City council makes a brief announcement after termination meeting this morning

T

racy Samra has been terminated from her job at the City of Nanaimo following a closed door council meeting today.

The decision to terminate without severance was made after two hours of deliberation.

In a brief statement city council said only that “Ms. Samra is no longer employed as the Chief Administrative Officer for the City of Nanaimo,” prompting speculation that she might still be on payroll in another capacity.

However, multiple sources confirmed to News Nanaimo that Ms. Samra will not be returning to the city in any capacity.

Ms. Samra, who served as the city’s chief administrative officer for two-and-half years, was suspended with full pay in February pending an investigation into an incident at city hall on Jan. 31 that resulted in RCMP arresting her later that night.

She was heavily implicated in a personal expenses scandal that resulted in the firing of chief financial officer Victor Mema two weeks ago. Ms. Samra also incurred personal expenses on her city-issued card.

City auditors KPMG criticized the cross approval of expenses between Ms. Samra and Mr. Mema in a report on internal control deficiencies.

They also said staff whistleblowers who questioned personal spending were punished.

Ms. Samra, 50, is due to appear in court June 5 to face a peace bond hearing related to alleged threats being uttered against this reporter, three council members and five current and former city employees during the Jan. 31 city hall incident.