Kamloops council has voted 8-1 to pause all five of its standing committees pending a review of the terms of reference.
The motion by Councillor Dale Bass was in response to changes made by Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson last week, where he appointed members of the public – including his friends and election supporters – to these committees, while removing three councillors as chairs.
Two of the people appointed by Hamer-Jackson to committees – Bill Swaine and Brandon Coyle – made financial contributions to the mayor’s election campaign, according to Elections BC. Two other people – Randy Sunderman and Darpan Sharma – lost their bid for a seat around the council table.
“We need some clarity on [the terms of reference] because for example, the code of conduct doesn’t apply to [members of the public],” Bass said at special meeting of council Tuesday.
“Confidentiality doesn’t apply to them, and as you know, confidentially for elected officials lasts their lifetime. So, I think we need to address the terms of reference to clarify these issues. That is all, I’m just trying to clarify the governance issues.”
The City’s Corporate Officer Maria Mazzotta told NL News that while the Community Charter gives the mayor the authority to choose members of the Standing Committees – Civic Operations, Community and Protective Services, Community Relations and Reconciliation, Development and Sustainability, and Finance – it is up to council to establish the committee’s terms of reference.
“The challenge was that the terms of reference were not aligned with [the mayor’s] new appointments so we needed to update those terms of reference,” Mazzotta said.
A new select committee of council – comprised of three councillors – will be struck to review the terms of reference for all five standing committees, including who can be appointed as chair.
Councillors Push Back Against Proposed Changes
Tuesday’s special meeting followed a Friday afternoon news conference where all eight councillors accused the mayor of lying about his motivation for making the changes.
They also accused Hamer-Jackson of “chaotic and unpredictable behavior” adding they’ve been subjected to “belittling and constantly disruptive behaviour by the mayor” – allegations Hamer-Jackson denied in a statement on Saturday.
Asked several times during Tuesday’s contentious meeting, Hamer-Jackson had no explanation why he appointed the people he did to the committees, pointing to their qualifications instead.
“The people that I’ve looked at and interviewed and things like that, I find to be very knowledgeable,” Hamer-Jackson said. “I didn’t just wake up one morning and pick names out of a hat.”
“You are getting advice and you’re getting direction from people that weren’t elected, but you aren’t getting any advice or direction from the eight people who were elected alongside you,” Councillor Bill Sarai quipped.
“As for right now, these are the mayor’s friends is how it’s being received by the public,” Councillor Mike O’Reilly added.
Sarai also took issue with the mayor’s insinuations that standing committee members weren’t getting enough done, saying most committees had only been given one or two chances to meet since last October’s election.
“In those two meetings, we’ve got lots of stuff already on the go, subcommittees, we’re looking at food services in our parks, we’re looking at a lot of other things, and you’ve come out in the public saying we’re not getting enough done,” Sarai said.
“You gave us two months and one meeting each to give us a report card. I find that very unfair when we were the ones asking you in November to make the committees so we could get to work, and you’re already seeing that you’re not seeing the results you want to see.”
Hamer-Jackson also contended the document outlining the changes he shared with council – which was obtained by several media outlets, including Radio NL – was not “a done deal”.
“Somebody could have emailed me and said, ‘Hey, I don’t think we should have this guy and maybe we should have this,'” Hamer-Jackson said.
“And you know what, Councillor [Stephen] Karpuk, if you have people who are better who you feel will help our community, I will take your suggestions and I will take a really good look at it and speak to the people – you and I can speak to them – and maybe we’ll change the committee.”
O’Reilly disagreed with that statement from the mayor.
“‘The entire email word-for-word: Good morning, the mayor has made revisions to the standing committees. Please see attached. Thank you.'” O’Reilly said.
“That, to me and I think everybody around this table, was not received as a proposal. This was a unilateral decision that was made by the mayor, and that’s how it was received. This was not open for discussion. This was a decision by the mayor.”
Added Sarai, “What [the mayor] sent out last week, there was no avenue there for any input from councillor or staff to change anything. You’re saying it now that there’s opportunities for engagement – after we called you out on it.”
O’Reilly also described the terms of reference currently in place as “weak” pointing to those concerns surrounding code-of-conduct and confidentiality raised by Bass.
Hamer-Jackson, who attended Tuesday’s meeting virtually, was the lone dissenting vote on a series of motions.
“I’m opposed. Opposed to changing the Community Charter,” he said, following the vote to establish a select committee to review the terms of reference for standing committees.
“For clarity, Coucillor Bass’ motion proposed no change to the Community Charter. No one in this room has the power to change the Community Charter,” Mazzotta responded.
“I oppose the motion,” Hamer-Jackson added.
Hamer-Jackson was also opposed to pausing all of the City’s standing committees pending the review, suggesting it would slow down the work of the city.
“All these committees that we’re talking about, you guys, at the end of the day, it’s got to go to mayor and council anyways,” he said. “If you don’t like [the recommendations that come from the committees], you can do just what you’ve been doing. You can just vote them down.”
Next Steps
Councillor Kelly Hall, who chaired Tuesday’s meeting in his role as Deputy Mayor for the month of March, will identify the three councillors to sit on this new select committee, which will report back to council.
There is no word on how that process might take, though City staff say the business of the City will continue to progress through Committee of the Whole – which comprises the mayor and council – and regular Council meetings, both of which could be longer than usual given the lack of standing committees.
Staff also say Engagement Groups – which include members of the public – will also continue to meet and make recommendations to city councillors for their approval.
Editors note – Hamer-Jackson is set to join the NL Morning News at 8:40 Wednesday, March 22.
