ROTHENBURGER – Mayor puts on an unmayoral performance at meeting

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

IF REID HAMER-JACKSON learns just one thing between now and the end of his term as mayor, let it be that he understands when he has won.

During today’s (Nov. 4, 2025) City council meeting, Hamer-Jackson once again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Despite himself, he managed to get his proposal to lobby the Province for an independent external ‘performance’ audit of shelters approved by council.

He should have celebrated that. Instead, pouting over amendments made by councillors, he ended up voting against the motion he presented, albeit slightly altered, and made it clear he won’t co-operate with council’s safety and security committee to polish up a letter to Premier David Eby and various cabinet ministers.

The motion reflected some of his previous attempts to push for an audit of BC Housing’s shelters. It was critical of BC Housing’s failure to deliver on housing stability, recovery and community safety. An audit, including shelters and supportive facilities operated by non-profit social service agencies, would look at safety and emergency call data and recommend improvements.

SEE ALSO: REID ALL ABOUT IT – Independent performance audit of shelters is needed

The trouble started when Coun. Nancy Bepple nitpicked over his description of the shelters as “harm reduction-drug housing facilities.” She wanted the reference to “drug housing” removed, explaining she found it disrespectful to “some of the most vulnerable people in our community.”

Shouldn’t have been a big deal, but the mayor exploded, lecturing Bepple about how she should talk to street people and if she did she’d know that those who use the shelters call them drug housing.

But Bepple made an amending motion to remove the two words.

Coun. Katie Neustaeter supported the amendment, saying the mayor’s objective would have a better chance without using “drug housing” when writing to the provincial government.

Which drew another rebuke from Hamer-Jackson, who said he’s been talking to street people for 10 years.

Which prompted Coun. Dale Bass to comment, “You need to stop saying you’re the only person who ever stepped into a shelter.”

Bill Sarai tried to mediate, suggesting the mayor just allow councillors to have their say. He and Neustaeter both supported the mayor’s intent.

Bepple’s amendment passed, and so did one from Coun. Mike O’Reilly, who wanted a clause removed that appointed Hamer-Jackson to lead the effort to convince the Province to do the audit. It should be a team effort, he said, so proposed that the mayor work with the security and safety committee on the proposal.

That inflamed Hamer-Jackson even more. Coun. Kelly Hall threw gas on the flames by saying he didn’t believe the mayor should take the lead on trying to get the audit. “Unfortunately I don’t see you as our spokesperson,” he said. “Seeing your reaction today plus code of conduct violations I just can’t support the fact that this guy can lead us down at the Province.”

But O’Reilly’s amendment was approved, along with a later broadening of the audit proposal to include BC Housing programs in general. So was the main motion as amended, though Hamer-Jackson voted against it.

It’s impossible to properly sum up two and a half hours of unproductive bickering in this space but suffice it to say the mayor was so defensive, so unwilling to compromise or at least respectfully disagree with the changes, that he came out looking plain bad. Especially when he said he had no intention of working with the committee. “Are you kidding me?” he said of that idea.

He forgot what he was trying to accomplish, instead getting hung up on details. None of the changes was contrary to his purpose.

This council, which so often has refused to listen to anything Hamer-Jackson has to say, genuinely tried to work with him on this one. That is, with the exception of Hall, who doesn’t know when to just keep quiet.

Hamer-Jackson is so conditioned to unpleasant confrontations with the councillors that he couldn’t bring himself to settle down and accept that motions are open to amendment, or to realize that he was getting almost everything he wanted.

On this day, he wanted it all. It was all or nothing. Amazingly, in spite of his obstinate performance, council still gave him 90 per cent of what he wanted.

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.