LETTER – Power struggle going on in Kamloops City Hall is obvious

Only days ago I read in this space, “Acting CAO Byron McCorkell and civic operations director Jen Fretz had said banning access by council members after hours was necessary to ensure the safety of staff members.”

Let that sink in, particularly the after hours part. Only one council member has an office and therefore any reason to be in City Hall after hours, moreover, that office is next to a private exterior exit door directly in front of a personal parking stall, the only parking stall designated to any particular user at City Hall.

Being mayor has certain privileges — an office and personal parking stall are two of them, yet unelected administrators, out of towers, hired hands if you will, have literally announced that they are the gatekeepers and decision makers to City Hall and there’s no longer room for the two of them.

Who are we kidding here? This has zero effect on councillors as they don’t have offices in City Hall. Fretz is the face of this but it isn’t part of her domain, she doesn’t even have an office at City Hall and none of the staff she’s talking about are part of her department.

Clearly council are not running City Hall. I can’t imagine how any reasonable fair minded person can’t see the transparency of this power struggle. You may not support the mayor but this power grab by bureaucrats along with the leaking and other abuses can’t be sitting well with you, it certainly isn’t with me and I’m one of you.

What level of damage has the City incurred over the last month let alone 18? It’s one thing being the laughing stock but this is now causing real damage to our reputation — who would want to invest in our city with what’s happening within City Hall? How many years is this setting us back?

In a world where people are held accountable for their actions, Fretz and McCorkell would need to explain why they locked the mayor out, figuratively and literally from City Hall. Why was it necessary, under whose authority, for what purpose and why at night?

Additionally, why was it changed, if the rules were needed to be put in place then why the change of heart, what happened, who made this decision and why? Someone would need to explain, but alas, this isn’t the real world as eight adjudicators are silent.

If it wasn’t already, then certainly admin authority has now become an election issue. If Trawin, McCorkell and now Fretz are still employed by the City during the next election cycle then they should expect to be front and centre as targets to clean house along with all the members of council.

The irony is that this has happened on the eve of SILGA, where the host city’s contribution is Resolution 39, which asks the province to institute safeguards against bullying and harassment, obviously aimed at our mayor. Of course the mayor would embrace this resolution; if it is adopted then WorkSafe BC would be the adjudicators of an investigation rather than the Integrity Group.

If this resolution became law today then the mayor could initiate a strong complaint of this most recent harassment forcing McCorkell and Fretz to explain their actions without the protections of the “hateful eight.”

The mayor’s bread and butter is likability; one doesn’t work 40 years selling used vehicles in the same small town without knowing a thing or two about being charming, which isn’t a descriptor many people would use to describe O’Reilly, McCorkell or Fretz.

Not exactly Machiavellian, these actions are painfully obvious and need to be addressed sooner or later.

MAC GORDON

Editor’s Note: Councillors do have use of a single office in the hallway between the mayor’s office and the front lobby. Access to it is cut off from the mayor’s office when one of the doors is locked, so that the only way to get to it is through the front lobby when it’s open.