File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

City Hall

Hamer-Jackson, Sarai offer differing views on Friday meeting mayor felt went “terrible”

Dec 10, 2022 | 2:18 PM

KAMLOOPS — Capping off a tumultuous week, Kamloops Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson feels a meeting Friday (Dec. 9) with councillors Bill Sarai, Nancy Bepple and Margot Middleton went “terrible.”

In that meeting Friday afternoon, the three councillors informed Hamer-Jackson about some of the details covered in two closed-door meetings that excluded the mayor.

“A lot of things in there weren’t accurate, so I was trying to explain myself and Councillor Sarai continued to break in,” said Hamer-Jackson. “Every time something would come up, I would say, ‘Well, that’s not the way it is.’ He kept breaking in. I asked him that I just wanted to talk to Councillors Middleton and Bepple… I asked him to leave, but he wouldn’t leave because he said he’s a deputy mayor. So I left my office.”

Sarai explained to CFJC Today the councillors were simply outlining what was explained in the meetings. He wasn’t about to listen to his back stories about issues before he became mayor.

“We tried to share with him the concerns that were presented to us, and that’s why they were closed. They were not an attack on him personally. They were not to remove him from office. They were not to censor him. They were concerns opening up legal challenges to the city, the staff and the mayor himself,” said Sarai. “How he takes that information and moves forward is on him, not council.”

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Sarai added, “Now it’s on him to realize those [legal issues] are valid concerns or, in his opinion, they’re frivolous and they don’t mean anything… then that really concerns me because it could open up the city to potential lawsuits.”

Hamer-Jackson said he still doesn’t know a lot about what’s going on, but was informed “there were a few things” in a 10-page letter that was the subject of the closed meetings.

He feels he should be in the know more than he currently is.

“If somebody’s in a conflict, why wouldn’t you come to them and say, ‘Hey, look at this. What do you think of that?’” he said. “This all stems from the first letter I received from a certain social agency in town sending a threatening letter that wasn’t even sent to me. It was sent to staff, then went from staff to lawyers.”

Sarai understands why Hamer-Jackson might feel excluded, saying he would feel the same way. However, the mayor’s actions at Tuesday’s council meeting exacerbated the situation.

“What I think expanded the circus that we saw is him stepping out of a city council meeting claiming conflict. That added to the speculation that [there was] some hidden agenda. That was not part of any of the discussions,” Sarai noted. “What he has going on privately with an agency and lawyer letters, that’s on him and he needs to realize that he needs to separate that from being a mayor. You can’t combine the two.”

Aside from the current legal issues facing Hamer-Jackson and the City of Kamloops, Sarai says most councillors feel disconnected from the mayor more than a month into the new term.

“It’s a sports team where only one player is playing. He knows the playbook and only he knows what’s going to happen,” said Sarai. “Council is a team sport. It’s a team game. You need at least five council members to get things done. We’ve all been elected by a majority, we’ve all campaigned on things we want our city to do.”

Sarai added, “I know you can’t do it yourself. It just feels like we’re not being involved, we’re not being asked to be part of the team.”

However, after a week filled with drama around the council table, and behind closed doors, Sarai hopes everyone can move forward and take care of city business.

“It’s really frustrating. We should be working on behalf of the taxpayers, dealing with issues and developments, going out and being on committees and having our meetings,” he said. “It seems we’re nowhere nearer there now than we were a month ago and it’s just like, ‘When are we getting to work?’ That’s what I’m feeling from the rest of council.”

The mayor says, “We just have to move forward.”

“I ran on a different platform than a lot of people. A lot of people at the end of the campaign switch to safety and security, but we just got to get going forward,” Hamer-Jackson said. “We were all voted by a different population, so I can go into a meeting and do the job. I’m not going to say I’m going to agree with everything all the other councillors, but just because I don’t agree with Councillor Sarai or Councillor Bepple or Councillor Bass or Councillor Hall… we can’t all agree on the same thing. That’s why we have a democracy.”

Sarai says Hamer-Jackson also needs to learn to respect other people’s perspectives.

“The only way we’re going to become a team, knowing Reid and being his friend for the last 25 years, he has to respect opinions from others that don’t align with his. He has to respect those opinions, just like we respect his opinions,” said Sarai. “That’s all they are — opinions that he brings forward. Just because we have a difference of opinion, it doesn’t mean we’re his enemy, and if he has a difference of opinion than myself or another council member, it doesn’t mean we’re going to make him out to be the enemy.”

Asked if his relationship with councillors have been fractured, Hamer-Jackson says they’ve been “misled, but sure, we’ll get over it. At least I will.”

MAYOR ON SECURITY ALLEGATIONS

Hamer-Jackson wasn’t anticipating being in the media spotlight so much so early into his term of mayor, “especially with so many false allegations,” he said.

Hamer-Jackson is referencing allegations he redirected Neptune Security, funded by the city, to park on his TRU Market Auto lot.

“I actually got security (on West Victoria Street) started in 2020 and paid by BC Housing,” he said.

He went on to say he never wanted security on his lot when Lapper Security was patrolling West Victoria Street, but they parked their trailer there.

“When (security) disappeared there the other day, I asked them if it was okay if they park on (Stereo Warehouse) property, but they didn’t have any room, so they were guarding my burnt up vehicle. I don’t have any vehicles left on my lot. I don’t need security right now, but other people do,” he said.