PETERS – Hamer-Jackson’s committee moves will increase gridlock at City Hall

MAYOR REID HAMER-JACKSON’S MOVE THIS WEEK to stack council committees with people he considers more in tune with his frequency was a fairly predictable development.

In our system, the mayor’s actual power is quite limited. Setting committees is one of the few things the mayor can do autonomously.

He set the committees once in December, and now he’s doing it again.

If Hamer-Jackson felt, as it is clear he does, that council is not working with him or ganging up against him, this is one way he can try to balance the scales.

The move itself was far from tactful and will only serve to stoke tensions that are already high.

Three of the committee chairs were unceremoniously ousted without being told why, replaced by unelected members of the public now thrust into civic leadership roles.

In some cases, the mayor has chosen people whose ideas the voters very clearly rejected last October.

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James Peters is the radio anchor at CFJC, coming to Kamloops in 2006. He anchors the afternoon news on B-100 and 98.3 CIFM, and contributes weekly editorials to the CFJC Evening News. He tweets regularly @Jamloops.