EDITORIAL – Kamloops City Council finds a new way to stifle the public
(Image: Mel Rothenburger)
An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.
IF NOTHING ELSE, Kamloops City council is very skilled at coming up with new ways to stifle the public. It’s also excellent at doing what administration tells it to do.
The newest example is an about-face on the council’s new Code of Conduct — which was only recently approved, unanimously — because members of the public are taking it at its word and using it to file complaints about council and staff behaviour.
Under the Code of Conduct bylaw, anyone can file a complaint, and an independent investigator is hired to look at it, which could lead to sanctions.
But, according to CAO David Trawin, some complaints are “frivolous, vexatious, not made in good faith,” and so on.
Complaints, he says, require considerable time and cost to deal with. Part of his answer is for certain complaints to be referred to council to decide whether they’re legit and should be investigated, or be “summarily dismissed.”
But there’s more. Not only will the vetting of complaints by council be an option, but they will only be considered if they come from members of council itself, or staff.
Certainly, some complaints from the public would be little more than gripes against council but, surely, they can easily be distinguished from those that are legitimately based on breaches of the Code of Conduct, which is pretty specific.
Several councillors insisted the public can still complain directly to councillors but that’s hardly an independent process, and carries no sanctions. And going through the B.C. Ombudsperson isn’t a good alternative.
Since the new Code was adopted in May, six complaints have been received. Seems Trawin was awfully fast asking for the Code to be changed.
Naturally, though, the Team of Eight jumped in to give the changes three readings. According to Coun. Kelly Hall, Trawin’s request is “a small amendment.”
No, it’s not small. It’s serious. Democracy is complicated, and it can be expensive. But it’s worth doing right.
I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.
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.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
Nothing suprises me anymore.
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Council has shown time & time again that it’s full support will always go to the CAO’s office over the needs of the citizens. Let’s end this charade and just give council the next three years off and hand the keys to Trawin. I’m so tired of this.
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Imagine that! Trawin “concerned” about costs. Notwithstanding the latest bungle in regards to the arbitrator report on the Bylaw thing which is going to cost us a few hundreds if not more, the Trawin should be seriously questioned over the ongoing costly procurement practices which have costed the taxpayers a lot more than fair market prices. Trawin is NOT concerned about costs. He is concerned with having to face scrutiny over his managerial decisions.
That council sides with him is an abdication of reason and objectivity on council’s part.
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How does Trawin determine that complaints are vexatious, frivolous and not made in good faith if no investigation of the complaint occurs?
If you have the sole authority to summarily dismiss a complaint, this is not a fair and open process, and is easily abused by those avoiding accountability.
Are they really this tone deaf? No one trusts an organization that investigates itself. This is the most obvious conflict of interest.
Council says you can contact them directly with a complaint. That process didn’t work with the TNRD spending and whistleblower scandal, with Chair refusing to step down or take any kind of accountability. Eventually, even the Armchair had to publicly call out the TNRD Chair for his stance on the whole fiasco. It doesn’t work with Council either.
Ask the public how many replies they’ve received when contacting Council with concerns or complaints? If you do get a response, it will be a couple words, maybe a vague reference to the fact they are concerned, but nothing happens. The only ones I’ve noted that are committed to replying to most, if not all emails, are the Mayor and one other councillor. Whatever differences exist, that is something I can respect.
What is the ratio of emails to replies? Per councillor? That would make for an interesting FOI, Armchair. Let’s see if they walk the walk after they talk the talk.
Of course, it’s at the personal risk of going broke by engaging with a public entity with FOI that attempts to stifle public input at every corner.
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Why is Trawin being paid $300K (which is far more than executive leadership salaries at provincial ministries and for top elected officials which run far more complex organizations), to stifle taxpayers?
Trawin states that the expenses related to investigating complaints are high. Has he ever expressed concerns about the expense of his own salary? I doubt it. You see, expenses relating to holding this bunch accountable is a problem. But expenses relating to salaries, dining out, alcohol and such are of no issue.
These people have some nerve. They quickly forget who they work for.
Kelly Hall is happy to shield himself from the very process that was intended to hold Council accountable. Of course they’re supportive.
Kamloops City Council
“To Protect and Serve Ourselves”
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Mr. Trawin stated the main reason to shut the public out from holding Council accountable was the cost of investigation–possibly as high as $5000/complaint. Even so, at an average (so far) of two complaints/month, this would come to $120,000/year. Pocket change for the City. If City Hall is worried about the cost of accountability, the councillors should never have been allowed to defame the mayor with their March 17th statement. Coun. Neustaeter’s legal costs are likely to cost the taxpayer many magnitudes of $120,000. The cheapest option by far would be for Council to abide by its own Code of Conduct.
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“If we want to hear from the public, we’ll have an election”.
Give it time, give it time…………
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