Kamloops council may decide to end public inquiries at meetings

Kamloops city council is set to vote next week on whether public input will remain part of their regular meetings. The move comes in response to council meeting getting increasingly disrupted over the past two years, culminating when a Zoom caller feed pornography into the city council livestream last month during the public inquiries portion of the meeting. There was laughter and comments that "minimized" what happened, according to a city report, but it left city staff disturbed so the meeting ended early. The last topic discussed at the Sept. 24 meeting was a suggestion from Coun. Bill Sarai that public inquiries be removed entirely, https://infotel.ca/newsitem/kamloops-city-council-may-pull-public-inquiries-from-meetings-as-disruptions-continue/it106629 resulting in a staff report compiled for a vote, Oct. 22. The public inquiry section of the meeting is to give people the opportunity to ask council about issues on the agenda for the day. They are not commonly used other BC municipalities, and are meant to give taxpayers a way to question their elected officials about the matters at hand. "Since the start of the current council's term, council interactions have made national news multiple times, unfortunately for all the wrong reasons," the report read. One of the first changes that came this term was the addition of a five-minute maximum when speakers began taking too much time. It was a sign that this term was going to be quite different from the previous under mayor Ken Christian, who wasn't shy about pulling in the reins on a lengthy speaker. Speakers since the 2022 election sometimes speak to matters not related to the agenda, often continuing without interference from mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson. The staff report goes on to say speakers use "the platform to criticize council members and administration" instead of asking questions. Not only was the time-limit implemented, but bylaw officers are now routinely in the room to keep order and have ushered people out of the room https://infotel.ca/newsitem/kamloops-city-hall-ups-security-in-response-to-heckling-threats/it106334 . Speakers have made comments "contrary to the City's legal requirement to provide a safe and respectful workplace," the report read, while also regularly disrupting the room https://infotel.ca/newsitem/kamloops-council-meeting-goes-off-the-rails-mayor-removed-as-chair-again/it106326 by commenting on council debates or pretending to vote on decisions. Some will express their reactions to council decisions, sometimes jeering matters they don't approve of or cheering for those they do. The pornographic Zoom-bombing incident was described in the report as a "new low" for council chambers and follows with several recommendations to "provide the best chance of returning civil discourse" to the room. The report recommends removing public inquiries entirely and to redirect people to other existing methods to contact elected officials and staff, mostly online or by phone. "Unfortunately, despite these options, it appears as though some community members have misinterpreted public inquiries as an engagement opportunity," the report read, describing the redirection as a way to prevent the "misuse" of council time by people "whose intent is to disrespect and disrupt." Aside from simply leaving public inquiries unchanged, council could reduce public inquiry opportunities from two sections to just one in each meeting, the report suggested. Other options include further shortening time limits on members of the public from the current five minutes, requiring speakers to pre-register, limit the topics people can speak to or even require submissions only be done in writing. 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 .