Kamloops mayor now barred from closed door meetings

The mayor of Kamloops can't be trusted with confidential information. That according to the rest of city council who voted last month to lock Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson out of closed meetings for the next 12 months. It was announced in a news release today, June 13, but the vote happened during a meeting on May 28. "City Council takes the protection and confidentiality of City records and information very seriously," a news release read. "Continued and repeated privacy breaches pose potential legal and reputational risks for the City." He will only be allowed into in-camera meetings by invitation, otherwise he cannot join in for the next year or until he completes an approved training on his obligations to protect confidentiality and privacy. The requirement to complete a course on the matter was one of the recommendations made by provincial advisor Henry Braun. The mayor, meanwhile, hasn't committed publicly to any of the recommendations Braun made for him that could help mend his working relationship with the rest of council and administration. Braun found Hamer-Jackson had admitted to sharing privileged information outside of closed meetings, while he had shown a limited understanding of his role and its obligations. The mayor has also made "a number" of public statements that "could be harmful and potentially legally damaging to the City," Braun's report read. Council's resolution to bar the mayor from the closed door portion of meetings didn't say who voted in favour or against the measure. The announcement of the order that keeps him out of all closed meetings comes a day after council announced Hamer-Jackson would be getting a 10 per cent pay cut for the next six months https://infotel.ca/newsitem/kamloops-mayor-gets-a-pay-cut/it105199 due to code of conduct investigations and his refusal to apologize to one councillor. 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 .