Kamloops mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson is suing Councillor Katie Neustaeter for defamation and libel.
In a Notice of Civil Claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court on Monday, June 12, Hamer-Jackson says Neustaeter defamed him when she read a joint statement prepared by council that accused the mayor of among other things – violating personal boundaries.
The news conference came after the mayor removed a number of councilors from positions on various standing committees, appointing instead a number of members of the public, some of whom were campaign donors and personal friends.
The mayor contends the line about violating personal boundaries came after a number of emails to councilors and some city staff, about the mayors attempts to contact Neustaeter’s father, former Kamloops MLA and BC Liberal cabinet Minister Kevin Krueger.
In court documents, the mayor claims Krueger reached out to him offering his support during the campaign, and then abruptly cancelled a meeting with him before Neustaeter sent the emails – demanding the mayor not contact any member of her family.
Hamer-Jackson is seeking unspecified general damages, aggravated and punitive damages, and costs, as he says the emails and the public statement were designed to damage his reputation.
“I’ve had people call me a pervert, you know one guy saying, ‘oh my wife is coming down here, can you make sure you keep your hands off her’ and stuff like that,” Hamer-Jackson told RadioNL, saying he wants to focus on city business.
“When you make a statement in the public and you say that somebody is violating personal boundaries and professional boundaries and harassing and all that stuff. I’ve given multiple times for a person to come clean and it hasn’t happened. I ran my campaign on accountability and I think that we need to be accountable, all of us.”
As for being able to work with Neustaeter and the rest of council in the wake of the court filing, Hamer-Jackson says he believes the legal action “may actually help” with the process of getting city business done.
“I’ve been sitting beside Councillor Neustaeter for every council meeting since those accusations [made public by council at a joint news conference on March 17] were made in public,” noted Hamer-Jackson. “I’ve worked with people for over 30-years in the car business. I can say I didn’t like them all. I liked lots of them, but I didn’t like them all, but I worked with them as long as they stuck to the truth and didn’t get into any trouble. So, we’ll just carry on.”
Hamer-Jackson was also asked about the allegations in the suit related to the March 17 news conference, and whether it might affect his relationship with others on council.
“There hasn’t been much trust there at this point anyway,” argued Hamer-Jackson. “You’re right, all individuals did stand behind her, but — and again — I think you should talk to my lawyer about that.”
Reached by RadioNL, Hamer-Jackson’s lawyer David A. McMillan declined comment “out of courtesy to Katie Neustaeter – as she hasn’t yet been served.”
Neustaeter, meanwhile, declined comment for now telling RadioNL she learned of the lawsuit this morning when contacted by a reporter for comment.