The Kamloops councillor being sued by the Mayor for defamation and libel has issued her first public response since the suit was filed in BC Supreme Court on Monday, June 12.

Councillor Katie Neustaeter says she looks forward to defending herself, saying her lawyer will be filing a response.

“We’ll let that play out as it will. This is brand new to me,” said Neustaeter. “But in the meantime, I just want to honestly thank the people of Kamloops. I have felt so supported and cared for over the last day-and-a-half.”

Neustaeter says she was served by a process server while attending a TNRD meeting – along with Reid Hamer-Jackson – on Thursday afternoon.

She contends this is not going to impact her work on council, saying she intends to maintain her seating position in the council chambers, which has her placed directly to the right of the Mayor as the council candidate who earned the most votes in the October election.

“We continue to manage the chaos but focus on the work,” Neustaeter told Brett Mineer on NL Newsday Friday. “As I’ve said before, that is what needs to happen.  That is the reality of this term.”

Neustaeter is being sued for defamation and libel by Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson for harms he claims were caused by her public statements on March 17 in which she said – on behalf of all of council – that the Mayor was violating personal and professional boundaries.

Hamer-Jackson’s lawyer, David A. McMillian, told Kamloops This Week that an apology and a retraction is one way that the lawsuit could be resolved. He also said the lawsuit singles out Neustaeter as she read out the statement.

“The law makes a fine distinction that way. You actually have to make a defamatory statement, either in writing or orally to be liable for it,” McMillan said.

None of the claims have been proven in court, and a date for hearings has also not been set.

–With files from Victor Kaisar & Brett Mineer