Loomis selects former city manager Chris Murray to lead Hamilton city hall on an interim basis

Hamilton mayor-elect Keanin Loomis says he intends to appoint former city manager Chris Murray to oversee the city on an interim basis. Murray held the city’s top administrative job for nearly a decade.

Loomis announced the decision on Oct. 30. He unseated incumbent Andrea Horwath in the Oct. 26 municipal election. Murray will be formally appointed after the new council term begins on Nov. 15.

“Chris and I have worked together for years and he’s already been leading our transition team,” said Loomis. “Hamilton is so fortunate to have someone with his experience willing to step up for a few months to help us with transition, budgeting, and giving us time to put in motion the process of finding Hamilton’s next permanent city manager.”

Hamilton’s budget is usually approved in February. That would give the new administration about three months with Murray in place before the budget goes to a final vote.

“As Acting City Manager, Murray would provide leadership and continuity while the city undertakes the process of selecting Hamilton’s next permanent City Manager,” the mayor-elect’s news release states.

Murray said he is looking forward to returning to city hall.

“I look forward to working with the mayor-elect, city staff and the broader organization to provide continuity and support a smooth and productive transition as the city prepares to select its next permanent city manager,” said Murray.

Murray will take over from Mike Zegarac, the city’s general manager of finance and corporate services. Zegarac has been acting city manager since former city manager Marnie Cluckie left this fall to become chief administrative officer in Halifax. Cluckie was hired in December 2023 after the retirement of former city manager Janette Smith. Zegarac will remain in his role as general manager of finance and corporate services. He has worked for the City of Hamilton for more than 25 years.

Murray is originally from Fredericton, New Brunswick, and joined the former Hamilton-Wentworth region’s planning department in 1995. He went on to work as a project manager overseeing environmental planning, transportation and housing, and was the project manager for the Red Hill Valley Parkway. He was hired as city manager in January 2009, during Fred Eisenberger’s first term as mayor. He continued in the role under Mayor Bob Bratina and left in 2018, near the end of Eisenberger’s second term.

During his time in Hamilton, Murray worked on the city’s 2012 to 2015 strategic plan, area-rated taxation in the amalgamated communities, and a compromise on the location of the new Hamilton Tiger-Cats stadium. He has also been a proponent of the city’s LRT project.

In 2018, Murray left Hamilton to become city manager of Toronto under then-mayor John Tory. He started there on Aug. 13, 2018, and led the City of Toronto through its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Murray stepped down as Toronto’s city manager on Aug. 19, 2022.

Murray then worked as a special advisor to the federal Department of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities and as a municipal advisor at Deloitte. He also sits on the board of directors of the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation.

City hall has seen major staffing turnover. Along with Cluckie, the city’s general manager of planning and economic development, executive director of human resources and director of talent and diversity have all left in the past year. The city also fired 17 managers and senior staff between 2022 and the end of 2025.