CITY HALL – Mayor, councillors clash again as he’s removed as chair of meeting

Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson was removed as chair of today’s Kamloops City council meeting during a raucous conclusion to the session that included a brief walkout by councillors.

Three hours into an otherwise uneventful meeting (the first under a new morning schedule), Hamer-Jackson began his mayor’s report and things soon started falling apart.

His comments began benignly enough with a reference to last week’s report from provincially appointed advisor Henry Braun as well as to his own intentions.

Hamer-Jackson said he plans to remain as mayor and to continue to pursue the goals of community safety and accountability that he ran on in the 2022 election. “… If I have offended anyone during my time in office to date it was not my intention,” he said, adding he’ll take some time to digest the Braun report and will make further comments later.

In the meantime, he said, he’ll continue to ask questions. It was about then that things went off the rails when he mentioned — as he’s done several times in recent weeks — an allegation against him that he threatened to fire CAO David Trawin. The mayor denies that allegation and points to an email or text from Trawin he says confirms it didn’t happen.

Coun. Karpuk raised a point of order and “challenged the chair” to boot, a rules-of-order provision under which a ruling of the chair can be challenged by councillors. In an unusual addendum, Karpuk demanded Hamer-Jackson be removed as chair of the meeting, then called a vote on it himself.

Councillors concurred, and Deputy Mayor Kelly Hall took over as chair for the rest of the meeting. But when it came Karpuk’s turn under councillors’ reports, he cited the section of the Community Charter under which a member can challenge the chair, saying he was “not really happy I had to do it.”

Neither were some members of the public gallery, who began noisily objecting to what had happened. There were calls from staff to turn off the microphones and the eight councillors walked out. Hamer-Jackson and staff members remained in chambers.

Two minutes later the councillors were back but it didn’t end there. When Hall asked for approval of a motion to move in camera as per the agenda, Hamer-Jackson wanted to know if the closed-door meeting involved him.

Once again he was interrupted by councillors saying details of a closed-door agenda couldn’t be discussed in public.

And thus ended another eventful meeting of the Kamloops City council.

— Mel Rothenburger.

MORE TO COME