LETTER – The Kamloops City council has done it again
(Image: Mel Rothenburger)
In the most outrageous misuse of a legal loophole yet, Kamloops City Council has approved the use of the Alternate Approval Process (AAP) to finance over $200 million in new borrowing, pushing the city’s long-term debt to half a billion dollars.
This decision flies in the face of both public trust and judicial warning. In a recent case, Justice Groves of the B.C. Supreme Court cautioned that the City should be aware that many citizens were deeply critical of its use of the AAP to finance major projects. Despite that clear warning, Council has once again chosen to sidestep democracy and avoid a public referendum, the very process meant to give taxpayers a direct voice in such monumental financial decisions.
Rather than respecting their limited four-year mandate, this Council has opted to dictate long-term borrowing that future generations will be forced to repay. This is not responsible governance, it is political arrogance.
The Kamloops Voters Society will be spearheading a petition campaign to challenge this reckless approach and demand accountability from Councillors Sarai, O’Reilly, Middleton, Karpuk, Bass, and Bepple.
It’s time for the people of Kamloops to send a clear message:
Backroom borrowing and undemocratic loopholes have no place in our city.
Democracy means asking , not dictating.
GARRY DAVIES
Kamloops
EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to the postal strike, Council voted Tuesday to put off authorizing the four latest APPs until the new year.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
I appreciate Mr. Mels editor note, and I would direct others to read it.
I immediately researched this ‘decision’.
The details.
On Oct 7 (yesterday) Council discussed the ‘$200million AAP’, and there was no vote on it. It was postponed.
Council voted in favour to have city staff bring back the AAP recommendation at the end of the postal strike, and depending on when the strike ends, the decision could be postponed until January to avoid the holiday season.
In other words, there is no vote, no approval, and no decision on this at all.
I appreciate that Mr. Davies may have been mistaken on the details, or submitted the letter to the editor prior to the Council meeting, which seems odd.
Clearly, Council need to ‘read the city sized room’ regarding AAP’s as a whole, and even though the message needs to be sent, accuracy in reporting matters. Incorrect headlines might not serve the The Kamloops Voters Society well.
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While I feel sympathetic to the voters paying attention to this gross mismanagement and abuse of processes to loot the purse of the taxpayers in Kamloops, at this point I almost feel like encouraging the actions of council, so that the enablers and apathetic voters feel the full weight of council decisions to spend far beyond their means via the slimiest method to gain “approval”. Let’s be honest – most voters don’t know or don’t care. So let them eat their cake.
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What I find weird about this is that in December 2022, a new RCMP station was one of the two main concerns noted in city council’s Development and Sustainability Committee meeting minutes.
After the councillors’ March /23 grandstand event at city hall, they cancelled the Development Committee and created Build Kamloops. Suddenly, a new RCMP station was completely off the table in favour of a PAC and (as an afterthought) a rink multiplex.
Now, a new RCMP station apparently must be funded immediately. My question is, If the RCMP station could be put off for almost three years in favour of city recreation, then why can’t we wait one more year and have it as a referendum question at the same time the October/26 civic elections are held?
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It is not only debt that needs intense scrutiny. The short term disposability that management endorse is also in need of much scrutiny. It is utterly frustrating to see council operating.
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