EDITORIAL – Why Mayor Hamer-Jackson should be at the UBCM convention

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

MOST MEMBERS of Kamloops City council are at the annual Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Vancouver. One of those who isn’t there is Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson.

He says he didn’t go because, as I understand it, he sees no point in it. Since he’s no longer the official spokesperson for the City, he has little sway in talking to other civic leaders or provincial politicians, he says.

Last night (Sept. 17, 2024), he told me via text: “I’m not the voice of the City. We have a deputy CAO, a deputy deputy CAO and 7 Deputy Mayors that have made themselves the voice of the City.”

He says at the last UBCM convention he was relegated to the background as councillors and staff met with various provincial ministers on Kamloops issues.

He also cited the costs of sending delegates to the annual conflab. For him, the bill would have been about $5,000 for travel and accommodations, he says. “It’s probably going to cost the taxpayers about 50 thousand dollars… Just hope they come back with huge success, but time will tell.”

There’s another aspect to attending under current circumstances, one he didn’t mention. Had he attended, he would have faced the prospect of being shunned by councillors and staff. Normally at these shindigs, delegates stick pretty closely to their fellow council members. They lunch and dine together. They go for drinks together. They attend workshops and meetings together, and sit together during debates on resolutions.

Not that Hamer-Jackson isn’t used to being excluded from the group, or that he isn’t tough enough to handle it, but five days at a convention wouldn’t be much fun when you get the cold shoulder from your colleagues.

But he should have gone anyway, and here’s why. UBCM is the most important of the conferences and conventions attended by civic politicians. Important policy decisions are made there via resolutions debated and passed by the one thousand delegates. Workshops, speeches, panel discussions, plenary sessions and the trade show are informative. The 15-minute speed-dating meetings with government ministers at the least allow civic and provincial politicians to put faces to names. Networking, while sometimes scoffed at as little more than cocktails and appies, provides opportunities for sharing experiences and ideas with politicians from other communities.

And the costs can be controlled. The first day of UBCM is typically dominated by less useful study sessions along with some schmoozing via meet ‘n’ greets and receptions. Stay home until Tuesday, be careful with costs, and the savings are substantial.

Hamer-Jackson under-estimates the importance of the mayor being at such things. Regardless of the sanctions against him, UBCM is a chance for him to meet a lot of people on his own, sit in on those meetings with ministers to stay informed on developments, benefit from informational sessions, use his vote to support Kamloops resolutions, and not leave the media exposure to councillors and their grinning social media photo ops.

People still expect Hamer-Jackson to be a presence as their mayor. He should be there.

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.