Armchair Mayor

ROTHENBURGER – Frootloops councillors stand united at special meeting

June 3, 2023 // 2 Comments

A SPECIAL MEETING of the Frootloops town council has been called to discuss councillors’ concerns about the leadership style of Mayor Jackhammer. They sit at the horseshoe [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER – Anatomy of how council formed a ‘unified team’ against the mayor

May 27, 2023 // 2 Comments

‘PUSHY REPORTERS” and showing a united front against Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson were priority concerns of City councillors in the early hours of the now-months long [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER – Blurring the lines between objective reporting vs. opinion

May 20, 2023 // 3 Comments

THERE’S BEEN a bit of a controversy the past week or two involving comments by a local media individual that I won’t get into because he’s had his say — at great [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER – First Nations membership on TNRD board a complicated challenge

May 13, 2023 // 1 Comment

RECONCILIATION is a challenging path to follow. It remains unclear as to what it will ultimately look like. It seems to me, though, that until there’s some sort of [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER – Fifty years ago, a brand new City of Kamloops was forged

May 6, 2023 // 0 Comments

FIFTY YEARS AGO, Kamloops was in trouble, unable to get its act together. If you think it has problems now, you should have been around back then. The only answer was to [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER – The power of protest – can Enough is Enough fix anything?

April 29, 2023 // 0 Comments

THE PROBLEM WITH PROTESTS is they often don’t know what they’re about and are unsure of where they’re going. Take the “Enough is Enough” rally at the Overlanders [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER: What’s the next big edifice for the Tournament Capital?

April 22, 2023 // 1 Comment

BRICKS AND MORTAR, I’ve always maintained, are important because buildings are where we gather, where we heal, and where we work and play. So what’s the next big bricks [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER: The story of a bear named Little John and his long journey to safety

April 15, 2023 // 0 Comments

THE HEAVY METAL CRATE, about the size of an average dog kennel, was dark inside but squeezed against the back of it was a precious cargo. The special-express package was on a [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER – We shouldn’t have to pay for politicians to give us FOI records

April 8, 2023 // 4 Comments

IT’S NOT EASY getting information out of City Hall. Nor is it fast, or cheap. That is, if you’re applying for access to records under the Freedom of Information and [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER – Banning drug use in parks is a great idea, but it will likely fail

April 1, 2023 // 2 Comments

WOULDN’T IT BE NICE if we could go for a walk in Riverside Park, or relax in Pioneer Park, without having to put up with people doing drugs? Under the new decriminalization [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER – City’s share of Cup ‘platform’ is a gift from taxpayers

March 29, 2023 // 1 Comment

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger. THE MEMORIAL CUP will bring a lot of people to the Tournament Capital. They’ll spend money here. Hockey fans, especially Blazers fans, [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER – Shooting of wild horses latest sad chapter in their story

March 25, 2023 // 0 Comments

WILD HORSES, to many people, represent freedom. To others, they mean trouble. The mysterious shooting of 17 feral horses north of Walhachin was a terrible act that re-ignites [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER: Say goodbye to any hope of peace between mayor, council

March 18, 2023 // 5 Comments

AS THE NOON HOUR APPROACHED Friday, six Kamloops City councillors got up and left a Thompson-Nicola Regional District strategic planning meeting at the Delta Hotel. The [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER – Dr. Armchair has a surefire cure for chronic councillitis

March 11, 2023 // 1 Comment

DO YOU HAVE a bad case of councillitis, one that keeps coming back every Tuesday? Are you on a City council that feels logy and sluggish, that suffers from head fog [Continue]