Robert Holt, city of Mobile’s finance executive director, is leaving his post at the end of the week.

“I’d like to extend a real debt of gratitude to the mayor, because he was the one who found me and gave me the opportunity,” Holt said at Tuesday’s Mobile City Council meeting, when he announced his departure. “I don’t think he thought, and nor did I at the time, that it would only last two years, but sometimes things come up in life that you’ve got to deal with, and that’s the case for me.”

Holt did not give a reason for his departure. He arrived at the city of Mobile in 2021, after former chief of staff and finance director, Paul Wesch, died.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson highlighted Holt’s work to stabilize the city’s Police and Firefighter’s Pension Fund, which was almost bankrupt in the 1990s and, as of September, was about 90% funded.

“A lot of our retirees will have no clue what you’ve done to solidify and make our retirement system better,” Stimpson said. “Part of your legacy, other than that, is you’ve done a magnificent job keeping us on track and fiscally sound.”