The Hook

Vancouver’s city manager Judy Rogers will be replaced by Dr. Penny Ballem after nearly a decade on the job, Mayor Gregor Robertson announced today.

According to a recent report, the Vision Vancouver-dominated city council voted on the matter during an in camera meeting earlier this morning. Robertson said Rogers' removal had nothing to do with controversy surrounding the city’s approval of a $100 million loan to the developer of the troubled 2010 Games athlete’s village, but sources in Vision suggested otherwise.

The mayor was full of praise for Rogers after her dismissal was announced.

“She built a talented and dedicated professional team over the years, and she has worked hard to help make Vancouver the great city it is today,” Robertson said in a press release. “I wish her the very best as she moves forward in her career.”

Rogers defended the city’s Olympic village loan today and said the investigations currently underway will show the city had the best interests of taxpayers at heart.

Dr. Ballem was B.C.’s deputy health minister from 2001 to 2006. The new city manager has a senior advisory role at RPO Management Consultants and serves as a corporate director for Bentall Capital G.P. Ltd.

Geoff Dembicki is a staff reporter for the Hook.