CITY COUNCIL – Praise, congrats, advice and a tearful so long at final meeting

Mutual praise, self-congratulations, advice for newcomers and a few tears marked the wrap-up of the final meeting today (Oct. 27, 2026) of the 2022-2026 Kamloops City council.

One by one, they finished up the meeting, and their term, with compliments for each other and assurances that the past four years have been productive.

With Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson absent due to a recent heart attack, deputy mayor for October, Stephen Karpuk, was in the chair. He used the word “bold” multiple times to describe the outgoing council. One by one, he sang the praises of his fellow councillors, calling Katie Neustaeter “an incredibly strong woman” and remarking, “Without a boat anchor sitting beside you, you’ll be so much better off,” an apparent reference to Hamer-Jackson.

He called outgoing councillor Nancy Bepple an “anchor of reality,” said he would be “forever grateful” for Bill Sarai’s friendship, and predicted mayor-elect Mike O’Reilly is “gonna be a great mayor.”

He and other councillors also heaped praise on staff, Kapruk handing out special kudos to CAO Byron McCorkell, who “came through a lot,” and corporate officer Maria Mazzotta — “I don’t think there’s anything you couldn’t handle.”

Bepple, defeated along with Karpuk, Dale Bass, and Sarai, advised the new councillors — who were sitting in the public gallery for the meeting — to remember that “local government is a long game” and is “about making the community better.”

Neustaeter said, “We’ve been through deep waters together.” In offering her own praise to outgoing council members, she described Bepple as “an incredible thinker” and Sarai as “a gentle soul” and “a kind man” with “a generosity of spirit.”

Sarai said the new council will “have some power” with the election of a new provincial government led by Lorne Doerkson, who represents the neighbourhing Cariboo-Chilcotin riding.

Bass listed several successful projects “for all those people who said we did nothing in the last term,” and Kelly Hall talked about council’s “bold” strategic plan. “There’s so much to be grateful for.”

O’Reilly, who will be sworn in as mayor Nov. 2, told the new councillors their job will be rewarding, and to the current group, he said, “We did it, we did it.”

Councillors urged the incoming council to focus on, among other things, advocacy, the Red Bridge, and airport development.