And here’s the memo from city manager, as promised earlier this week From:   COV Broadcast Server Sent:   Friday, February 13, 2009 3:27 PM To:     All Staff (COV) – DL Subject:        COV Broadcast – Memorandum from City Manager – Human Resource Measures MEMORANDUM FROM THE CITY MANAGER – Human […]

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It was one year to the Olympics yesterday, but for the city and the Olympic village developers, the deadline is much closer: Oct. 31 to be exact, except for a couple of buildings that are going to be delivered Nov. 30. The city is still working on finalizing its financing, and it’s also taking extreme […]

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We (my, myself and I) hear there are lots of rumblings about what the new economic chill at city hall is going to mean. City manager Penny Ballem is apparently moving at lightning speed to push the trimming plan into action asap. That means that, by the end of the week, staff are expecting more […]

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Okay, now we have Penny Ballem locked in a room with Fortress trying to come to a deal on the financing. Next, the mayor and Penny have to figure out who is going to take Jody’s place. As I wrote for the Globe, the deputy city manager’s role in dealing with development projects is critical. […]

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City councillors have just received a message from city manager Penny Ballem that Jody Andrews, the young deputy city manager in charge of Southeast False Creek development, has resigned. There has been rumbling for the last couple of days that he would be fired so it’s very unclear how voluntary this resignation is. A bit […]

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I really think there should have been a sports commentator at today’s first meeting of the new Vision-controlled council. Or several really, to handle the various rounds that ensued as council proceeded through the many motions put forward to kickstart the Vision agenda. We could have started with one of those hushed-voice golf types for […]

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Unfortunately, all of the news coverage you’ve read or are likely to read about yesterday’s kick-off of the French Revolution at city hall (city manager Judy Rogers replaced with former deputy health minister Penny Ballem) can’t quite capture the scene down at 12th and Cambie. A couple of us got the word last night that […]

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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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Here’s my early file to the Globe on this. Stay tuned for more.

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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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