ROTHENBURGER – What was really behind the latest microphone fracas

WAS A TIME when Kamloops City councils operated under established rules of order. Nowadays, depending on the occasion, rules of order are just a suggestion.

The rationale for Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson’s microphone being cut off as this past Tuesday’s council meeting neared the end is that it was necessary to prevent him from disclosing confidential information.

But he didn’t disclose any confidential information and there’s no indication he was going to. In his mayor’s report — a regular item on council agendas — he complained about his microphone being cut off in the past and asked that it stop.

Putting the blame on corporate officer Maria Mazzotta, he noted that B.C.’s Community Charter gives him the authority to suspend City employees if he deems it necessary. That foolish remark was the real catalyst that led to a renewed cry to cut off his mike (by the way, I prefer that spelling to the alternative ‘mic,’ which tempts the brain to mispronounce it).

Hamer-Jackson has a way of sinking himself, and this was one of them. Though he says he had no intention of suspending Mazzotta, it was bound to inflame things, especially given that previous unfortunate business with CAO Byron McCorkell.

The reference to the authority to suspend employees is, in the opinion of this observer, what knocked everything off the rails. Coun. Katie Neustaeter broke in (the mayor was technically correct in trying to rule her out of order because he hadn’t put her on the speakers’ list, but why bother) demanding to know if the mayor was threatening employees in a public meeting.

(As a bit of trivia, and I show my age by remembering this, a Kamloops council some 35 years ago forced its CAO to read out in a public meeting the legislation that gave it the power to fire him, then fired him.)

Anyway, Hamer-Jackson attempted to get to his actual point, which is that one of the previous occasions of having his mike silenced occurred when he tried to ask councillors to tell him what they’d said (the “dialogue,” as he called it) to various investigators looking into his behaviour.

That’s when the call went out to cut off his mike…. again. Which happened instantaneously. Those watching on Zoom saw a message pop up that the meeting had been recessed; a few seconds later, another one saying the host had ended the session. Councillors filed out.

A few things about this are odd. Complaining about your microphone being cut off is not a breach of confidentiality. The existence of investigative reports about the mayor is not confidential. One of them was released in full to the public, and bits and pieces of others were leaked.

The mayor didn’t break any confidences there. Indeed, he professes not to know much about most of the reports since he’s never been provided with copies.

If not for his unfortunate reference to suspending employees, the matter probably would have concluded with nobody responding to his information request, and the meeting would have ended in the usual manner.

But with the call for his microphone to be cut off, the meeting was terminated without proper authority, as rules of order say it’s the purview of the chair to adjourn. To be exact, the chair would normally call for a motion to adjourn, a member would declare “So moved,” everyone would raise their hands, and it would be done.

So if the council has any thoughts of another sanction against the mayor based on this meeting — as has been broached by at least one of our local media — it had better look in the mirror.

AND ANOTHER THING. Pretty much anything that comes out of Hamer-Jackson’s mouth is routinely rejected. At the same meeting, he tried to make a motion to bring back five-minute public inquiries to regular agendas. He got no seconder.

If a councillor had raised it, without doubt it would have received proper discussion. Instead, all it got was a rather condescending opinion from Coun. Dale Bass that a public inquiries section isn’t needed because people can email or phone council members or stop them in the store or on the sidewalk and ask questions.

There are, of course, a couple of weaknesses in that argument. One is that the original rationale by councillors for doing away with public inquiries was as a protection against unacceptable behaviour by members of the public. Some, maybe most, councillors at the time said they were actually reluctant to remove public inquiries from their meetings.

Another is that council meetings were just about the only way residents could ask questions or make points to the entire council at once, and receive feedback from around the table.

Third, councillors have not been renowned for answering their emails, texts and phone calls. Bass occasionally takes to social media to chew out people who disagree with the council on various issues, but that’s not the same thing.

On the same note, I’m still waiting for Coun. Mike O’Reilly to get back to me on why he didn’t receive, or didn’t read, texts from the mayor on why RHJ wouldn’t be able to attend the previous council meeting. And Coun. Bill Sarai stated quite plainly some time ago that he’d rather not discuss anything with me.

Others in the community also frequently complain about not receiving responses to their emails to councillors, or getting the brushoff.

Now, it’s clear, at least one councillor just doesn’t see value in reserving a piece of council meetings to engage with the people who elected them. And none of the other councillors contradicted her.

Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, writes for the Kamloops Chronicle and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and was 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.