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Judy Rogers-Penny Ballem 3

December 14th, 2008 · 2 Comments

The party talk this weekend is all about the Visionista’s move to replace Judy Rogers with former deputy health minister Penny Ballem, a highly unusual move at a local government level. It’s not unusual to get rid of a city manager. It is unusual to put in someone with zero experience in city issues. Typically, […]

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Tags: City Hall Talk

The official press release from city hall re Judy Rogers/Penny Ballem

December 12th, 2008 · 1 Comment

And I’ll have a story on the Globe and Mail’s website shortly about my interviews with Gregor Robertson and Judy Rogers. Mayor and Council Members Announce New City Manager Mayor Gregor Robertson today announced that Dr. Penny Ballem will join the City of Vancouver as City Manager, taking over from Judy Rogers, who has served […]

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Protester welcoming committee all set at city hall

December 8th, 2008 · 1 Comment

It’s inauguration day for the new council and everyone’s preparing for it, including a couple of protesters outside city hall. One man has a sign proclaiming “I’m still looking for the leak … but all I see is a total lack of respect for the citizens of Vancouver.” Between the time I passed at 9, […]

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Temp communications guy for Gregor: Former Mike Harcourt aide

December 3rd, 2008 · 5 Comments

It’s always so thrilling for us media types to find out who the new administration is going to bring in as support staff. The only thing that’s possibly more fun is looking at poll-by-poll data of elections going back 30 years. Anyway, Gregor Robertson’s team seems to be unusually reluctant to make any permanent appointments […]

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What good will a city inquiry into the leak do?

November 27th, 2008 · 10 Comments

I called up my various friends and acquaintances who work in investigative reporting across the land, as well as checking with some local media lawyers on this issue. I’ve posted the good bits from what I found on my CTV blog here.

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A look at the most powerful woman at city hall

September 15th, 2008 · 6 Comments

My column in Vancouver Magazine this month takes a close look at city manager Judy Rogers, the woman whom Larry Campbell describes as someone who could “rip your heart out.” Yes, she’s scary. She also knows absolutely everything there is to know at city hall, which makes her a formidable person to deal with for […]

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