ROTHENBURGER – What the mayor’s lawsuit means to the functioning of City Hall

HOW CAN CITY COUNCIL possibly continue to function in the wake of not one, but two new developments this week involving Mayor Reid-Hamer Jackson’s rocky relationship with councillors?

That’s the question on many minds, but fear not. The sun will continue to rise in the mornings. In fact, I would contend things will settle down somewhat, at least for a while.

One of the week’s big headlines went to the mayor’s lawsuit against Coun. Katie Neustaeter, and the other to the handling of confidential personnel files by the mayor.

His civil claim contends that Neustaeter defamed him in a public statement she read on behalf of councillors at a media conference in March. It also refers to a separate situation involving discussions between Hamer-Jackson and former MLA Kevin Krueger (Neustaeter’s dad) about getting together for a meeting, and Neustaeter’s reaction to that.

Public response has been surprising. Or maybe not. It’s been mostly about taking sides with one party or the other rather than what the lawsuit is actually about. I’ll wager that few have actually read the statement of claim.

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Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.