(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)

Eight Kamloops city councillors are set to meet tomorrow to potentially undo some of the changes Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson brought to council committees.

The mayor, however, might not attend.

"He advised us he has prior engagements," Coun. Dale Bass said. She didn't know where Hamer-Jackson will be. He responded to iNFOnews.ca via text message to say he'll try to attend virtually.

Hamer-Jackson said he's "fact-finding on successful supportive housing and shelter," along with "other projects" he's working on. 

Council took a stand against the mayor last week after he drastically changed the City's committee structure, adding unelected members of the public, in an unrepentant power move against his political rivals.

Among his additions were two people who failed in a bid for council in the October municipal election. Another helped on the mayor's election campaign. His vetting process to decide each new committee member isn't clear.

READ MORE: Kamloops councillors fire back at mayor's shake-up

He also chose three of his nine additional members to chair the committees, ousting councillors Bill Sarai, Kelly Hall and Mike O'Reilly from leading them.

The relationship between Hamer-Jackson and the eight councillors has only deteriorated in the months since the election. He issued a statement in response to the Friday press conference, which did little to mend the distance between them.

"I would urge my fellow councillors to put their bruised egos aside long enough to consider the merits of the changes that I am proposing and the value that the new committee appointees will bring to our city," Hamer-Jackson said in a written statement.

Under B.C. legislation, a mayor can appoint whoever they choose to the city's standing committees, as long as councillors make up 50% of its members. Nothing Hamer-Jackson did is against provincial legislation or against city policies.

READ MORE: Kamloops mayor snubs councillors in committee shuffle

However, council can change the policies for its committees and they're poised to do so at a meeting tomorrow, March 21. It's likely they will change the wording so only an elected member of council can chair a meeting, but Hamer-Jackson's nine additions will remain if he chooses.

The rift between councillors and the mayor, however, runs deeper than policy and committee appointments.

When Coun. Katie Neustaeter read a joint statement at the Friday press conference, she didn't focus solely on Hamer-Jackson's committee appointments.

READ MORE: Majority of B.C. residents say they are worse off than one year ago: poll

"While we as councillors have been subjected to repeated disrespect, violations of personal and professional boundaries, belittling and constantly disruptive behaviour by the mayor, we've been willing to absorb the impact in service to our community," she said.

Councillors refused to answer questions after the press conference and refused to answer questions again today on the mayor's "disrespectful" behaviour until at least after the Tuesday meeting.

Bass told iNFOnews.ca it would be "inappropriate to discuss how the mayor has reacted to some of my colleagues."

Hamer-Jackson called the joint statement "rife with untruths."

Although Neustaeter led the press conference, she was backed by the seven other councillors while reading the joint statement aloud.

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