Could Deepak Joshi's days be numbered at Winnipeg City Hall?

The extended suspension of Deepak Joshi as Winnipeg's interim top bureaucrat could spell the end of his 20-year career with the city, suggests at least one civic political observer.

Council's executive policy committee voted on Wednesday, at the urging of Mayor Brian Bowman, to extend Joshi's three-day suspension as acting chief administrative officer for another 30 days.

• Winnipeg CAO Deepak Joshi's suspension stretched out 30 more days
• Deepak Joshi suspended as City of Winnipeg's acting CAO
• Applicants for Winnipeg'sCAOjob double under Bowman

Bowman used his authority under the City of Winnipeg Charter on Jan. 16 to suspend Joshi as acting CAO, but his jurisdiction limited his suspension to three working days.

Bowman has said he hopesto have a newCAOappointed andin place by March.

Brian Kelcey, who served as an adviser to former mayor Sam Katz and worked closely with Joshi at city hall for four years, told CBC News he suspects Joshi will be terminated soon a decision that must be voted on by council.

"You're seeing a step-by-step process towards Deepak Joshi being asked ultimately to leave the building and no longer be acting CAO," Kelcey said.

Last week, the mayorsaid he has "lost confidence" in Joshi's capacity to serve as acting CAO. However, Bowmanhas not elaborated on why he feels that way, citing human resources matters.

"The mayor hears from the CAO several times a day on different issues," Kelcey said.

"If you can't trust five, six or seven pieces of info a day coming across your deskfrom that pool, over the course of six weeks, that's a lot of chaos that you've got to deal with and a lot of looking over your shoulder at a critical time for Mayor Bowman."

Joshitoo political in role: Kelcey

Kelcey said Joshi could have been a top candidate for the chief administrative officer job had he not been so politically involved with Katz and former CAO Phil Sheegl.

"As a public servant, you shouldn't be really choosing teams at all," Kelcey said.

"He was a cheerleader and minister of defence for the indefensible for the Katz/Sheegl regime, in a way that was far more political than any previous CAOs had been."

Joshi was appointed acting CAO following the departure of Phil Sheegl in October 2013.

• City of Winnipeg top bureaucrat PhilSheeglquits
• City COO to take over for Sheegl despite concerns
• RCMP launch criminal probe into Winnipeg police HQ project
• Police HQ cost overruns final straw forcing Sheegl out

A scathing report, released days after Sheegl left, implicated him in what it called a poorly managed fire hall land swap deal that cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

Sheegl was also mentioned in an external review of cost overruns related to work on the Winnipeg Police Service's new headquarters.

Kelcey said he calls the current situation unfortunate because he believes Joshi is a talented bureaucrat who rose quickly through the ranks at the city.

"He chose to bear-hug so many controversial decisions at city hall and, in some ways, involved himself in decisions that he shouldn't really have been involved with," he said ofJoshi.

He added thatthe fact that Bowman won't leave Joshi in his post until a new CAO is appointed in six weeks may be an indication that things at city hall may be worse than anyone imagined.

"I'm starting to pity the mayor and the circumstances he has around him," Kelceysaid of Bowman, who was elected mayor this past fall.

"Now that he's actually in there and suffering through it, even I'm starting to have some sympathy.And I don't think anyone anticipated that they would have all these crises blow up at quite the speed they've blown up."

Deepak Joshi's career at the city

Joshi's LinkedIn page points to a career at the City of Winnipeg dating back to at least 1995. His profile lists the following roles:

• Administrator of information systems and technology (January 1995 October 1999)
• Manager of property and information systems (October 1999 October 2003)
• Manager of development and inspections (October 2003 November 2008)
• Director of planning, property and development (November 2008 August 2011)
• Chief operating officer (August 2011 Present)
• Acting chief administrative officer (October 2013 Present)