ROTHENBURGER – What the mayor’s news conference was really all about

NICELY PLAYED. Not only did he not resign, but Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson says he’ll run in the next mayoral election.

Some media have their shirts in a knot because Hamer-Jackson texted them last week with an invitation to a press conference at the Columbia Street lookout about “resignation consideration.” He somehow didn’t quite live up to their expectations of what was going to be said today. One reporter called it “bait and switch.” Another said it was “pretense.” Another, “a stunt.”

Well, it’s true he didn’t resign and has never seriously considered it, but if they’d thought carefully about the “consideration” word they wouldn’t have been so surprised or offended. And he did address the resignation issue with his vow to remain in office and run again.

“Whether to resign isn’t a decision I take lightly,” he said.

“I thought long and hard about my past 22 months as the mayor. My wife, my family, friends and members of the general public have weighed in. I’ve been under fire prior to day one.”

He went on to say that most if not all of his motions — “intended to contribute to a safer community and more fiscally responsible City Hall” — have been voted down by the council.

“It’s frustrating to deal with allegation after allegation and then be muffled by council when I tried to set the record straight with the truth,” he added.

I was wrong with my prediction that he’d challenge the eight councillors to resign along with him and run in a byelection but I can’t be right a hundred percent of the time, can I?

“After much consideration I’ve decided I must stay on as mayor and run in the next municipal election,” he announced.

So now everyone can stop asking him about the calls from council for his resignation.

The event, though, was quite smart — he had the “floor” all to himself in front of 50 or so supporters and a gaggle of media, without interruptions from councillors or City staff. Not only has he led all the news reports for the day, but he’s trending on social media as well.

His supporters shouted “council must go,” “re-elect Reid,” and carried signs that said, ‘City council needs to resign not the mayor,’ ‘Our mayor has integrity,’ and ‘Keep it fair If Mayor Reid is to resign then so should the City council resign.’

While much of his campaign-style speech, which he read from a prepared script, was about his priorities as mayor, there were some interesting asides. One was his hint that a group of RHJ supporters is looking at running for council seats in 2026. Another was that he was physically assaulted. He wouldn’t give details of what happened, only that it occurred last month, and that RCMP are investigating.

There was a bit of an unfortunate incident involving CHNL talk-show host Brett Mineer when the mayor asked him to “step back” so a video journalist behind him with a camera could get closer. As Mineer stood his ground, the mayor fired a few unpleasantries at him including an invitation to leave, and members of the crowd joined in asking him to step back, then chanted “Brett, go home! Brett go home!”

Although it was no doubt unsettling for Mineer (he said later he was “rattled” and had dry mouth the rest of the day), he can relax. There was never any hint he was in jeopardy from the crowd. This was not a mob.

Nevertheless, the mayor has now been declared persona non grata at the station unless he apologizes.

Hamer-Jackson should know better than to keep getting into it with Mineer. As I’ve said before, these are two people who shouldn’t talk to each other, ever. At least, treat him the same as any other reporter regardless of their obvious animosity for each other. Stop singling him out for snide remarks — the incident with Mineer was out of place.

(By the way, Mineer doesn’t seem to like the fact that some people took pictures of him. I wasn’t one, but as I was talking to the mayor before things got started, Mineer suddenly appeared, took a photo of us, and quickly walked away. I don’t know why he wanted the photo, and don’t really care. I didn’t feel intimidated.)

Here’s what’s really interesting about the whole exercise, though. By calling a press conference and getting a large number of supporters to show up, along with all kinds of media, Hamer-Jackson has signalled a new way of doing things.

Instead of futile attempts to pursue his priorities within City Hall and in front of council, he’s taking his message straight to the public and media (as much as he often complains about the way he’s treated by the latter). As he said during the scrum after his speech, “I can do a lot of stuff without putting a motion forward to council.”

His strategy now seems to be to rebuild the momentum with the public that he enjoyed leading up to election day. Council long ago decided to ignore the mayor and work without him; now, the mayor has apparently decided to bypass the council.

So here’s another prediction: there will be more events like the one today.

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, and a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. 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.