PETERS: Filtering the noise from the more significant problems at Kamloops city hall

Clearly, council and the mayor are not friends. But we didn’t elect them to be friends; we elected them to work cohesively to make our city a better place.

When we hear about fart joke controversies and the mayor making 25-minute reports about his comings and goings, that’s just noise.

It’s an indicator of underlying acrimony, sure, but any adult encountering such noise needs to be able to roll their eyes and carry on with the work.

The mayor improperly handling confidential documents is, shall we say, ill-advised, but will end up nothing of lasting significance.

Even a defamation lawsuit filed by the mayor against a city councillor is noise albeit noise that will make some lawyers some money. The chances of that lawsuit going much further are slim-to-none.

Calling these developments noise doesn’t mean they should be dismissed. They’re embarrassing and they’re damaging to the city in the short term, but they will ultimately fade from memory.

Certain developments at City Hall, though, are more than just garden variety dysfunction.

The allegations from council that led to the mayor’s lawsuit are serious, for example, and need to be dealt with in order for mayor and council to maintain enough of a working relationship to continue accomplishing their goals.

An investigation into bullying and bad workplace behaviour at city hall is serious and — if it is substantiated — should come with serious consequences.

The debate over committee structures, how the public can participate and how much power the mayor has in their composition will also have a longstanding impact.

Kamloops City Hall has been the centre of much controversy since the October election, but it’s helpful to delineate between what’s noise and what’s much more significant than that.

——

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.

by James Peters

PETERS: Filtering the noise from the more significant problems at Kamloops city hall

Our Community