A bid by the Mayor of Kamloops to expedite the creation of town hall meetings in the city has been shot down by council.

Reid Hamer-Jackson put forward a notice of motion to the Tuesday City Council session, asking staff to find a date for a town hall.

“Whereas during Regular Council meetings, members of the public are limited to making inquiries on matters related to the Council agenda,” states the Mayor’s Notice of Motion put forward to council on Tuesday. “Therefore, with the intention of creating a public forum for members of the public to share their direct comments and questions to Mayor and Council on matters other than those on a Regular Council agenda, be it resolved that Council direct staff to find a date to host a town hall meeting.”

On a suggestion that the first town hall session could be launched by the end of June, Corporate Officer Amanda Passmore told council the timeline was logistically difficult.

“I looked into this a couple of weeks ago, and I regret to say that it is quite impractical and virtually impossible due to, one – city facilities being booked up, NorKam Mechanical Lounge in particular where we typically hold a venue like this is very busy in June, not available in July and August,” stated Passmore.

“I also have to book a vendor, and our vendors who arrange audio/visual equipment are very busy, and I need to give them more like two or three months’ notice.”

However, the debate then took a political turn, as councillors argued that plans to set up town hall meetings are already in the works through the Community Relations and Reconciliation Committee chaired by Councillor Bill Sarai.

“We’ve already sort of roughly discussed that if we’re going to do town halls like we all campaigned on, and want to do it because the residents need to be heard,” countered Sarai, arguing civic departments need to be involved as well. “Just to have a town hall meeting [for the sake of a town hall meeting] is not a good way to do business. It’s not a good way to engage our residents.”

The Community Relations and Reconciliation Committee is currently frozen but expected to be restored in the next couple of weeks.

Sarai went on to suggest the forum Reid Hamer-Jackson has been proposing would end up being a “venting session” about community safety, something which the Mayor pushed back on, noting his motion makes no mention of items to be discussed.

“It says nothing about safety in the community,” pointed out Hamer-Jackson. “This could be members of the public wanting to talk about potholes. They can talk about anything they want. Our staff will be here. I don’t know why you’re assuming somebody is going to barrage it. This is the citizens of the community.”

The debate then shifted toward a previous vote made in late February, where councillor Katie Neustaeter noted the Mayor did vote against a motion — which ultimately passed – to refer the creation of town hall meetings to the Community Relations and Reconciliation Committee.

The impasse ultimately led to a terse exchange between the Mayor and Councillor Katie Neustaeter.

“When did I vote against community engagement?” asked the Mayor during the exchange.

“February,” countered Neustaeter.

Reid Hamer-Jackson then conceded that may have happened.

“As a rookie Mayor, I’m sorry, but I could have made a mistake,” Hamer-Jackson told Neustaeter, prompting another terse retort from the councillor.

“I am getting frustrated with that line of ‘rookie,’ because most of us around this table, this is our first time, and we understand our jobs,” Neustaeter said.

City Hall documents show the Mayor did, on February 28th, vote against a motion to refer the creation of town halls to Sarai’s committee. However, that same motion also included a call to limit speakers at council to five-minutes – something Reid Hamer-Jackson has been opposed to.

In shooting down the Mayor’s plan, Councillor Bill Sarai argues town hall meetings in Kamloops are going to happen.

“My committee, when it’s re-formed, it will have a town hall meeting, done properly, with the support of all of council – including you Mr. Mayor if you want to get onboard now,” said Sarai after the vote to reject the Mayor’s proposal.

“The town hall meetings are coming, so please do not be telling the public something that is untrue.”