Dysfunction at Kamloops city hall can't continue, deputy mayor says, as lawsuits and investigations grow

It's called the Tournament Capital of Canada, but Kamloops won't be getting the gold medal for drama-free governance anytime soon.

In the last week council has held two private meetings concerning Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson, a newcomer to politics who was elected last October with 31 per cent of the vote on a platform of safety and accountability. 

One of the meetings concerned his lawsuit against a fellow councillor for defamation. The other concerned a legal report by an outside firm into how he treated City of Kamloops employees. 

In between, council passed its 2023–2026 Strategic Plan, a document that will guide the city's policies and priorities for the next four years. 

Assuming it can stay on track. 

"I think it's sometimes difficult to get away from social media and the items that really grab the clicks and the water cooler chat," said Deputy Mayor Coun. Mike O'Reilly.

"But I definitely do have concerns for … how much time and effort we're having to put in to deal with the things that we shouldn't be having to deal with."

External investigation on workplace complaints

While many communities in B.C. have dealt with dysfunctional dynamics on council since last year's election, none come close to Kamloops, a city of 100,000 people with a yearly municipal budget of around $225 million.   

Tuesday's private council meeting concerned Hamer-Jackson's defamation lawsuit against councillor Katie Neustaeter, who said at a March press conference alongside her seven fellow councillors that they had been "subjected to repeated disrespect, violations of personal and professional boundaries, belittling and constantly disruptive behaviour by the mayor."

After the meeting, the city council voted that Neustaeter was eligible to have her legal costs paid for by the city. 

LISTEN | Kamloops councillor ready for her day in court:

Hamer-Jackson told CBC News he was disappointed council voted to cover Neustaeter's expenses, arguing that "this is personal" and that, like him, Neustaeter should be responsible for her own legal costs.

In addition, the mayor is also facing allegations of workplace bullying and harassment.

As reported by Radio NL, last week council received the results of a months-long investigation by The Integrity Group, a Vancouver-based legal firm, into allegations around Hamer-Jackson's conduct toward multiple city employees, with specific allegations of bullying and harassment. 

CBC News has not seen the report, but has confirmed its authenticity with two people with direct involvement in the situation. 

What can a mayor do?

Like most of the disputes that have surrounded Hamer-Jackson, the issues raised in the last week are not around policy, but rather the conduct and authority allowed by a mayor under the Community Charter governing elected officials in British Columbia. 

That difference in interpretation was seen again on Tuesday, in the brief public council meeting before it went into a closed session to discuss the defamation lawsuit. 

"Personal liability, defamation, malice, wilful misconduct, dishonest behaviour is a personal issue. It's something you have to defend yourself [against]," said Hamer-Jackson, citing several sections of the charter. 

"I don't know, did anyone take that into account?" he asked, before O'Reilly curtly replied: "Mr. Mayor, everything the corporation does falls under the community charter, and we are very well aware of it, but thank you for reciting that portion."

The city has not commented on the workplace investigation, and while Neustaeter says she looks forward to filing a response against Hamer-Jackson, no court date has been set.

In the meantime, the more mundane business of council churns on.  

"We've made very large changes policy wise to allow more housing, making housing more affordable and trying to push forward with our recreational master plan, which will add multiple new recreational facilities to our city," said O'Reilly. 

"But no, I don't think the pace that we are going at right now is sustainable."