CITY HALL – Councillors say they ‘have utmost confidence’ in McCorkell
A statement today from City Hall identified as being on behalf of “councillors and the City” strikes back at Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson’s suspension of deputy CAO Byron McCorkell. Here’s the statement, including the headline at the top:
Councillors and City Do Not Support Mayor’s Suspension of Acting CAO, Byron McCorkell
Kamloops, BC—City councillors and the City are informing the public that they do not support the suspension of acting CAO, Byron McCorkell.
In deciding to suspend acting CAO McCorkell summarily, Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson acted unilaterally and without prior consultation with the rest of City Council. He provided no grounds or justification for his surprise suspension of the acting CAO and has provided no such explanation to date.
Council has the authority to overturn the Mayor’s decision to suspend and return acting CAO McCorkell to active duty with immediate effect.
Council will be meeting in the afternoon tomorrow, Thursday, March 28, 2024, to consider the Mayor’s actions and review his decision to suspend.
Council would act more quickly but this is the earliest meeting date that can be arranged in light of requirements and timelines under the law.
With the exception of the Mayor, all City councillors continue to have the utmost confidence in acting CAO McCorkell. He has worked loyally and diligently for the City for more than 25 years, serving the public energetically and enthusiastically and always putting the City’s best interests ahead of his own.
On a related note, the Mayor appears to have disclosed personal information of acting CAO McCorkell in breach of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. This privacy breach has been reported to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
I think all of the council and the mayor need to go. They are never going to work together. They are wasting tax payer money with the constant fighting. Global News likened Kamloops to a reality show on air tonight. We need a new election.The sooner the better.
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This may be the time for a risk assessment regarding conflict of interest for some of the Councillors who are planning to be part of the special meeting and vote.
Of note would be those who have family members who are employees of the City. For each of these family members, the acting CAO is “their superior”. A vote, either way, may be seen to have possible repercussions for those employees.
The public should respectfully ask each Councillor to declare if a family member is an employee of the City. If that situation exists, then I believe there is an obligation for that Councillor to declare a conflict and recuse himself or herself from this meeting.
This includes Deputy Mayor Mike O’Reilly.
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After the CAO seems to have refused to investigate further into numerous breaches of the privacy act that worked to discredit the mayor, it is beyond belief that city hall is now concerned about a breach of privacy. One rule for the mayor and another for everyone else?
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Besides, isn’t Coun. O’Reilly’s announcement of what the closed meeting decision will be (before it even happens!) also a breach of privacy?
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The thing with the McCorkell’s organization is never truly been about fairness and accountability. A long overdue cross-connection control bylaw, ongoing unfairness in procurement practices, the old Village hotel murky deal and of course the current state of affairs at City Hall, just to name a few, are predicaments fully own by him.
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