Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson displays photos damaged in a July break-in at his auto dealership property. (Image Credit: CFJC Today / File Photo)

By Alfred Atkins

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AS I FOLLOW THE MACHINATIONS at the Kamloops city council, I continue to sense a toll that these persistent negative assessments and outrageous penalties could have on Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson’s integrity and how this would also be a major burden for his family to endure.

Mayor Hamer-Jackson campaigned on a pledge to work diligently for the good of the City of Kamloops and to go forward with any new programs or projects with the utmost of due diligence and under the strictest of financial integrity.

Having had to close the doors of his auto sales business, TRU Market, after years of success, due to failed policies and programs dealing with the combination of drugs, crime and mental issues, Mr. Hamer-Jackson had enormous firsthand experience to put forward and a raft of options with practical applications and all for the improvement of the community.

However, it seems the potential that came with Mr. Hamer-Jackson becoming mayor has been rebuffed on numerous occasions by a hostile council and through these repetitious actions has even developed a partisan element that could be responsible for disparaging public expression and could even ignite and inspire illegal activity.

Reid Hamer-Jackson’s TRU Market car sales lot was the site of horrendous abuse over a period of years, to the point that the business could not continue for the safety of staff, and due to the enormous damage to stock, forced entry to storage facilities and damage to the sales office. The culmination of this reign of destruction occurred some time ago with a fierce, forced entry into the sales office, coordinated with a determined and brutal effort to demolish the interior along with its contents, including a widescreen TV, office machines, file cabinets, desks, chairs, refrigerator with bathroom appliances being pried from the wall. The results would resemble a minor explosion.

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Politics has with it plenty of risks, deceptions, gambles and frustrations but when it enters into this kind of an environment there must be a sincere nonpartisan effort to control the circumstances that can activate this type of behaviour.

It is for the public to stand in a space surrounded by the debris of a once thriving car business, whose proprietor built the foundation from return customers and question the sacrifice that now faces huge financial losses and a personal burden that he and his family will have to face for an unlimited period of time.

Alfred Atkins, Qualicum Beach, B.C.

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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.