There was shock across Pittsburgh yesterday at the changes made inside Mayor Bob O'Connor's inner circle, raising concerns about the potential damage to civic momentum and whether the takeover by political veterans represents a setback in the city's desire to be viewed as more progressive and diverse.

Particularly troubling to some was the sudden departure of Chief of Staff B.J. Leber. Her appointment to the city's No. 2 post was initially celebrated as a rare victory in a city lacking female leadership.

"It meant a lot to the women of Pittsburgh that [Mr. O'Connor's] chief of staff was a woman, and not just any woman, but a woman a lot of people respected as being a very smart person," said Heather Arnet, director of the Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania, a vocal advocate for more diversity among local companies' leadership and government appointees.

Mr. O'Connor, before taking office, promised that 50 percent of his appointments to boards would be women. Hiring Ms. Leber and Susan Malie as city solicitor "showed a real commitment on his part," Ms. Arnet said.

Women, who make up 52 percent of the city population, "certainly deserve to be fairly represented within the mayoral administration," Ms. Arnet added, "and as of today, we no longer are."

Ms. Leber and Ms. Malie, also ousted by the mayor, are among several high-level women to leave senior positions across the city recently.

Katherine Henderson will leave soon as head of Point Park University, and Susan Brownlee announced plans to step down as head of The Grable Foundation, one of the city's biggest grant-making bodies. Both are being replaced by men, as are Ms. Leber and Ms. Malie, at least temporarily.

In the wake of the mayor's surprise decision, other observers of civic life wondered what the changes inside the mayor's office would mean for Pittsburgh's hard-fought momentum on Fifth-Forbes redevelopment and better cooperation between the city, Allegheny County and state.

"To make a change like this is really asking for trouble," said Mark DeSantis, a local management consultant, former aide to the late U.S. Sen. John Heinz and advocate for local government reform. "Those are very capable people and to make a wholesale change less than six months into a brand new administration is really cause for concern."

The mayor made a big leap, Mr. DeSantis said, by hiring professionals with reputations outside the world of local government.

"This was one of the things people were praising O'Connor for," he said. "Bringing people together and bringing a diverse community of people behind him. Instead of broadening it, he has narrowed his key staff and he has probably lost some important constituencies."

Civic leader and Republican stalwart Elsie Hillman, who had worked with Ms. Leber at WQED, said in a statement she was "saddened and confused" by Mr. O'Connor's decision.

"...I am concerned that the limited information he may have received was either misquoted or confused," she said. "The City of Pittsburgh is far more important than political personnel placement problems and its needs should be met with commitment, respect and honor."

Many people were concerned about saying too much yesterday, with the reasons behind the staff changes still unknown.

In that camp was F. Michael Langley, Allegheny Conference on Community Development chief executive officer, who would say only that "we were very surprised" and that "we have always believed in the professionalism and experience of the mayor's team."

But the shake-up struck many observers as little more than hard-knuckle politics -- belying the newer, more progressive image many would like the outside world to have of this city.

Many who held that opinion were concerned about giving their names yesterday, fearing repercussions.

They said the appointments of Ms. Leber, Ms. Malie and budget director Paul Leger provided a buffer of professionalism between the administration and civic leadership, and fear that buffer is now gone, replaced by raw, bare-bones politics of the Pittsburgh of old.

That's the concern of Gregg Behr, head of the Downtown-based Forbes Funds, which assists nonprofit groups with planning and management and encourages ethical behavior among local organizations.

"If it is a return to old-school politics, it is not a bright, shining moment to be sure," he said.