LETTER – Setting the record straight on transparency and accountability
Kathrine Wunderlich talks with reporters outside City Hall last year. (Image: Mel Rothenburger)
Recent CFJC editorials by James Peters and Joey Jack have suggested that Kamloops Citizens United (KCU) should be more transparent about our fundraising: who our donors are and how much they’ve donated.
Fundraising is perfectly legal in Canada. People have every right to give money to anyone for any reason. This is how fundraising campaigns on platforms like GoFundMe, Kickstarter, or Indiegogo work. These platforms allow fundraising for personal causes, projects, or initiatives.
Nonprofit organizations are typically funded by citizens and members who believe in their cause, and KCU is no different. Take the AAP court challenge, for example. Thousands of Kamloops residents believe the city’s actions were underhanded and unfair, and many were utterly unaware that the AAP process even occurred. That is neither fair nor just.
Unfortunately, access to justice for the average person is often unattainable due to its exorbitant cost, particularly when faced with the endlessly deep pockets of taxpayer-funded opposing counsel.
As an organization, our primary focus remains to hold Kamloops City council accountable for its increasing spending, lack of transparency, and failure to engage meaningfully with residents. KCU is currently in the process of becoming a registered non-profit society. Our request for donations is to cover essential costs, including incorporation, the AAP court challenge, our website, and office materials.
Once KCU achieves non-profit status, financial records will be publicly available as the law requires. In the meantime, we are committed to transparency with our donors. Anyone who has contributed and wishes to review our financials is welcome to contact us directly. Additionally, anyone interested in supporting our cause is encouraged to reach out.
KCU has always been open and willing to engage with the public and has been consistent in our message. Over the past months, we have had many conversations—over countless cups of tea—with genuinely interested people, and we will continue to do so. We have freely shared our contact information, and we remain available to discuss these matters with anyone, including Mr. Peters and Mr. Jack.
We don’t expect everyone to agree with our position. Ultimately, though, we’re all in this together. Our goal is to help advance Kamloops in a fiscally responsible, transparent, and efficient way—ensuring the best use of tax dollars.
Unless citizens stand together, the saying “You can’t fight city hall” holds. KCU exists to unite and empower citizens to hold their elected officials accountable; requesting donations to help is part of that.
KCU receives messages daily from people concerned about the lack of transparency and accountability at city hall, encouraging us and joining with us in the fight for responsible and transparent governance.
It would be fantastic if our local media more fully scrutinized city hall’s financial decisions and worked to hold officials accountable for their actions. Until then, KCU is doing its best.
COLEY ECKER, KATHRINE WUNDERLICH,
Kamloops Citizens United
ArmchairMayor.ca 
Dropping off forms to people who say they were unaware of the AAP is not compelling evidence.
Are those same people following whatever news source is available at any given time to know what is happening in the City? Were they ardent news readers of the Kamloops This Week and suddenly stopped paying attention to TV, radio and internet sources about the City after KTW shut down?
Are they generally not following the news or engaged in the business of the City? How would you know one way or another unless you conducted scientific polling and studies?
The speculative math is nonsense.
Comments about support or non-support based on particular age groups is also nonsense without proper demographic polling.
The people costing the City money are the people bringing speculative petitions and conflict of interest complaints, resulting in added legal costs.
The City should continue to move forward with better amenities.
LikeLike
I look forward to seeing this accountability and responsibility when it’s time to pay the city’s legal bill too.
LikeLike
As if the city offloading to taxpayers the cost of defending it’s bad decisions in a court of law is a justification for having zero accountability for itself.
Almost like giving McCorkle a raise for the CSO debacle.
Sounds like you prefer allowing the city to continue making bad decisions and never having to account for it, even when those decision cost magnitudes more than a legal defense.
I bet there’s nothing you can’t convince yourself of.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Don’t let the organized media campaign against your group sway you. People in positions of power and privilege never like being challenged or held to account. The council shills at CFJC and other media outlets will do what they can to suppress what you’re doing.
Council is clearly struggling with how to respond to the new scrutiny. So is the city. One of the most laughable tactics was the recent decision to turn the in-house council meeting broadcast camera to the right, away from the highly paid CAO who has been documented displaying a proclivity for personal cell phone use and naps during meetings.
It tells you that the corporation is concerned with itself first, and the community sometime later. Rather than reprimand such behaviour from the highest earning employee at the city, the city decided to turn the camera in an attempt to hide the CAO from public scrutiny. Council calls segments of this community names in their text messages with each other.
I support your efforts to speak truth to power and ensure council’s slick and shadowy conduct is illuminated for all to see. You and others are providing an invaluable service to the community, and filling the vacuum left by most local media that refuse to do their jobs and critically examine council and report in an unbiased fashion.
Bruce Early
LikeLiked by 2 people
At my own expense, I paid to have some 200 sets of forms photocopied. I then took them to residences in the Westmount area and one store owner asked if some copies could be left at the business. Had the AAP been open and transparent, I wouldn’t have felt the need to do this nor would I have received all the positive comments about making people aware of this.
Only one person, in a residence north of Westmount Park, had a negative response. He told me, “For $25 a year, I don’t have to live in this sh**-hole. So, get to hell off my property!”
One out of 200 isn’t that bad, I suppose.
LikeLiked by 2 people
It’s really sad that the city allowed the misconception to continue that the PAC and rinks would only result in an increase of $25/year per taxpayer.
It’s also concerning that in addition to that $275,000,000 3-year loan, council is considering adding another $150,000,000 for a new police station and $50,000,000 for a new city hall.
This would bring Kamloops’ debt to $475,000,000. Debt servicing for this amount for 30 years would be at least $525,000,000.
Paying off a billion dollars over the life of the loans, divided by about 40,000 taxpayers, would result in a tax increase of $833/year for 30 years. Not sure that’s doable for many homeowners on top of “regular” tax increases.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for putting out those numbers, Bronwen.
A certain number of home owners who are senior citizens would have to get reverse mortgages or just sell their homes and live somewhere else.
Making (debt) decisions like the ones you’ve mentioned is foolhardy. Those levels of debt will cripple taxpayers for the next generation if not two generations. People who have worked all their lives and have a reality check about mortgages and long term debt see the writing on the wall.
Watching “Smiley” O’Reilly look out over the crowd of people who dare oppose this madness shows a volume of arrogance.
Young folks who perhaps comment on here that these things are great to have and “damn the torpedoes” might never see their dream of owning a home come true.
LikeLiked by 1 person