---
title: "Pete Fry names chief of staff and deputy, both from outside Green Party"
description: "Mayor-elect Pete Fry has named Dominique Damian-Wallace as chief of staff and longtime city employee Cheryl Rowley as deputy chief of staff, the Vancouver Sun reported October 30, breaking with the practice of recent mayors who staffed the mayor's office with party insiders."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/news/pete-fry-mayors-office-staff-october-30"
last_updated: "2026-10-30T13:57:47.182Z"
---

The Vancouver Sun reported October 30 that mayor-elect [Pete Fry](/candidates/pete-fry) has named Dominique Damian-Wallace as his chief of staff and longtime City of Vancouver employee Cheryl Rowley as deputy chief of staff for the new mayor's office, both of them outside the Green Party network that elected him.

Damian-Wallace is a Vancouver resident with a mix of public and private-sector experience who, according to the Sun, met Fry at their neighbourhood dog park over several years and connected over shared values. She is not a longtime Green Party insider, the Sun reported.

**A hire from inside city hall**

The Sun reported that Rowley worked at the City of Vancouver for four years before Fry was first elected to council in 2018, and most recently served in the city manager's office. Her hire marks a shift in how the mayor's office is staffed: Fry told the Sun, "There's a real intention on my part to depoliticize the mayor's office."

Fry won the October 17 mayoral race as the Green Party of Vancouver's candidate, defeating incumbent Mayor Ken Sim of ABC Vancouver. The new council of 10 seats is split across four parties: four COPE councillors, four Green Party councillors, one OneCity councillor, and one ABC Vancouver councillor. No single party holds a majority.

**Building a council-wide team**

The mayor's office staff hires follow a series of appointments Fry made earlier this week. He named COPE councillor-elect [Sean Orr](/candidates/sean-orr) as first deputy mayor, appointed [Rebecca Bligh](/candidates/rebecca-bligh) to lead his transition team, and reappointed ABC councillor [Mike Klassen](/candidates/mike-klassen) to the Metro Vancouver Board. Committee and representative roles were distributed across all parties on the incoming 10-member council, continuing the cross-party approach Fry has described since the October 17 vote.

The new council is sworn in on November 2, when Fry officially becomes mayor. Decisions made by Fry and the council once in office will be tracked on his candidate page at /candidates/pete-fry. The Sun's full report on the mayor's office changes is available to subscribers at its website.

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