and dragonflies.<\/p>\n

I disagreed with the decision<\/a> at the time and still do, but\u00a0I also think some perspective\u00a0is in order.<\/p>\n

Remember that the helicopter spraying was limited to larger water bodies mostly in outlying areas of the city, which meant it helped neighbouring municipalities as much, or more, than Edmonton. Remember also that the city continues to do ground larvicide treatments.<\/p>\n

But either way, the record precipitation Edmonton has received<\/a> in recent weeks has been far beyond any intervention anyone could manage.<\/p>\n

It sucks (literally), but\u00a0sometimes we\u00a0have to\u00a0accept\u00a0the bugs\u00a0in life.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

kgerein@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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