On June 30, the long-time city secretary submitted a letter of resignation, valid from September 1 2020.

He said that coming to this decision was not simple: "On June 16, Mayor Mihhail Kõlvart presented his ideas on restructuring city government - the management plan for 2021. According to the plan, a new central management structure will be developed on the basis of city office - the Tallinn Strategy Center. The unit will consist of many different city offices.

"The Mayor's proposed reforms are extensive, their implementation will take many decisions of principle and coordination. This can only be done through strong political will and through strong leadership. There will inevitably be further personnel changes coming, which will lead to new roles of leadership in city government. The goal is to develop clear lines of command and a working cooperation with city council and politicians, the strategy center, city office and regional and sectoral governance structures."

The outgoing city secretary added: "The mayor and I have discussed the implementation of this plan on many occasions. The challenges that need to be accounted for, the schedule and my possible role in the process. As a result of these discussions, we have reached an agreement that the implementation of such extensive changes takes hard and stressful work. As the mayor wishes, and I agreed to this, these changes will be conducted by someone else who has the mayor's total trust."

Tallinn city government decided to pay Toomas Sepp six months pay as a reward for promoting life in the capital of Estonia and for developing and leading local government over the last 30 years. The total sum of the reward is €36,600.

Kõlvart said through a press release: "The city government thanks City Secretary Toomas Sepp for his 30 years of service, as his contribution to Tallinn's development is hard to overstate. Toomas Sepp has personally contributed to the legislation regulating the organization of local government and has helped develop a system of government that meets the requirments of the modern age."

Toomas Sepp's service in Tallinn city government started in 1990 as a housing counselor. He has been city secretary since April 24, 1992.

Until a new city secretary is announced, the acting city secretary will be the city's legal director Priit Lello.

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