Kamloops Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson has been publicly accused by city councillors of shirking his duties by not signing off on documents approved by council, with suggestions the move may have been intentional due to his opposition to them.
At issue are documents requiring the signature of the Mayor to become legal including the document to allow the city to collect taxes this year as well as council’s Code of Conduct.
“The tax rate bylaw had to be signed by the 15th of this month,” Councillor Stephen Karpuk, the deputy mayor for May said.
“I don’t care, I’ve never seen it,” Hamer-Jackson responded.
“Are you telling me that no one has said, Mr. Mayor, could you please sign this because it has to be in Victoria for us to actually start collecting taxes,” Karpuk said.
Earlier this month, Karpuk disclosed on NL Newsday that he had signed off on the city’s tax collection bylaw, as well as the Code of Conduct.
Councillors also said Tuesday that the mayor hadn’t yet signed the document to formalize the sale of land at 346 Campbell Avenue – adjacent to the site of the former Northbridge Hotel at 377 Tranquille Road – on the North Shore.
“We voted for something that you are supposed to carry out, and you didn’t for personal reasons. [It] makes us really look bad,” Councillor Bill Sarai told the mayor.
“BC Housing doesn’t care about your personal opinion. They care about our integrity. We made a deal. It’s a real estate deal. And you need to sign those papers.”
The City bought the two properties for $7.1 million in October 2021, with plans to redevelop the hotel building into market housing. It also struck a deal with BC Housing, which is paying $3.8 million for the Campbell Ave. property. The Crown Agency has plans to develop the property into a low-income housing project on the site to be administered by Ask Wellness.
“You are to carry out the will of council,” argued Karpuk during a tense council session on Tuesday.
“Why are you not doing that when we have now three documents that you should have signed, that I’ve had to sign, or am waiting to sign, because I don’t have them. You still have the document on Campbell property.”
For his part, Mayor Hamer-Jackson says he was holding off on signing the Campbell Avenue document over concerns he had about its sale and says the other two documents never crossed his desk.
“Legally, I’ve already talked to Corporate Officer [Maria Mazzotta]. She said its been okay for Councillor Karpuk to sign it. So as soon as we leave here [council chambers], we’ll go and councillor Karpuk can sign it,” countered Hamer-Jackson during the debate.
This prompted a terse retort from Councillor Katie Neustaeter.
“Legally I understand, but you’re my Mayor,” she said. “I’m asking you to execute the will of this council by signing the document as my Mayor!”
Under the Community Charter, the Mayor of a community has the option to allow their deputy to sign off on legal documents. Mazzotta also told Hamer-Jackson that his signature isn’t an endorsement of a bylaw or a document, it is a part of his job.
“Your opposition to this is clearly documented,” she said.
In the end, the Mayor said he would sign-off on the Campbell Avenue documents, which needed to be signed before June 5th to complete the sale.
As for the other two bylaws that Hamer-Jackson says never crossed his desk, City CAO David Trawin said he would speak to staff to clarify what happened.
