Chaos at Kamloops City Hall – And so it goes, on and on and on

Prior to moving from Kamloops in October 2022 I assisted one counsellor in her election and supported an unsuccessful mayoral candidate. So I have some of skin in the local Kamloops political game. I follow from a distance however, with a sick feeling in my stomach as the level of conflict and dysfunction continues to increase. Kamloops is a great city; there is much that I miss. It is sad to see Kamloops become a laughing stock amongst BC municipalities given its ongoing malfunction, all circling around its mayor, Reid Hamer Jackson.

A coupe of days ago, a report of a provincial auditor (a former mayor of Abbotsford) was tabled at council. Details of the meeting can be read here for both context and recent history. Essential reading for non-Kamloopsians.

The letter below was posted on social media today by Dieter Dudy, himself a former counsellor and candidate for the office of mayor in the 2022 election when Mayor Reid Hamer Jackson was elected.

It should be noted that other communities in BC face ongoing civic disorder, though none as intense as the present Kamloops experience. There continue to be calls for Williams Lake Mayor Rob Cobb to resign over alleged racist comments on social media. Quesnel town council members have publicly declared they can no longer work with Mayor Ron Paull given similar statements concerning residential school history. He has no plans to resign. While I would not suggest a provincial trend, the growing number of unresolved conflicts is concerning. Beyond the immediate negative effect on governance I wonder who will run for public positions in the future? Not me, that’s for sure. Dieter Dudy’s open letter continues below.

Dear Mayor Hamer-Jackson,

There is an old adage that simply states that you can attract more bees with honey than you can with vinegar.

Life is very much the same. You will affect more change through inclusion and collaboration than you ever will through confrontation and beratement. The latter will only send you deeper into an abyss of failure and disappointment.

One of the key directions that the municipal advisor gave you was to quit living in the past. Quit dredging up yesterday’s grievances. Learn to embrace the value of the resources you have at hand; then use them to make your vision a reality.

I would imagine that even you have to agree that you have constantly been sparring from a defensive stance; only to then worsen your struggle by throwing wild uncontrolled counter punches. Whoever you have in your corner is giving you bad strategic advice.

You have 2.5 years left in your term to get done what you set out to do, plus be on top of the day to day matters that need to be addressed.

Here is my recommendation to you.

Quit the pettiness. Quit the sarcasm. Quit the attacks. Interact with staff and your colleagues in a meaningful, respectful, and constructive manner. You may just find it’s an actual breath of fresh air.

If, however, your ego won’t allow you to make the necessary changes; then please, do the citizens of Kamloops a favour; take off your gloves and get out of the ring. If you don’t, you might just find that you may not make it to your corner at the next bell.

The question for me with those in such conflicts is who can change? None of us is perfect; even the present mayor says as much; but can he change his operational style? Can he learn what is for him a new role?  My hunch is that RHJ is unwilling, even unable to change his style of interaction with fellow elected representatives and with staff. His approach to collaboration is one of power-over, rather than conversation-with. And it seems there is little anyone can do about it—until the next election that is, where only one candidate should run for mayor. Progressive voices split the mayoral vote last time; the present mayor came up the middle with only 32% of support with four others sharing the remainder–previous mayoral results were Ken Christian, 87% (2018) and Peter Milobar, 78% (2014). A proportional representation electoral system would likely have altered this outcome if residents’ second choice were included in the final outcome.

It seems there are few if any legal or legislative interventions available. I do wonder about recall processes. There have been 30 recall petition applications brought forward in B.C. since the Recall and Initiative Act came into force in 1995. Only six have ever been returned to Elections B.C. for verification. Five of those did not have the required number of valid signatures. Another was halted as the representative resigned. So is this a possibility for Kamloops. Weigh in folks.

If you are a person who prays, then pray for Kamloops City Hall. Pray that this anxious and combative political trend will not grow and expand elsewhere. Check out my thoughts on federal conservative politics. If you blog, well, I just did. I simply have no other suggestions. Sorry.