CITY COUNCIL – ‘Let’s get to work,’ says O’Reilly as new council sworn in

“Let’s get to work.”

With those words from Mayor Mike O’Reilly, the new Kamloops City council launched into the next four years after being sworn into office on Monday night (Nov. 2, 2026).

Family, friends, City staff and politicians from other jurisdictions and eras attended the swearing in and inaugural meeting at the TRU Grand Hall.

In his first speech as mayor, O’Reilly addressed what he saw as some of the key issues facing the new council, including homeless, crime and safety, as well as what he called financial pressures.

 “Residents want to see meaningful action,” O’Reilly said. “These are not simple answers” but “we have a lot of opportunity in front of us.”

The City must continue investing in quality of life, he said, referring to the performing arts centre and the arena complex that were approved through an Alternative Approval Process.

He said such community amenities are places for residents to come together.

O’Reilly also talked about building the economy, saying, “We need to unleash our economic engine.”

He said he expected there to be differences of opinion among members of the new council, and that’s not a bad thing. “We will not always agree. In fact I would be disappointed if we always agreed.”

But how that disagreement occurs is the key to good decisions, he suggested. When council makes a decision, all members should get behind it.

“I believe in what we can accomplish together” the new mayor said, declaring that “Kamloops is back” as a reliable partner.

After O’Reilly’s oath of office from Judge Christopher Balison, the eight councillors followed with their oaths collectively. Rob Bertrand, Jesse Ritcey, Katie Neustaeter, Steve Bucher, Christopher Mitra, Margot Middleton, Kelly Hall and Randy Sunderman are the councillors for the coming term.

The event then paused briefly for the inaugural meeting, which lasted about a minute but gave the new group the opportunity to take its first vote. The only item of business was to approve O’Reilly’s recommendation for the initial roster of deputy mayors.

That recommendation departed from past practice under which a different councillor was scheduled as deputy mayor each month. Instead, the three incumbent councillors will serve in the role for four months each, with other councillors getting into the loop after that if they wish.

Middleton was appointed deputy mayor November through February, Neustaeter March through June, and Hall July through October,

While deputy mayors took on more responsibilities during the previous term, they will revert to the usual role of filling in for the mayor only if he is unavailable, such as attending an event out of town.

• Mel Rothenburger