Byron McCorkell (Image credit: CFJC Today/File photo).

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Please, let’s allow the Byron McCorkell episode to go away now

Apr 3, 2024 | 5:55 AM

THE BYRON McCORKELL affair is over. Let it stay that way.

Acting CAO McCorkell was suspended from his job, then he was re-instated. Let it end there.

Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson, at first quoted as saying he intends to carry through with his original plan to explain the suspension on April 9, currently appears inclined to let the matter be.

But now there’s talk from within the council that the mayor should do just that at a yet-to-be-called closed-door meeting on that date.

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Did I really hear Coun. Bill Sarai, the deputy mayor for April, say such a meeting must be closed because it’s a personnel matter, and in the next breath say taxpayers have a right to know?

It’s pretty rich for councillors to want an explanation from the mayor now, after they refused to wait an extra couple of days until he was back in town before they held a special meeting to lift the suspension.

They didn’t wait before issuing a news release backing McCorkell, and then holding the special closed meeting to confirm what they’d already publicly announced.

Sure, there’s residual curiosity about it but let’s remind ourselves that the reasons for an administrator’s departure are confidential out of consideration for all concerned.

When then-TNRD CAO Sukh Gill left the regional district four years ago, the reasons were never divulged despite months of conjecture and demands that the public be told.

In the unfortunate McCorkell drama, neither the mayor nor the councillors handled things particularly well. What they should be doing now, instead of dwelling on their ongoing feud, is to seriously investigate who continues to leak confidential information from City Hall, identify the culprit and dish out appropriate punishment.

And it might be an idea to get provincial advisor Henry Braun back to add a chapter to his report on how the mayor, councillors and staff are supposed to get along after this latest train wreck.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.