Is departure of city manager Judy Rogers only the beginning?

Vision Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson and his colleagues have demonstrated some backbone in their first week of office.

They replaced the city manager, Judy Rogers, who has been the de facto ruler of the city since Ken Dobell became the CEO of TransLink in the late 1990s.

The Vision-controlled council also sent a message to COPE that it’s an opposition party by refusing to appoint councillor David Cadman to the Metro Vancouver board and not putting councillor Ellen Woodsworth on the mayor’s homelessness committee.

Vision defused criticism of the decision regarding Rogers by appointing another strong-willed woman, Dr. Penny Ballem, as her replacement.

The reality, however, is that Ballem seems an odd choice to run the city when she has no demonstrated interest in land-use issues or policing or fire services or civic budgets or engineering or traffic—which are primary activities of a city government.

My guess? If the NDP is elected in next May’s provincial election, Ballem will fly the coop and become a deputy minister in the Carole James government. Either that, or Ballem will become CEO of the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority or Provincial Health Services Authority. I doubt she’ll be the city manager by the next civic election in 2011, though stranger things have occurred.

Vision Vancouver politicians know that the public won’t pay a lot of interest in the weeks before Christmas, so we can expect more tough moves before the month is out.

Deputy city managers James Ridge and Jody Andrews can’t be sleeping too soundly this evening.

Rogers brought in Ridge from the District of North Vancouver, where he was attached to some municipal controversies; Rogers elevated Andrews, who has been the city’s front man on the now-troubled Southeast False Creek development, after the retirement of former deputy city manager Brent MacGregor.

Ballem might want to bring in her own deputies. Since Estelle Lo’s departure as the finance director, there has been a noticeable absence of visible minorities and Cantonese speakers in the management team. Wendy Au is waiting in the wings as the assistant deputy city manager.

Then there’s the NDP history at the provincial level of parachuting party apparatchiks into high-ranking positions. Perhaps a decision has already been made to install someone like NDP supporter and former deputy transportation minister Blair Redlin as a deputy city manager to keep an eye on Ballem.

Redlin has a long history with CUPE. He offsets Ballem’s weaknesses in the areas of transportation and labour relations.

Don’t forget that Ballem was the deputy health minister who privatized laundry and food services in B.C. hospitals, alienating the Hospital Employees’ Union, which is a CUPE affiliate.

Then there’s the office of cultural affairs, where Vision Coun. Heather Deal has bluntly stated that there will be changes. Is the boss, Sue Harvey, on the way out next? Could Deal’s friend, former Vision mayoral candidate Jim Green, move into the position and use this position as a  pulpit to beat up on the Campbell government in the leadup to the  B.C. election?

Meanwhile, keep in mind that the general manager of engineering services, Tom Timm, was the city's spokesperson during the 2007  strike, along with the assistant city engineer, Jerry Dobovolny. They too might be looking over their shoulders after seeing what happened to Rogers.

It might also be worth keeping an eye on the park board, where general manager Susan Mundick has ruled the roost and alienated some CUPE members with her hands-on management style.

Mundick might survive because it will get expensive for taxpayers to replace the manager of the city and the park board in the same month—especially if there are other changes planned in the office of cultural affairs, with the deputy city managers, and in the engineering department.

Perhaps  Rogers won't be the only one updating a resume this weekend.