WALSH – The double standard of who gets to say what in council meetings

IS COUN. KARPUK working too hard to impress his ‘gang of eight’ or is he simply lacking decorum?

This is the second time in the past few weeks he has embarrassed himself and Kamloops council while trying to publicly shame the mayor.

Last week, he accused Mayor Hamer-Jackson of making a fart joke “in front of 230 people” only to have the actual jokester, the president of CHBA, admit he was the one at the podium. How did Karpuk confuse the mayor with someone else?

Even his apology was tainted. He publicly admitted his harmful accusations were wrong and inappropriate but then claimed his emotions were “hijacked.” Hijacked by whom? As one taxpayer put it, “It seems one of the first things many politicians learn, perhaps during their initial orientation session, is the technique of never taking personal responsibility or admitting a mistake.”

Karpuk is following this formula, implying it’s the mayor’s fault for driving him to it. He admitted he’s easily triggered. I’m inclined to think he needs to either reassess his role on council or get some form of counselling to learn to become more aware of his challenges in managing his emotions.

At council’s May 30 public meeting, Karpuk accused the mayor of not signing two documents and repeatedly badgered him about it. The mayor maintained he had never seen those documents.

As with “Fartgate,” Karpuk refused to believe the mayor’s claims of innocence. Then it turned out that due to a glitch at City Hall the two documents had bypassed the mayor’s desk and been given to Karpuk to sign in his position as deputy mayor. It wasn’t the mayor’s fault at all. Karpuk did not apologize at that time.

I find it perplexing that chief administrative officer (CAO) Trawin didn’t intervene to stop these unfounded public attacks.

Even if the mayor had been to blame, Karpuk’s inappropriate and emotional public outbursts are unacceptable. The Code of Conduct for Council, a document that City administrators wrote and Karpuk approved, is supposed to put a stop to such nonsense. It specifically states, “A Member shall treat other Members, Staff and Volunteers with respect and dignity.”

There are penalties and policies in place to ensure this. One of the legal Charter duties of the CAO is “ensuring that the policies, programs and other directions of the council are implemented.” This includes the Code of Conduct, but the level of disrespect the mayor must endure at every public meeting is shameful.

Talk about “crossing personal boundaries” and double standards. Can you imagine the outcry if the mayor had falsely accused a councillor? Or if a councillor had gone off on a City staffer like that?

When the gallery applauded a presenter at public inquiries, our chief administrators were quick to invoke the Civil Discourse Statement to squelch such behaviour, but sat silent when Karpuk railed at the mayor, not even intervening to allow the mayor to defend himself. Are they part of the problem?

It is appalling that Coun. Karpuk doubled down when the mayor reported that he’d received complaints from citizens regarding frustration with investigations not being launched into complaints and alleging some community service officers (CSOs) had bad attitudes. Mayor Hamer-Jackson suggested there be a non-partisan third party appointed to review complaints, as they can get complex.

In a mis-interpretation of what was actually said, Coun. Karpuk attacked the mayor again, saying his remarks were “derogatory” and “negative.” Coun. Sarai then took up the baton and accused the mayor of being disrespectful to staff. They both repeated their embellished narrative in the media, with Karpuk saying he stands by criticism he levelled at the mayor.

Somehow, Sarai and Karpuk think it’s OK to publicly accuse the mayor but not OK for the mayor to raise public concerns about staff.

Why the apparent double standard despite clear and mandatory rules of behaviour set by the Community Charter and Code of Conduct regarding ethical standards for elected officials? Why didn’t CAO Trawin or a concerned councillor intervene to stop these highly disrespectful public attacks?

City administration is supposed to be helpful, knowledgeable in all municipal regulations and procedures, and above all, neutral. At the least, they need to let members of council know when they are about to go over the guardrails.

Denis Walsh is a former three-term Kamloops City councillor. He chose not to run again in 2022, convinced that City councillors should step aside after a maximum of three terms to allow others to serve and to experience being on the “outside looking in.”