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City appoints interim city manager

NANAIMO – Tracy Samra will be the municipality's interim city manager.

Nanaimo’s new interim city manager starts this week.

Tracy Samra steps into a new role as interim city manager this Thursday (Nov. 19), filling in for the next six months as the municipality searches for a permanent candidate to replace Ted Swabey.

She is the first woman and Aboriginal to hold the position at city hall, the city announced in a press release Tuesday.

“I am thrilled,” she said, adding it’s a good sign of the times a woman was appointed into the role and that it will provide a different style of leadership.

“First task is to sit down with mayor and council and ask them what their strategic priorities are. I need to get my marching orders from them.”

Samra was the corporate officer and manager of legislative services for the City of Nanaimo in 2013, and currently lectures on natural resources management and indigenous rights at Vancouver Island University.

She is a senior administrator, consultant and lawyer with more than 19 years of experience working in federal, provincial and Aboriginal public sectors.

She is a member of Saddle Lake Cree Nation in Alberta.

“Tracy brings to the city a wide range of executive experience, including knowledge across all levels of government,” said Gord Fuller, acting mayor, in a press release. “Her work at the city will provide critical support to council and leadership to staff during the interim period.”

Samra's appointment could be renewed each month after the six-month interim period until the city fills the permanent city manager position. Swabey, former city manager, left Nov. 13 after 26 years with the city to become the new CAO of the City of Maple Ridge.