EDITORIAL – Prediction about the failure of Braun report is coming true

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

EARLIER THIS MONTH, when provincially appointed advisor Henry Braun delivered his report to Kamloops City council, I wrote that it would make things worse, not better.

That opinion was at odds with the mainstream media and a lot of detractors of the mayor who focused on its strong criticism of Reid Hamer-Jackson. I said it was so one-sided that it would provide no incentive for councillors to mend fences; instead, it would give them ammunition to carry on the feud with the mayor.

I was right. In the wake of his report, councillors have become emboldened, first demanding he resign, then removing him as chair of the next regular meeting, and wasting no opportunity to snipe at him both at the council table and away from it, claiming he’s the dysfunctional one, not them.

Coun. Kelly Hall is this month’s leader of the opposition. In a column that was ostensibly about all the things council has achieved, he could not resist taking a cheap shot at Hamer-Jackson. “While it is true we have a ‘dysfunctional’ mayor — as reported in the Braun municipal report — who likes to climb around the river banks and tell you about it,” he wrote, the rest of council has everything in hand, leadership-wise.

Hamer-Jackson, of course, is known for making a point of connecting with the homeless and drug-addicted on their own turf in order to promote their welfare. Now, apparently, that’s not a good thing.

Hall was at it again today. At the council meeting, he demanded to know Hamer-Jackson’s intentions regarding Braun’s report. There followed a nasty little exchange, which included a reading of Braun’s recommendations by corporate officer Maria Mazzotta, and a warning from Hall that councillors “will be exploring” sanctions against Hamer-Jackson that include loss of pay.

Hall should have known that such a threat wouldn’t daunt the mayor, who replied that he wasn’t in the job for the money.

Hamer-Jackson, though, virtually invited today’s confrontation by reiterating his complaints about the Braun report — which he believes left out a lot of important information — and raising yet again his insistence that Coun. Katie Neustaeter and CAO David Trawin have to “step forward.”

He really should stop that; it gets him nothing. He doesn’t need to wade into the fray, and his constant references to his grievances with councillors and staff simply re-inforce the impression that he’s stuck in the past. He needs to move on.

Councillors, of course, should put a sock in it, too. Every time they attack him, he looks better. And every time they and the mayor duke it out, the City looks worse.

Sadly, there’s less hope than ever of a détente, and Henry Braun is to thank for that.

Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, 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.