Vancouver’s chief building official Saul Schwebs is no longer on the job.

The City of Vancouver would not comment on the details related to Schwebs’ departure, saying in an email Thursday from the communications department that it was a personnel matter.

“The city can confirm that Saul Schwebs is no longer with the organization,” said the email, adding that Kevin Lau has accepted a temporary appointment as chief building official.

“The city will not comment on individual personnel matters. We thank Saul Schwebs for his dedicated service and many contributions to the city and wish him well”.

Schwebs’ departure comes less than one month after Business in Vancouver reported that Katrina Leckovic, city clerk and chief election officer, and Tina Penney, deputy city clerk also responsible for legislative operations, were no longer employed.

The city also declined to explain the reason for their departures.

‘Final arbiter’

Schwebs spent the last five years of his 12 years of service at the city as chief building official. He once described his role as an independent statutory decision-maker and “final arbiter of all things related to buildings, and building safety in the City of Vancouver.”

“So I have final say on what goes into the Vancouver bylaw, which is a great place to be,” he said. “I can push an agenda as far as things I want to see in buildings from a sustainability or seismic resilience standpoint.”

Schwebs offered that description in a wide-ranging interview in January 2025 with BIV. The interview occurred one month after Schwebs went before council to recommend the demolition of the 1908-era five-storey building at 500 Dunsmuir St.

Through a series of slides showing the poor condition of the inside and outside of the building—commonly known as Dunsmuir House—Schwebs emphasized the urgency to demolish the former grand hotel.

He told council in December 2024 that he was “in the bylaw compliance business, not the punishment business.” Asked in the interview what powers he had as the city’s chief building official, he said it was to ensure people are safe when it comes to buildings.

“That’s the fundamental thing,” he said.

“I have the authority to address unsafe conditions under the building bylaw. I have the authority in certain cases to take immediate action in the bylaw without even letting an owner know. So I have some pretty big hammers. Compliance is always the goal. Enforcement is a tool that we have to gain compliance. We start with education and try to get voluntary compliance, and we escalate from there.”

Schwebs is originally from a small town in Wisconsin and is now a Canadian citizen. He is a trained architect, who last worked in that capacity at a high-end design firm in West Vancouver.

Schwebs last spoke at a public council meeting on June 2, where he answered questions about the nuances of the city’s building bylaw and provincial building code related to the construction of new buildings and seismic risks.

Paul Mochrie

City hall has seen several departures over the past year, including Leckovic and Penney. Paul Mochrie departed in July 2025 after Mayor Ken Sim announced in a news release that he and Mochrie “mutually agreed that it was the right time for a leadership change.”

Mochrie, who has since been appointed president and CEO of the Provincial Health Services Authority, was replaced less than two weeks after his departure by Donny van Dyk, the former city manager in Delta.

Van Dyk began his job in September 2025, where he oversaw Sim’s move to lay off staff and cut back on programs to achieve a zero per cent property tax hike for 2026.

BIV reported in April that at least 40 city exempt staff had lost their jobs since the zero per cent property tax increase was approved for 2026.

An additional 50 CUPE 15 employees and 41 exempt employees across several departments chose to leave the city through a “voluntary departure program,” according to information from the city’s communications department and a March 12 memo to council from Colin Knight, the city’s general manager of finance.

Michelle Bryant-Gravelle, who served as the city’s senior director of Indigenous relations, was among the employees who voluntary left city hall. Her last day on the job was Dec. 11.

Bryant-Gravelle outlined her reasons for leaving in an interview and in a lengthy text message that included concerns over a leaked memo from Sim’s office that was the source a Globe and Mail article in February.

She has since landed a job as executive director of corporate services for the Squamish Nation.

‘Unhappy to see them go’

Meanwhile, the city’s former finance head Patrice Impey left in 2024 to become chief financial officer at TransLink. Maria Pontikis, the city’s former head of communications, also recently took a position at TransLink as vice-president of customer communications and public affairs.

Coun. Pete Fry said Thursday in a text message that he was not presented with any “cogent rationale or details of any performance issues” that could explain or justify the departure of Schwebs, Leckovic and Penney.

“But there is a thread: all three of those roles are statutory positions within the Vancouver Charter, and the authority to hire those roles lives with council,” he said. “All three are effectively watchdog roles, their jobs were performed with integrity and a degree of independence free from political meddling—and perhaps therein lies the rub.”

Added Fry: “As was the case with former city manager Paul Mochrie, I found all of these former employees to be extremely professional, competent and skilled at their respective jobs. l am quite unhappy to see them go, and especially under this sort of cloud.”

Coun. Rebecca Bligh said in a text message that the chief building official is a public safety role, not a political one, and removing him this late in the term raises serious questions.

“After nearly four years in office, Vancouverites should be asking why Ken Sim is suddenly forcing out senior professional staff instead of taking responsibility for the results of his own administration,” Bligh said.

“My concern is that this is becoming a pattern: independent professionals being replaced with people more likely to tell the mayor yes, rather than tell him the truth. City hall needs experienced public servants who can give frank advice, protect the public interest, and keep Vancouver safe, not a culture of loyalty tests.”

Both Bligh and Fry are running for mayor in a bid to unseat Sim, who is seeking re-election in the Oct. 17 municipal election.

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