Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien is raising a few eyebrows with his newly hired communications director, Jasmine MacDonnell.

Formerly the communications director for federal Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt, MacDonnell resigned in June after she left a briefing book at a TV studio.

MacDonnell also forgot a tape recorder containing a private conversation with the minister in a Parliament Hill washroom.

O'Brien has appointed Brent Colbert as his permanent chief of staff; Colbert has been in an acting role since the mayor's former chief left before the start of O'Brien's recent criminal trial.

He has also hired the city's former security chief, Bob Gauvreau, to provide what he calls "support for logistics and events" on a part-time basis.

Gauvreau appeared alongside the mayor and his family every day of the trial, though it was never made clear whether he was being paid.