CITY HALL – Trawin won’t be back; blame put on Mayor Hamer-Jackson
David Trawin (City of Kamloops)
David Trawin won’t be returning to his job as chief administrative officer of the City, and Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson is getting the blame. This afternoon (July 31, 2025), City Hall released the following statement, which included no attribution and came with the comment that “no further information will be released”:
The City of Kamloops wishes to inform the public that David Trawin is no longer an employee of the City of Kamloops, effective June 30, 2025, following a lengthy leave of absence.
David was a dedicated employee at the City, serving as the Director of Development and Engineering Services (as it was then known) from 2003 until he was appointed to Chief Administrative Officer in May 2012. David led the organization through many challenging situations, including COVID-19, and continuously supported and encouraged staff to make Kamloops shine through exceptional service delivery. He led the development of the organization’s first corporate strategic plan, advanced important initiatives like Truth and Reconciliation and equity, diversity, and inclusion, and led the charge on prioritizing and de-stigmatizing employee mental health.
David took leave from the organization in March 2024. The reason for ending his employment with the City is the fact that Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson:
a) made his continued employment with the City unsustainable and untenable; and
b) negatively or adversely impacted him on both a professional and personal level.
The City wishes David all the best in his future. To respect his privacy, no further information will be released about this decision. Byron McCorkell will continue in the Chief Administrative Officer role and we are grateful to Byron for his commitment and good work to date.
The news release concludes with comments about Hamer-Jackson’s “ongoing mistreatment of City staff” and measures taken by councillors.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
Mr. Trawin
Was sadden to read you have ended your two decades with the City. I retired to Kamloops about the same time you started your Kamloops career. Our paths crossed almost immediately. Although not always on the same page, your conduct was always kind, professional and non-threatening. We were together to solve a problem not to extract a “pound of flesh”.
And a big THKS for assigning me a baby sitter when I needed help to navigate a particular thorny problem.
Congratulations on a job well done and all the best as you embark on this new adventure.
Bob Gamble
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I’m still wondering who is the mysterious “third party” that will supposedly be paying taxpayers back for the $200,000+ paid to Trawin while on leave.
I’m also fervently hoping that the city will conduct a proper national search for a replacement CAO instead of what seems to be a pattern of promoting people from within. Kamloops needs fresh eyes and a qualified, top manager with at least an MBA to run the corporation to the benefit of taxpayers.
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Not one word of support for a guy who just had his business office violently trashed. They could hardly wait to dump blame on him for the senior manager going on medical leave.
What response would there have been if the business office of a councillor would have been ransacked??? I suppose the Mayor wasn’t invited to the original photo op with the gang.
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Lord McCorkell running the borough as if it was circa 1000 AD needs to follow in Trawin’s footsteps to liberate the parochial mentality permeating every nook and cranny of said borough. I have seen a lot of stupid stuff coming out of City Hall over the years but this one tops them all.
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These comments from council are very unprofessional. My belief is that we don’t really know a lot about this situation between higher level staff and the mayor. There did seem to be a reluctance to change from staff and there was obvious refusal to work with the newly elected mayor.
I would not have believed that three local governmental organization could have 3 abuse accusations against senior levels of staff or government. First the TNRD against CAO Sukh Gill, then high level city staffers against the Mayor and now SD73 employees against their previous Superintendent. What would be the chance before the regional district’s accusation, that one would place on the 3 local governments in Kamloops placing abuse accusations against senior levels, either staff or the mayor, in less that 3 years.
Did one level of government pick the abuse accusation trend from the other?
John Sternig
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So now we have a libel suite to look forward to, great that’s all we need. This has to be the dumbest thing I’ve heard come out of city hall. Whoever is responsible needs to be immediately suspended pending an investigation by a neutral outside source who has no previous experience with this current council.
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Trawin’s silence when leaving his job may reflects a mix of professionalism, legal constraints, personal choice, or lack of direct involvement in the City’s statement. Is there a severence package?
The accusations against Hamer-Jackson appear as innuendo because they lack specific evidence, rely on vague language, and are shielded by a privacy excuse, potentially serving a political agenda.
While the story is newsworthy due to its high-profile nature, its reliance on unbacked claims undermines its credibility, since such comments require facts to be taken seriously. The absence of Trawin’s own voice further weakens the narrative, leaving the public with more questions than answers.
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Wow!! I cannot freaking believe that someone would compose this piece of garbage and that the City would actually release it to the public!! A notice saying that Trawin will not be returning, articulating all the wonderful things he did and wishing him well would certainly have sufficed. Dumping on the Mayor was totally unnecessary and incredibly without class. Enough already!!
The portion of the release that Mel didn’t include, but that reiterated all the wonderful steps that City Council has taken to ostracize the mayor and “protect staff” was completely self congratulatory. And irrelevant to an update on Trawin. Bunch of classless losers!!
“The City of Kamloops” cannot compose anything. I’m curious, is there a way of finding out who actually wrote this tasteless pile of trash? I assume it was approved by our wonderful City Council. Which clearly Hamer-Jackson is not considered a part of.
By focusing so much on Hamer-Jackson’s failings, this notice actually takes away from the congratulatory send-off to Trawin.
I didn’t vote for the man, but I’m sick to death of the constant vitriol against him!!
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I 100% believe that. I expect he will lay waste to more before his time is up.
RHJ is the one who should be leaving!
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