Image: CFJC Today / File

By CFJC Today Staff

Notice of Motion

No support for Mayor’s plan to cut meals from civic meetings

Sep 27, 2023 | 7:11 AM

KAMLOOPS — A notice of motion that could have led to a vote on whether to continue the practice of providing meals to Kamloops City Council and senior staff during working meetings, has been turned aside by Kamloops City Council.

The notice of motion was raised by Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson at Tuesday’s (Sept. 26) city council meeting.

Although he didn’t name any locations, Hamer-Jackson claims civic officials from other communities don’t follow the same practice. “I talked to a lot of other mayors in communities that are quite shocked we spend that kind of money,” said Hamer-Jackson.

He claims the City budgets $22 thousand annually for the meals and says that money could be directed to other areas of the budget. “We’ve got 900 employees that don’t get free meals,” he added. “Some of our highest paid staff are getting free meals.”

A notice of motion requires a seconder before the motion can be put in front of the council at its next meeting. But when the Mayor introduced his motion, it was met with silence from those around the council table. Without any support, the motion will not appear on the next council agenda.

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“I guess I’m batting a thousand,” Hamer-Jackson concluded sarcastically in reference to other failed attempts by the mayor to introduce motions in the past.