Kamloops mayor gets booted from regional district, airport society

Another day, another sanction against the mayor of Kamloops. City council decided to boot him from the Thompson Nicola Regional District board, making way for another councillor on the seven-person roster. He's also removed from the Kamloops Airport society. "The decision to rescind these appointments was not taken lightly. It comes after numerous incidents where the Mayor failed to uphold the legal and ethical standards expected of his office, including (but not limited to) numerous and ongoing violations of privacy and confidentiality obligations," a news release on July 19 reads. Both appointments will be filled by another councillor until at least October 19 after Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson's "persistent refusal to adhere to sound municipal governance practices," according to the release. "Council hopes the mayor's removal from these boards is temporary, and it will review the matter in three months," the release reads. Who gets chosen to represent the city on the boards has been largely based in tradition. For the regional district, each councillor is appointed by the number of votes they got in the previous election. The mayor is added by default for not only Kamloops but every municipality. Although it's tradition, there are no rules dictating that to be the procedure. Each council must choose who is appointed to external boards by a vote, including the regional district. The decision to remove the mayor comes in response to council's decision to act on recommendations from municipal advisor Henry Braun, who was appointed by the province to help alleviate the conflicts around the horseshoe. He blamed the dysfunction almost entirely on Hamer-Jackson, giving both mayor and council as a whole a list of recommendations. The mayor has so far not committed to any of the recommendations provided to him alone and takes issue with Braun's conclusions. 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 .