Kamloops city councillors held another closed door meeting this afternoon without the mayor, Reid Hamer-Jackson, in attendance.
The meeting had just one item on the agenda, a request from CAO David Trawin who was asking for a closed meeting under Section 90 of the Community Charter.
“I received some correspondence from an outside party which potentially put the city, in my opinion, at a potential legal risk,” Trawin said, when asked by the mayor about the need for this closed council meeting.
“I forwarded that on to our solicitor for comment. Our solicitor got back to me and, based on that opinion, I requested that council authorize a legal meeting.”
When pressed by Hamer-Jackson on conflicts on interest, Trawin responded, “I can tell you it was potentially more than a conflict of interest.”
Hamer-Jackson was also not allowed to attend a closed council meeting held on Tuesday, prior to that day’s regular council meeting where he recused himself and went home,” citing “potential conflict of interests.”
“The reason for closure of this special meeting and the recusal of yourself is less to do with conflict of interest and more to do with the fact that the city is receiving solicitor-client privileged information that you may be personally be adverse in interest,” the city’s solicitor, Denise McCabe of Fulton and Co., said today.
A motion to authorize Thursday’s close door meeting was approved with Hamer-Jackson the lone dissenting vote.
Speaking to media after leaving the meeting Thursday, Hamer-Jackson was asked if he is worried about a possible censure, or other legal repercussions that might come about.
“To me? No. I wasn’t invited to a closed council meeting the other day,” he said. “That agenda that I just went through, I never ever saw it, I had to get it online. I wasn’t a part of it or anything like that.”
“Like I said, I was handed a document from David Trawin yesterday telling me I wasn’t supposed to show up for this meeting today.”
Hamer-Jackson says he hopes to continue working toward the goals he has set for his time in office.
“I was elected on the safe and secure Kamloops, I was elected on accountability and that is what my goal is going to be,” he added. “And I can’t do that if at the my first meeting ever I’m not even allowed to say somebody’s name who’s allowed to bring a delegation in front of me.”
That somebody is Bob Hughes, the CEO of the ASK Wellness Society, who presented at the Nov. 15 council meeting.
“There are lots of people who have issues other than just one person, so I don’t think I’ll have to just sit on my hands,” Hamer-Jackson added. “I don’t have a lot of disputes with people. As a mater of fact, I supported that gentleman and that organization for years.”
Lawyers for the mayor and ASK Wellness have been the midst of a legal squabble. The organization sent a letter through its lawyers dated Nov. 3, asking Hamer-Jackson to stop making defamatory statements about ASK Wellness and Bob Hughes.
The mayor’s personal lawyer, David McMillan, responded on Nov. 7 asking ASK Wellness to identify the statements that were deemed to be defamatory, while also asking for the agency to make an apology. McMillan also sent a third letter dated Nov. 30, a copy of which can be found here.
“If the subject matter of the discussion is actual or potential conflicts of interests that might involve the mayor then why wouldn’t he be included in that discussion?” McMillan told NL News on Wednesday, alleging that this afternoon’s meeting was “an attempt to authorize a meeting to take place that took place [on Tuesday].”
“It would be critically important that he know what the concerns are from the prospective of the city and its lawyers.”
Earlier in the day, Trawin said this afternoon’s meeting was a continuation of Tuesday’s meeting, and that time constraints meant council had to postpone their discussions that day.
It is expected that the details of the meeting will eventually be made public, likely some time on Friday, Dec. 9, though details aren’t clear just yet.
