Kamloops city staffer didn't give contracts to their family business

A rumour circulating on social media in Kamloops suggested a highly-paid city employee might have been unfairly awarding contracts to her husband's construction company leading to an internal investigation. Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson is also curious about the unsubstantiated allegation. He contacted iNFOnews.ca to ask if the claim had been verified. When asked about the rumour, chief administrative officer David Trawin said there's no internal investigation and the suggestion of wrongdoing is misinformation. The social media post suggested Jen Fretz, the city's civic operations director, may have unfairly awarded contracts to her husband's construction company. READ MORE: Stranger donates late father's tools to mechanic after devastating Kamloops-area house fire https://infotel.ca/inhome/stranger-donates-late-fathers-tools-to-mechanic-after-devastating-kamloops-area-house-fire/it102558 "They are not factual in the least," Trawin said, adding the false claim stemmed from a former city employee. Her husband's company, Fretz Construction, was the lowest bidder on two city contracts for a new civic works facility nearly a decade ago. In 2006, Fretz did work for the city but she was a supervisor in the environmental services department and would not have had a hand in the bidding process. Trawin said the city has reached out to a Facebook group where the post was made, and staff have also contacted Meta, the company that owns Facebook. READ MORE: 'We're not a priority': Province mum on promised Kamloops cancer centre https://infotel.ca/newsitem/were-not-a-priority-province-mum-on-promised-kamloops-cancer-centre/it102578 Fretz Construction has acquired a small piece of city land since Fretz took on the role as civic operations director, but Trawin said that process would have been done through a different department without her involvement. Fretz deferred to Trawin as the spokesperson for the city when asked to comment on the situation. The person who posted the rumour to social media hasn't responded to a request for comment from iNFOnews.ca. To contact a reporter for this story, email Levi Landry mailto:llandry@infonews.ca  or call 250-819-3723 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .