City of Prince Rupert Announces new City Manager, turning job over to current contract planner Rob Buchan

The City of Prince Rupert has found their man, and as it turns out, he's been hanging around the office from time to time for close to two years.

Prince Rupert Mayor Lee Brain has announced today,  that Rob Buchan has been appointed to the position of City Manager, with the Mayor making note of his recent work on the city's planning themes.

"With over 30 years of local government experience, and a proven track record developing affordable housing and community revitalization projects, Dr. Buchan was the prime candidate to take Prince Rupert to the next level under our Rupert 2030 vision. 

Dr. Buchan has already been working with the City for the past year as a contract planner helping us implement the Rupert 2030 vision. He has helped develop the new official community plan, affordable housing policy, new market and affordable housing projects, major downtown projects such as the Gateway project and downtown tax incentive programs, with more to come.

The new City Manager will take on his duties as of November 2nd, with the City to post a new job opportunity notice to fill the position in the planning office."

The decision on the City Manager was relayed through the Mayor's Social Media feed, as well as that of the City of Prince Rupert.  

The Mayor's Facebook notes include a snapshot of Dr. Buchan's CV.

Click to enlarge

As noted by the Mayor, Dr. Buchan had his first glimpse of Prince Rupert files following the Rupert 2030 vision presentation of December 2019, he spent much of 2020 helping City Council work towards the completion of their Official Community Plan overhaul.

He took on more and more of the city's planning duties following the departure of Zeno Krekic in the early months of 2020.

Mr. Buchan shared some thoughts on his new position through the city website today.

“I am very excited to be the new City Manager for the City of Prince Rupert. The previous City Manager, Bob Long, and Council have been highly successful moving the City towards a new and bright future. It is an honour and great responsibility to continue this work with the community, a very talented staff team, and the Mayor and Council to bring the City forward.”

Mayor Lee Brain with Rob Buchan, Mayor Brain announced
that Dr. Buchan takes up duties as City Manager on November 2nd
(photo from City of PR)

As part of today's announcement, the mayor also paid tribute to the years of service by Dr. Robert Long, who announced his plans to step down earlier this year.

The City launched its search for Doctor Long's replacement in July.

While we await the next chapter of his work in Prince Rupert as City Manager, you can review some of his efforts since the end of 2019 through our Civic planning archive page here.

More notes on City Council Discussion themes can be explored here.