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Burnaby mum about senior IT departures, including chief

Four senior IT staff, including the chief information officer, have “left the city” without explanation amid a “departmental reorganization.
Burnaby City Hall

Four senior IT staff, including the chief information officer, have “left the city” without explanation amid a “departmental reorganization.”

City communications staffer Marie Ishikawa declined to share any details on the matter, saying the city does “not share employment and personnel information outside the organization.” Ishikawa said only that the city is “undergoing a departmental reorganization.”

The NOW reached out to former CIO Shari Wallace, but she said she was unable to comment due to the terms of her release.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Wallace was with the city from March 2013 until July 2020, a total of more than seven years.

Ishikawa didn’t specify which other positions were terminated, but an organization chart shown to the NOW by a city employee shows vacancies in several senior positions, including two directly reporting to the CIO and four second-level subordinate positions.

Ishikawa said the city expects to be recruiting a new CIO “shortly.”

This isn’t the only unexplained high-ranking departure from the city in recent months; the city’s fire chief, Joe Robertson, also left his position in March in a shroud of mystery after nearly a year on leave. He had served the city for 30 years.

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