The latest twist in the ongoing saga that is Kamloops municipal politics is one that sees the Mayor and all eight Councillors locked out of certain areas of City Hall.

In a statement, the City of Kamloops said the change – which restricts elected officials from staff areas at City Hall – was made “to comply with our WorkSafe obligations and to protect our staff.”

“This wasn’t a decision by mayor and council, but a corporate decision on our obligation to provide a safe workplace for all of our staff,” Civic Operations Director Jen Fretz said on NL Newsday.

“We are required to provide a workplace that is free of bullying and harassment and any sort of intimidation, so we wanted to make sure that our staff felt safe in their workplace and weren’t going to be receiving surprise visits from elected officials.”

Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson says he was not given advanced notice of this change, saying he found out after trying to deliver some signed documents to legislative services Thursday morning, but was unable to get in.

“Our EA [Executive Assistant], she came in and I asked what was going on, and she basically said ‘oh, you didn’t know?’ And I said ‘no,'” Hamer-Jackson said on NL Newsday.

He also told Radio NL that other areas of City Hall are also off-limits to him as well.

“For instance, people come to City Hall to see me, and I’ll typically walk out, and I’ll greet them, and I’ll bring them into my office, and we’ll sit down and have a chat or whatever we’re doing, and then when they’re leaving, I’ll go out and greet them right out to the outside of the door,” Hamer-Jackson added.

“I can’t do that today.”

But Fretz told Radio NL that all of council – including the mayor – were told of this upcoming change on Tuesday.

“I gave an update on this corporate decision at a closed council meeting, but it wasn’t closed information,” Fretz said. “It was more of a private update, if you will, to mayor and council. Because there was no decision or recommendation made by council, this was an administrative decision, it was more sort of that private update as opposed to a closed decision.”

Fretz says if the Mayor or a Councillor requires access to a staff area of City Hall, they will need to be escorted by a staff member in line with “regular visitor procedures” that are in place. She notes mayor and council will continue to have access to areas their offices, to Council Chambers, and to all public areas of City Hall.

“We are keeping elected officials in the mayor and council area and keeping our staff in the staff area,” Fretz said. “Elected officials are not employees of the corporation and therefore should not have free access to staff areas.”

Her statement also goes on to say that the move – while temporary – may be related to security concerns.

“The security audit that were doing isn’t directed necessarily at our elected officials,” Fretz said. “It’s more about given the changing world and given the circumstances. How do we continue to in a very safe way interact with the public? How do we invite the public in a safe way into our facilities and to council chambers? What does that look like?”

While Fretz didn’t say why the review is needed, it does come on the heels of the Mayor gaining access to an internal City Hall report, a report Hamer-Jackson says showed up in his home mailbox.

“Certainly one of the benefits about having the staff areas off limits to elected officials is to do everything we can to also keep our documentation safe,” Fretz said.

It is not clear how long these measures will be in place for or what the “permanent security improvements” will look like.