LETTER – City council dithered for 12 months on new police building
(Image: Mel Rothenburger)
I found yesterday’s editorial “Making decisions now vs. kicking the can to the next council”, ironic if not outright comical that of all days this was published on the 12th of August, exactly 1 year to the day that this same council gave 3 readings to a new police building bylaw.
The following is an excerpt from an “ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT TO COUNCIL” dated October 7/25. (https://kamloops.civicweb.net/document/204345/REP_ALTERNATIVE%20APPROVAL%20PROCESSES%20FOR%20LOAN%20AUTHOR.pdf?handle=848F3430BF624A209E83D93406BC9367)
SUMMARY
At its August 12, 2025, regular meeting, Council introduced and gave three readings to the following bylaws:
• Kamloops Police Services Building Loan Authorization Bylaw No. 57-3, 2025
• 965 McMaster Way Loan Authorization Bylaw No. 57-4, 2025
• Tranquille Phase III Loan Authorization Bylaw No. 57-5, 2025
• Kamloops Centre for Water Quality Intake Upgrade Loan Authorization Bylaw No. 57-6, 2025.
The statutory approval certificates have now been received from the Inspector of Municipalities for all four bylaws (Attachments “A”, “B”, “C”, and “D”). The next steps in the alternative approval process for each of these bylaws are for Council to establish the deadlines for elector response forms, determine the number of eligible electors, approve the resident elector and non-resident property owner response forms, and for staff to post the statutory public notices.
Again I must point out that this is from an August 12, 2025 council meeting! Council could have followed thru and had an AAP in the spring with the other AAP’s or better yet had a referendum for all the items during the election, but these dullards dithered. We’re told this is a very important issue and it’s time sensitive yet they’ve wasted 12 months and actually regressed from making a decision 1 year ago to abandoning this past consensus and kicking the can to the next council which will mean likely at least another 6 more months before the next council even makes a decision.
Maybe this is a hard decision, but isn’t that part of the job, you know making hard decisions? Maybe they need more time to think about it, but they’ve had 4 years, how much more time do they need? Moreover, why was it so easy to make a decision 12 months ago on this topic but now impossible to come to any consensus other than leaving this mess to the next council, what’s changed in the past 365 days?
Yes I understand, it’s the mayors fault, that seems to be the default explanation to every problem this council has, even with an 8 to 1 vote advantage. Yes I understand the mayor has been problematic and this council has been, as Arjun says a “uniquely chaotic 4 years for our civic leadership”. But seriously, how incompetent of a group do you have to be to screw this file up so bad? Furthermore, how much nerve must one have to run for re-election only weeks later on for the most part an experience and leadership or as Councillor Karpuk likes to say, “good governance” platform?
Can someone, anyone please explain to me why any of these 9 are worthy of re-election and be the ones tasked to “clean up on Aisle 6” considering they’re the ones who made the mess on aisle 6 in the first place?
No Incumbents!
MAC GORDON
ArmchairMayor.ca 
The two-term members of council, especially Coun. O’Reilly, have had much longer than 12 months to resolve this issue. Even though it was flagged as very important throughout the four years of the previous term, the new council abandoned it in 2023 to push through the PAC and rinks. Was this due to negligence, willful ignorance or just plain arrogance?
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Fear, it was due to fear. Fear that 3 was too many so they pushed thru the 2 less popular and were saving what they thought would be the easiest one for a later date but the push back has been stronger than they anticipated and the cost over runs have gotten out of hand. Now they’re pressed for time due to the election and they’re scrambling.
But it was also negligence, willful ignorance and like all things this council does, plain old arrogance.
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Mac, I hope you consider running for council (again). You’ve shown you have the interest, the background and you can “take care of yourself” under criticism.
What you’ve mentioned today in your letter to Armchair Mayor is material that should have been covered by local media. Castanet Kristen seemed to have been preoccupied with tearing Reid to pieces rather than doing the job of a journalist. The kind of stuff she usually wrote about Reid was stuff one might hear as gossip in a hair salon. It doesn’t cut it with me and it likely didn’t cut it with too many other people who have lived their lives, paid off a mortgage, raised a family and supported the community through direct payment of taxes.
You’ve got a lot to offer and I think you would put people and community first. You have the skillset to stand up to someone like Castanet Kristen if she ever tried the same tactics with you as she did with Reid. She added nothing to “good governance”.
Give it some consideration, Mac.
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