Kamloops City Councillors say they are committed to making headway on the recommendations laid of by municipal adviser Henry Braun.

The report laid out 13 recommendations for all nine members of council, and 10 specifically for Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson, who Braun said was the root cause of the dysfunction at City Hall.

Deputy Mayor for May, Kelly Hall, says council plans to sit down with staff and begin “chipping away” at those recommendations.

“It also gives us the opportunity to make corrections to some of the challenges that were presented,” Hall said Tuesday.

“Granted, the document just came out this morning, so there’s lots to digest. So there will be a lot of discussion, I’m sure, with legal counsel, with the ministry, as well as council, and we’ll start moving forward as quickly as we can.”

Hall added he felt the report will be a game changer for City Council which has been bogged down by “dysfunction and discord” since the last municipal election in October 2022.

“It has opened up to the community some of the challenges that we’re having to face with respect to dealing with an individual that is a little dysfunctional at times,” Hall added. “We know that there are some good recommendations and I think once we dive into those recommendations, there is some good content there that we can look at adopting.”

“Like I said, we’ve got a really dynamic council that wants to eagerly serve the community in a better way, in a better light. With these recommendations, I think that shows us the direction that we need to do.”

In his report, Braun said he was not optimistic there would be much improvement at Kamloops City Hall before the next election in 2026., unless there is a “significant change in how the mayor interacts with others.”

“The Mayor is the ‘first among equals’ and sets ‘the tone at the top,'” Braun wrote.

“As the former Mayor of the City of Abbotsford, my involvement as a Municipal Adviser has reminded me that how we lead, what we do, what we say matters. It sets a tone – whether it’s positive or negative. It shapes a team, an organization, and ripples through the community.”

No regrets in asking mayor to resign: Councillor Middleton

Braun’s report did however prompt the rest of council to call on the mayor to resign – a move Hall says Hamer-Jackson should consider.

“I think for the most part, individually, we’ve been talking amongst ourselves where are we going to go, what are we going to do but when you see that report and the information that is shared in it and the thoroughness that Mr. Braun presented, I think her request was very worthy,” Hall said.

Middleton’s non-binding motion was adopted 8-1 with the Mayor the lone no vote. As with all committee motions, it will need to be voted on at a future City Council meeting before it is formally adopted.

If that vote is to take place, the motion will still be symbolic in nature, as no one – not even the Minister of Municipal Affairs – can remove an elected official from office.

“It has been with an optimistic hope that an adviser could sort through the mess and recommend as well as guide us on a path forward,” Middleton said before tabling the motion Tuesday. “Unfortunately, after hearing a review of the report and the recommendations, the path forward is perhaps a mountain higher than we will be able to climb.”

“The mayor continues to either ignore or undermine any efforts towards good leadership and stewardship. This was further and clearly evidenced last week at the SILGA convention that Kamloops hosted.”

“I think what would be fair, like what I said to Mr. Braun, I think I have not had a lot of defence in this,” Hamer-Jackson responded Tuesday, saying he won’t be resigning. “I think this will be taken care of in a court proceeding where you have lawyers, examination for discovery.”

Hamer-Jackson is also quoted in a CFJC story saying he has “no plans at all” to resign.

“I’m going to continue what I did when I was running for election, and I didn’t make promises, they were goals,” Hamer-Jackson is quoted saying. “I’ve heard certain media people say, ‘Promises, promises.’ I didn’t make promises, I have goals. And those goals are the same to get a safer community and to get accountability.”

Speaking on NL Newsday, Middleton she put the motion forward asking for the mayor’s resignation as she didn’t feel there was a “great path forward” after reading Braun’s report.

“I had not seen the report ahead of time. I had an idea of where it would go only because we know what the challenges are right now that we are faced with,” Middleton said, Wednesday. “I had prepared the statement that I did ahead of time because I don’t do things well on the fly.

“I had it prepared with the thought that I would only put this forward if the report supported my ask. If something had transpired between when I wrote that and when I presented it, I wouldn’t have presented it [but] I still think that in order for our city to move forward, the resignation of the mayor would benefit all of us.”

The next meeting of Kamloops City Council is scheduled for Tuesday, May 14.