Kamloops City Council voted in favour of a motion that called on the mayor to step down from his position, following a dramatic and, at times, tense Committee of the Whole meeting.
The vote, which is not binding but does show the division in Kamloops city hall, took place Tuesday morning following the provincially-assigned municipal advisor’s report to council.
Coun. Margaret Middleton put forward the motion, which was supported by a vote of 8-1.
Only mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson was opposed to the vote, which came near the end of Henry Braun’s report to council.
Hamer-Jackson indicated that he has no intention of stepping down.
“Well, I think that what would be fair is like what I said to Mr. Braun from the get go,” Hamer-Jackson said.
“I have not had a lot of defence in this, I think that this will be taken care of in a court proceeding where you have lawyers, examination for discoveries.”
“The current council governance situation in the City of Kamloops is not normal,” Braun said.
Braun was assigned to monitor and provide recommendations to Kamloops council in February after the City of Kamloops requested help from BC’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs.
He told council that finding a way forward has been “much more difficult” than he anticipated.
Braun said his report identifies the top 16 challenges and 23 recommendations in his report, 10 directed at the mayor and 13 directed at all nine members of council.
He told council that the relationship between the mayor and council and the mayor and senior staff members is “untenable” and the status quo is not an option.
He placed much of the blame of the dysfunction on Hamer-Jackson, saying the mayor “sets the tone at the top.”
He told council that if the mayor does not make a “significant” effort to change his behaviour in how he interacts and treats council and administrative staff, Braun was not aware of any legislative “leavers” at the city or the rest of council’s disposal.
Braun suggested an amendment to the city’s Code of Conduct to include additional sanctions, which could be a gradual reduction of the mayor’s salary.
When reviewing his findings on the mayor’s conduct and its impact, Braun said Hamer-Jackson showed reluctance to change his behaviour or admit to errors has contributed “significantly” to the problems at city hall.
Braun told council that the mayor did not seem interested in his feedback, perspective or suggestions to “build bridges” or do things differently.
“I found when I asked specific questions, the mayor has a tendency to shift the focus of the discussion away from the question,” Braun said.
“I have found that he avoids taking responsibility for his own actions or inactions while expressing his options on a completely different topic.”
On the other hand, Braun said over his months of observation he found councillors to be “unified” and that they tend to show leadership in challenging situations.
Braun said that in his observations and interviews with councillors, he found a desire for improvement.
“On the whole, councillors (not including the mayor) have maintained respectful and cordial dialogue despite disagreements with one another, as I have personally observed and in various email exchanges,” Braun said, adding that a team effort was required from all members.
“I have observed that councillors are willing to support the mayor, but contingent on behavioural change towards administrative staff,” he said.
He said there was a “significant” strain on the relationship between councillors and the mayor.
He said Hamer-Jackson has a “dismissive and condescending attitude” towards constructive criticism or suggestions of apologies which has added to this strained relationship.
Braun said the mayor has shown “inflexibility” in acknowledging his role in the dysfunction at city hall and, although, Hamer-Jackson reached out to him for advice and guidance, Braun detected a resistance to accepting any feedback on ways to change.
“In my view, the mayor has not communicated effectively with staff and his evident distrust of the Kamloops’ administrative team hampers constructive dialogue and teamwork,” he said, adding that Hamer-Jackson has exhibited contempt for authority structures, including senior staff like the CAO and Deputy CAO.
Braun said this has led to “significant” staff turnover and stress and that the mayor seems to lack awareness of potential legal and reputational damage to council or the city.
According to Braun’s observations, Hamer-Jackson appears to prefer fighting disagreements without an openness to resolving the issues “amicably.”
Another challenge Braun identified includes inconsistent statements from the mayor on receipt of important documents, which he tends to do through the media. Braun said it does not appear that the mayor seeks guidance or advice from council or staff when he doesn’t understand emails or other written communication or operational issues.
“The mayor has admitted to sharing privileged information outside of closed meetings, disregarding the confidentiality protocols and risking legal repercussions,” Braun said, adding that the mayor does not demonstrate a clear understanding of his role and its limitations.
Braun told council that he has observed that the mayor does not understand policies and legislation regarding declaration of conflicts and that he had made a number of public statements and allegations, “particularly in media interviews,” that could be harmful or potentially legally damaging to the city.
According to Braun, Hamer-Jackson has denied knowledge of the contents of an investigation report, complaints against him and has apparently failed or refused to participate in the investigation of complaints against him.
Finally, Braun said that he has not observed that the mayor has acted on advice and guidance “even once.”
The report presented Tuesday painted a dark picture of what is happening behind the doors of city hall and Braun did not express a lot of optimism that Hamer-Jackson will change his behaviours.
Although there is a lot of dysfunction happening at city hall, Braun acknowledged that the unanimous vote of support for the city’s strategic plan was one positive that has come out of his time observing city council.
“The mayor and council are unusually aligned when it comes to the 2023-2026 Strategic Plan,” he said.
“When it comes to what matters most, all nine members of council agree on the ‘big picture,’ (...) my encouragement to council and the administration is to keep doing what you’ve been doing, which is to advance the 2023-2026 Strategic Plan that was unanimously adopted.”
He once again suggested adjustments to the city’s Code of Conduct in an effort to mediate some of the challenges.
He also reminded councillors to keep in mind that breaches of the conflict of interest can be tried in the Supreme Court.
As for changes to the mayor's behaviour, Braun said he was not optimistic anything would change in this council term.
