BEPPLE – After a turbulent week, a hope for a return to normalcy at City Hall

JUST WHEN NORMALCY seems to return at City Hall, things go off the rails again.

On Tuesday, City of Kamloops council finished our meeting in two hours. In years past, this wouldn’t have been anything of note, but this week it garnered a comment from local media James Peters who quipped on Twitter “#Kamloops council meeting adjourns a tidy two hours after it begins. Well done to everyone involved.”

On Tuesday, things appeared to be going smoothly.

Housing applications in the form of development variances, development permits and reasoning applications were approved for new housing units all across Kamloops. Whatever the Province’s concerns are about housing in Kamloops, council is supporting requests from builders who want to build single family, multi-family and mixed used buildings in Kamloops.

The highlight for me of the Tuesday meeting was the establishment of the Active Transportation Engagement Group. This group, which will be made up of community groups such as Kamloops Cycling Coalition and People in Motion, as well as individuals, will bring forward recommendations on how to improve transportation in Kamloops for cyclists, pedestrians, mobility device users, and transit users. It will focus on making it easier to get around Kamloops without a private vehicle so that more people can choose an active transportation option.

At the council meeting, there was even mention that the long anticipated strategic plan for City council should be launched next week. The plan is a road map for what the council wants to accomplish over the next four years. More importantly, it lays out a vision of where council wants the city to go. The plan will lead directly to operational plans, budgets, and projects. The plan will make Kamloops a better place to be for all community members.

But by Thursday, the accomplishments of Tuesday had been forgotten. Thursday there was an announcement that Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson is suing Coun. Katie Neustaeter for defamation and libel.

He cited on local media her reading a statement from all of council, at a press conference where all eight council members were present. The statement was regarding the reaction of all eight councillors to the mayor’s removal of some council members from standing committees and his appointing of public members to the same committees without an open, public process, or governance policies in place.

In short order, before Thursday was over, there was also news that the B.C. Office of Information and Privacy Commissioner has opened a file on Mayor Hamer-Jackson’s handling of confidential personnel files of City employees.

Whatever was accomplished Tuesday on housing, transportation and other issues has been forgotten in the fallout of the turmoil of Thursday.

Next week, when the strategic plan is to be launched, I hope there will be a return to normalcy, a return to calmer waters, if only briefly. The strategic plan was created by all of council. Mayor and councillors agreed unanimously to what we want to accomplish over the next four years. Council all agreed, and so, I’m hopeful we can work together to get it done.

There will be other bumps in the road, but hopefully, the strategic plan will keep City council moving in the right direction. The strategic plan will hopefully ensure Kamloops City Council can move forward together in improving Kamloops for all its community members.

Nancy Bepple is a Kamloops City councillor with a strong interest in community building projects.