After a 17-month search for someone to step up and fill the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s top administrative role, the municipality has found its full-time replacement in former councillor and fire chief Nick Ruller.

Starting July 7, Ruller will begin serving as the town’s chief administrative officer, taking over for interim chief administrator Bruce Zvaniga, who took on the role in January 2024 as a temporary replacement while the town began looking for its successor — a process mired by roadblocks along the way. 

Zvaniga took over for former CAO Marnie Cluckie, who served for three years before resigning in December 2023 to become Hamilton’s city manager.

Ruller, who grew up and currently lives in NOTL, was elected as a councillor in the 2022 election and served for two years, then stepped down last September to take on a role as Brampton’s fire chief. Coun. Andrew Niven was appointed to his seat in council.

He previously served as NOTL’s fire chief from 2019 to 2022 and has been a volunteer firefighter with NOTL’s fire department for several years.

A June 19 media release from the Town of NOTL announcing Ruller as the new CAO states that Ruller “most recently served as the fire chief for the City of Brampton, where he provided executive oversight to nearly 600 staff and managed multi-million-dollar budgets.”

“With over 25 years of experience in municipal government, Nick brings a wealth of expertise, strategic vision, and a collaborative approach to the role,” the release states.

The town’s search for a new, full-time CAO went longer than it expected — originally, the town had planned to find a new CAO before the start of this year, but securing a replacement proved challenging.

Last year, approximately 70 people applied for the role, and following the interview process, the town had a top candidate on its list, but, as Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa shared at the time, “we weren’t able to make terms with them,” which he called “disappointing.”

In April, the town shared that three different candidates were offered the role, all of whom declined, “for various personal and professional reasons.”

The June 19 media release didn’t share how it came to be that Ruller would take on this new role, but shared a statement from him in which he said it is a “tremendous honour” to have been chosen as the new CAO.

“I look forward to working closely with the lord mayor, council, members of staff, and the community at large collaboratively and purposefully, ensuring that Niagara-on-the-Lake continues to be a place where its rich heritage is preserved while embracing opportunity, innovation, and high quality of life for all its residents,” he said in the release.

The Town’s next meeting after July 7 is the committee of the whole planning meeting on Tuesday, July 8.