Kamloops mayor didn’t see enough changes to city, leading to changes to committees

KAMLOOPS — The mayor of Kamloops says changes he’s made to the city’s standing committees amount to a ‘positive’ move, saying he hasn’t seen enough change in the community during his six months in office to warrant status quo.

Speaking with CFJC Today about changes made Thursday (Mar. 16) to the committee membership, Reid Hamer-Jackson claimed some of the councillors have not been putting in the work necessary to force change, particularly when it comes to street issues.

“We’ve added some people and some citizens and I think it’s a real positive move. I think we can have more impact,” he said. “I didn’t see a whole lot of movement in some things.”

Hamer-Jackson mentioned an apparent lack of committment from Kelly Hall, who was removed from the Community and Protective Services Committee and replaced by former Kamloops MLA and B.C. Attorney General Bud Smith.

“Kelly Hall’s very busy doing the Memorial Cup, which is great,” noted Hamer-Jackson. “When I asked Councillor Hall about select committees, he felt we didn’t need any. I said, ‘Really? Maybe you should go take a walk down the Tranquille Corridor or around the bus depot or Valleyview or down West Victoria Street. I think we need to put more focus on it.’ I think we need to have a great Memorial Cup and he’s doing a great job. Just want to make sure our streets are looking a little better.”

Hamer-Jackson says he felt there were a couple of committees in which there may be conflicts, namely Councillor Mike O’Reilly, who previously chaired Development and Sustainability, being part of a group that has submitted an application to rezone 190 acres of land between Sugarloaf Road and Bowers Place. The new chair is Randy Sunderman, who failed in his bid for Kamloops council last fall. Another failed candidate appointed to a committee is Darpan Sharma, who will sit on the Finance Committee.

“Maybe there is no conflict [with O’Reilly], but it’s my duty to try to alleviate that,” Hamer-Jackson said. “He’s on the Development and Sustainability Committee and when you’re doing a [190 acre] project and your wife is also on the planning division of the city, I just don’t know if he might be at risk or the [city] at risk.”

Another big shake-up was on the Community Relations and Reconciliation Committee, where Bill Sarai, who was requested by Tk’emlups te Secwepemc to chair the committee, is no longer chair. He’s been replaced by Deborah Newby, who was part of Hamer-Jackson’s campaign team.

Hamer-Jackson does not think it’s a conflict.

“I just met her at the tail end of my campaign. You can know people, but it doesn’t mean you’re… conflict in what way?” he asked CFJC Today. “That means if I had 40 people on my campaign team that they’re not citizens of the community? The Community Charter says citizens of the community are people outside of council, so no, I don’t see any conflict there at all.”

He noted Sarai is still on the committee and he’s added former Tk’emlups councillor Sonny Leonard.

When Hamer-Jackson was asked if these committee changes would add to the already-growing tension between himself and the rest of council, he said it would in fact, help.

“It will relieve them. They were kind of overwhelmed,” he claimed, citing an anticipated motion around the deputy mayor schedule and duties. “I think it will actually relieve them a little bit. They’re all on a lot of committees.”

The eight councillors are expected to come out with a rebuttal on the committee changes as a group on Friday.