After bringing forward a Notice of Motion at the Jan. 17 council meeting suggesting the Aboriginal Friendship Society’s mini-storage facility at 48 West Victoria St. be moved, the Mayor of Kamloops says he apologized to the Society’s Executive Director for catching him off guard.
“I’ve talked to other people that work for the Friendship Society, and I have for quite a while, so I actually knew already that it’s not an ideal situation,” Reid Hamer-Jackson said on the NL Morning News Friday.
“I mean I think I just saw something where the manager said about people running across the street because a lot of traffic, they’re running across the street using the picnic tables in front of city hall and stuff like that. So it’s just a bad area. So I did talk to some people like outreach workers and things like that. But like I said, I apologized.”
“Like I say, I understand that now talking to Cal. I don’t want to talk about any plans, but they’re looking at a much bigger area. Like maybe an acreage type size,” he added.
Cal Albright, the KAFS Executive Director, says he is looking forward to working with the Mayor to do what is best for the city.
“We shall work together and I guess it’s really at the start of a conversation. That’s how I want to put it,” he said, on the NL Noon Report. “I mean, if we can improve this program with the mayor’s support, I am all for it.”
“I think we have a good relationship. We have a multi-year agreement right now so that’s going to to continue and there is no indication I have that it’s otherwise. So we’ll continue to provide services. We really want to enhance what we do and see what we can do to improve what we’re doing.”
City council will have an opportunity to debate on the Mayor’s Notice of Motion later this month and discuss whether to move ahead with a review of the site.