UPDATE: Kamloops mayor can no longer move freely through city hall

Kamloops Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson claims he didn't know he'd need an escort to walk around city hall when he arrived this morning. He told iNFOnews.ca on April 11 that he was surprised to find his key fob wouldn't unlock doors inside the building, aside from gaining access to his office.  "The guy at the front reception desk wasn't allowed to open the door so I could get back into my office," Hamer-Jackson said. He claimed it was a surprise, despite being in a meeting where he was briefed on the change. "There was some mention of a change for fobs or something, but I thought it was just, you know, they changed the fobs or whatever. Again, it's just shocking. Unbelievably shocking," he said. iNFOnews.ca learned the decision came from staff and all of council are barred from accessing staff areas in order to address bullying and harassment at city hall. It barred him going near staff, instead forcing him to detour around through council chambers. "If you come into city hall and ask for me, I can't come out and greet you without being escorted," he said. "It's just crazy." The change means he is separated from making direct contact with city employees at city hall without someone else present, seemingly with the exception of council's assistant. It comes on the heels of his release of a confidential employment investigation centred around his treatment of four employees early in the term. It's not clear why, as Hamer-Jackson is the one who has been accused of bullying and harassment at city hall, staff decided the change should apply to all of council. Councillor Bill Sarai, deputy mayor for April, would not comment on the move. Acting chief administrative officer Byron McCorkell was not immediately available. — This story was updated at 2:48 p.m., April 11, 2024, with new information about the policy. A previous version suggested the mayor was the only one barred from interactions with staff. 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 .