Coun. O’Fee leaves a big chair to fill
There will be at least two open seats when voters pick a new City council in November. It’s been known for months that Jim Harker plans a move to Victoria at the end of this term.
And, yesterday, John O’Fee revealed he’s accepted a job as CEO of the Tk’umloops Indian Band as of the first of next month and will resign from council.
While the vacancies provide some hope for anyone with designs on taking a shot at a council seat, the two empty spots are half the number being talked up over the past few months.
Since that time, most other members of council, including Mayor Peter Milobar, have confirmed their intentions to run again. John DeCicco hasn’t said what his plans are yet but he’s sounding less and less like someone who’s looking to retire.
O’Fee’s chair seems likely to remain vacant until November. Council could call a by-election (it’s happened a time or two before) but with the relatively short time remaining, it would be a waste of money.
It will take a highly qualified candidate to fill his positioon. O’Fee comes off as a little arrogant to some, and has rare flashes of temper, but he’s been one of the most articulate, reasoned councillors at the table.
He’s the guy, when council has flailed around with an issue for an hour and has no clue what to do with it, who makes a motion that provides some kind of next step and extricates everyone from the glue.
I first met O’Fee in 1989, when he represented the school board on a trip to Uji, Japan. I was there on behalf of this newspaper. Over the years, I came to appreciate his brains, his wit, and his high ethical standards. Especially the latter.
Politics is a dirty game, and it’s easy to succumb to the temptation of perks big and small. It might be a more expensive hotel room, creative arithmetic on meal expenses, or going AWOL from a convention paid for by the taxpayers.
I’ve seen O’Fee work himself into an indignant lather on those kinds of issues, and respected him for it.
And, oh, that temper. One Saturday morning, he decided to enjoy a walk at McArthur Island. To his considerable annoyance, this dog-free park was full of dogs. It did not dampen his vexation to discover it was the SPCA’s annual dog walk.
Astonished, I watched as he marched up to the registration desk and demanded to know if the organization had a permit to be there. An affirmative reply still didn’t do the trick, and O’Fee was probably still frothing when he got home.
But such occasions have been rare; almost all the time he’s the cool customer with the amusing remark that cuts to the quick of the matter.
Lately, though, his ardour for the job has diminished. He acknowledges he probably wouldn’t have run again in the last election if it hadn’t been for wanting to see the lengthening of the Kamloops Airport runway through to completion.
As the mayor-appointed president of the Kamloops Airport Society, he’s spent more than a half-dozen years intimately involved in making the airport better and bringing in more business for it.
Recently, though, his demeanor at council meetings has been one of a man who needs to move on to other challenges. He spends much of those meetings texting from his Blackberry, multi-tasking quite effectively, raising his hand when a vote is called or landing briefly from cyberspace to offer one of his patented ways out of the political quagmire in which council typically becomes stuck.
Working for the TIB won’t be an easy thing — the Band has gone through several CEOs in a few short years. It’s a different kind of politics from what O’Fee is used to.
Just the kind of challenge he’ll likely thrive on.
mrothenburger@kamloopsnews.ca
ArmchairMayor.ca 
I agree. John O’Fee did a great job as Councillor, and will likely continue to serve Kamloops in a larger sense in his new role.
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