Curtis Goodrum/CFJC Today

By Aaron Schulze

Public Input Suspended

Citing mayor’s struggles to maintain decorum, Kamloops council extends suspension of public input at meetings

Dec 10, 2025 | 10:25 AM

KAMLOOPS — Festivus came 14 days early for Kamloops council as Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson and multiple councillors aired their grievances during a debate on public input at regular council meetings. 

During Tuesday’s (Dec. 9) regular meeting, Kamloops council voted 7-2 in favour of directing staff to extend the suspension of public input on the council agenda until the end of their term in late 2026. Mayor Hamer-Jackson and Councillor Nancy Bepple were the votes against. 

A suspension of public input at Kamloops council meetings was enacted in January 2025, with councillors complaining that speakers have hurled abuse toward council and staff, have used the time to grandstand and have been allowed to carry on for too long. 

After new rules were adopted, such as pre-registration and a two-minute speaking limit per individual, public input returned to the Kamloops council agenda on May 27. However, public input was then suspended for the remainder of the calendar year after a person giving the name “Al Koehollic” pre-registered to speak in-person and didn’t attend. 

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During discussion Tuesday, Mayor Hamer-Jackson initially had councillors siding with him to resume public inquiries at council meetings. Bepple and Councillor Mike O’Reilly were in favour of allowing residents who don’t abuse the platform to speak to council, but said the mayor has had issues keeping order during public input. 

When Bepple asked Maria Mazzotta, the city’s corporate officer, about the process of council being able to swap out the mayor as chair of the meeting during public inquiries, Hamer-Jackson asked Bepple if she was assuming or predicting that section of the agenda would get out of hand with him at the head of the horseshoe. 

The mayor then made his first of multiple requests for councillors to send him video clips of previous public inquiries sections where he was the reason for the downfall of decorum. 

Councillor Kelly Hall mentioned he had interest in bringing back public input if it’s managed properly but said the mayor has had challenges chairing that portion of the meeting. Hamer-Jackson repeated his request for receipts. 

“We’ve got video archives. You talk about things, but talk is cheap,” Hamer-Jackson told Hall after the latter said the mayor had issues with chairing public inquiries. “Can you please provide me emails of all the council meetings that I let public inquiries out of hand?” 

Tensions culminated when Hamer-Jackson brought up the occasion in 2023 when Councillor Stephen Karpuk accused him of cutting a “fart joke” during a community function as an example of a meeting not sticking to city business. 

Karpuk told Hamer-Jackson his behaviour had changed his vote from a yay to a nay. 

“I have apologized; I’ve done it publicly. You have failed to do that on so many occasions, it’s beyond counting now,” said Karpuk. “Your inability to chair is very evident. Your slights that you hold on to are far more egregious to me than the event that you keep bringing up repeatedly. 

“If we’re talking about civil discourse, this would be a violation, in my mind, of what we were supposed to be here for. You speak it but you don’t live it.” 

General voting day for the next Kamloops municipal election on Oct. 17, 2026.