Acting Chief Administrative Officer Byron McCorkell

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/City of Kamloops

Kamloops city council promptly reinstated its top employee after the mayor suspended him just two days earlier.

Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson wasn't there for the meeting, despite starting the process that could have cost Byron McCorkell his job.

On March 26, Hamer-Jackson suspended acting chief administrative officer McCorkell, handing him a letter that cites the mayor's legal authority to do so.

Restrictions in place after a workplace bullying and harassment investigation mean McCorkell is one of four employees Hamer-Jackson can't speak to or meet with alone, so they were joined by Coun. Margot Middleton.

When news broke the next day, council quickly called a meeting to address the suspension and, in a news release, said the mayor had "no grounds or justification" for the "surprise suspension."

READ MORE: Kamloops mayor points to botched presentation for attempt to oust acting CAO

Hamer-Jackson does have the right to suspend an employee, as the mayor deems necessary. To dismiss that employee entirely, however, it requires a two-thirds vote from council at the next meeting.

A unanimous vote March 28, without Hamer-Jackson's participation, reinstated McCorkell.

The mayor told iNFOnews.ca he wanted to address the suspension at the next regularly scheduled meeting on April 9. He would be in Vancouver for appointments on Thursday afternoon, then fly to Las Vegas the next day to watch his son's professional lacrosse game.

Hamer-Jackson said his Vancouver appointments could not be postponed, but he declined to say who he was meeting or whether it was City business.

Despite frequently repeating his belief that he has no support from the rest of council, lamenting consistent 8-1 votes on his initiatives, he told iNFOnews.ca he expected some support from other councillors to remove McCorkell from his position.

READ MORE: Kamloops mayor suspends city's top employee

But he also said he believed four councillors would be in a conflict of interest, barring their ability to vote on McCorkell's employment. That's because councillors Bill Sarai, Mike O'Reilly, Stephen Karpuk and Margot Middleton all have immediate family members working for the City, while McCorkell is effectively their boss as the top employee at city hall.

In voicing their support for McCorkell through a news release on March 28, council also said the mayor's claim that half of them would be in conflict is "without legal merit."

"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," the news release reads.

McCorkell stepped in as acting chief administrative officer earlier this month after David Trawin took a leave of absence. It's not clear how long Trawin will be away.

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