City of Kamloops Interim CAO Byron McCorkell/via Mary Putnam

Byron McCorkell’s extended long weekend will come to an end when City Hall reopens for business next week.

As part of a special council meeting held Thursday afternoon, Kamloops councillors — minus Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson — have voted to reinstate McCorkell to his position as acting Chief Administrative Officer.

“In accordance with subsection 151(2)(a) of the Community Charter, effective immediately, Byron McCorkell is reinstated to active duties as the City’s Acting CAO / Community and Culture Director,” said an email notification issued by the City of Kamloops early Thursday evening.

“Mayor Hamer-Jackson was unable to attend the Special Council Meeting, citing personal reasons and, as such, was not included in the vote,” noted the release.  “The resolution was passed with a vote of 8-0.”

Deputy Mayor for the month of March, Mike O’Reilly, says he’s unable to talk about the discussions members of council had during the meeting, as it was closed over privacy issues, as it involves City personnel.

The session, which started at 3pm on Thursday afternoon, ran until after 5pm.

“A big kudos and shout out to our staff that, on a Thursday night of a long weekend, stayed and worked overtime to ensure that we are able to do the business of the city that city council deemed was necessary to have an emergency meeting,” said O’Reilly.

The meeting was called on Wednesday afternoon after Radio NL first broke news of McCorkell’s suspension on Wednesday morning.

Mayor Hamer-Jackson, while not present at the Thursday session, did tell Radio NL in an interview on Wednesday that he intends to provide a fulsome explanation as to his reasoning for suspending McCorkell at the next scheduled open meeting of Kamloops council on April 9th, suggesting Thursday’s meeting could have been delayed until that point.

The City of Kamloops news release Thursday evening also touched on previous suggestions from Mayor Hamer-Jackson that the special council meeting should not be allowed to go ahead, arguing that several members of council are in a conflict of interest due to family connections to the city, and subsequently, acting CAO McCorkell.

“The Mayor’s suggestion that some Councillors would be in a conflict of interest and unable to participate in this matter because their family members work for the City is without legal merit,” the statement reads.  “In a situation involving the pecuniary interest of a family members or other conflicts, individual Council members have an obligation to recuse themselves. That is not the case in this instance.”

With McCorkell now reinstated to his position, O’Reilly suggests the divide between the Mayor and the City’s chief of staff is something that will have to be overcome.

“I think that’s something they’ll have to stick handle on a case-by-case basis. Obviously we have dealt with issues and controversies in the last year-and-a-half on this council — all of them being brought at the hand of the Mayor — and we’ve found a way to continue to move forward,” said O’Reilly.

As for the publicity the situation has generated both locally, and around the rest of BC, O’Reilly says that too is something they will have to deal with moving forward.

“You’ve got to keep your head down and your chin up. That’s what we’ve been saying for the last year-and-a-half. We have a proven track record of what we’ve done with this council, and we have done a lot. All of it relates back to our Strategic Plan, and what we want to have done. That’s what we will continue to actively work towards,” said O’Reilly. “That Strategic Plan was unanimously adopted — a 9-0 vote — by mayor and council, and that’s our marching orders.”