Kamloops mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson and coun. Katie Neustaeter submit two very different versions of the truth in their legal feud.

Image Credit: YOUTUBE/City of Kamloops and SUBMITTED/Reid Hamer-Jackson

Legal documents stemming from Kamloops Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson's defamation suit against a councillor have revealed information about the past ten months at city hall that has previously gone unreported.

In the months since his election, the public has learned of numerous incidents that likely would have been kept private if not for tips to media, like bullying allegations and the hoarding of confidential documents.

But since the mayor launched his civil claim against Coun. Katie Neustaeter, new information is being revealed. In her recent court filing, she not only denies the defamation and libel claim, but also added specific examples of his "disruptive" behaviour and breaches of professional and personal boundaries, providing context to claims made by all of council earlier this year.

Some of the examples Neustaeter listed in her legal response have been leaked to media already, but went so far unreported as they could not be verified.

Perhaps one of the most damning claims in Neustaeter's response is that Hamer-Jackson tried to use her family to leverage her support for firing a City employee.

READ MORE: Kamloops mayor accused of using city councillor's family as leverage

Hamer-Jackson made it clear during his campaign he wanted to hold City employees "accountable," and it's still listed on his campaign website. iNFOnews.ca learned Hamer-Jackson tried to fire chief administrative officer David Trawin at least once, who was likely the person Neustaeter referred to.

The chief administrative officer is a mayor and council's only employee, and the only person they can dismiss. Every other employee reports to Trawin. The mayor, who often cites the Community Charter during council meetings, is aware of this.

He did not specifically deny trying to fire a staff member in a reply to Neustaeter's court response but has also told iNFOnews.ca he didn't know what she was referring to.

Neustaeter's father, former MLA Kevin Krueger, and the mayor, were in contact in the months after Hamer-Jackson was elected. In January, Krueger and Hamer-Jackson set up times to meet, but those plans fell through. He wanted Krueger's help to sway Neustaeter's support to dismiss an employee, according to Neustater's legal response.

"(I) set up a meeting with your dad and I know a lot of stuff about your family," he told Neustaeter during a Zoom meeting with staff and council, according to her filings.

Neustaeter repeatedly urged the mayor not to involve her family with City business and asked for privacy. She said she has not discussed her family with the mayor.

READ MORE: Kamloops mayor's legal battle with councillor unlikely to be resolved without trial: lawyer

Neustater hasn't released those details and wouldn't talk about it, but — perhaps because it's sensitive information — Hamer-Jackson exposed it himself in his own response.

In court documents Hamer-Jackson filed on July 31, he did exactly what she feared, detailing the sensitive information about her family and a difficult quarrel involving her parents. iNFOnews.ca is not repeating that information.

Hamer-Jackson's attempt to fire Trawin was one of at least two examples where he's tried to meddle with City employment.

Another incident previously gone unreported was Hamer-Jackson's attempt to get Coun. Bill Sarai's son hired with Kamloops Fire Rescue.

Nicholas Sarai is currently a bylaw officer, and the mayor attempted to get him employment with the fire department through his own influence, confirmed to iNFOnews.ca by Coun. Sarai. The details of this accusation and the mayor's intentions remain murky. Hamer-Jackson said there was "no violation" in his proposal and claims he was attempting to relieve Coun. Sarai of any potential conflicts of interest with decisions related to the bylaw department — another frequent punching bag for Hamer-Jackson before the election.

Elected officials are not permitted to interfere with employment at the city beyond top-level staff like Trawin. It separates mayors and council from day-to-day operations, often keeping elected leaders focused on high-level policy decisions.

While he tried to interfere with employees already at the City, Neustaeter claimed Hamer-Jackson also tried to hire his own "political allies" in staff positions. Although she didn't provide a specific example, he tried to hire Deborah Newby, who worked on his election campaign, as Trawin's assistant. The chief administrative officer doesn't currently have an assistant, but Hamer-Jackson told Kamloops This Week he felt the City's top employee needed help to keep up with the workload.

He wasn't able to get his "political ally" into the staff position, so he then added her, among others, to council committees before they were ultimately dissolved.

READ MORE: Kamloops mayor and councillor's feud a family affair

Hamer-Jackson denied in his response that he attempted to have his own political allies hired.

His response also shed more light on his decision to snub Coun. Dale Bass from the deputy mayor schedule in December.

Each councillor serves as deputy mayor on a monthly rotation, taking on mayoral duties when Hamer-Jackson is unavailable. Bass wasn't on the list in the first version of the schedule, released before a December council meeting. The list was revised and republished just before the meeting started and the mayor said Bass' omission was simply an "error."

Neustaeter claimed the mayor left Bass' name out because her husband was critical of him on social media. Hamer-Jackson now says it was actually in retaliation to her public criticism of him before he campaigned for mayor, according to a document he filed in court July 31.

He added Bass to the schedule once she apologized for her criticism, something he told iNFOnews.ca he was waiting on ever since he took office.

When councillors made their joint statement in March, rebuking Hamer-Jackson's behaviour in the months following his election, they warned reporters they would not be answering questions about their accusations that the mayor bullied, belittled and crossed personal and professional boundaries. They gave no specific examples.

The public has since learned the mayor was the subject of a workplace investigation at the time, with four staff members complaining about his behaviour.

Kamloops This Week reported Hamer-Jackson was found to have broken council's code of conduct with at least three people, including David Trawin, the City's chief administrative officer.

The mayor was informed of the investigation in February and it was completed before June. Hamer-Jackson, however, refused to meet with the investigator and told iNFOnews.ca he hasn't seen the report.

"I've been asking for the report," he said. "Right from the beginning I've been asking 'what are the claims?' and 'what are the accusations?'"

He said he cancelled a meeting with the City-contracted investigator because he would not inform the mayor of the allegations before their appointment. Hamer-Jackson also questioned the process by which the hired investigator out of Vancouver firm The Integrity Group, which is a company that specializes in workplace harassment investigations, according to its website.

"When you hire a lawyer, you're looking for the results you want," he said.

iNFOnews.ca does not have a copy of the investigation report, but confirmed the mayor was under investigation in June. The mayor now abides by restrictions because of the investigation, including a requirement for a City councillor to vet all his written communications to each complainant, according to Kamloops This Week.

Some of the mayor's infractions noted in the investigation were referenced in Neustaeter's legal response to his defamation claim, according to Kamloops This Week. It's not clear whether the investigation report will be used as evidence in the lawsuit.

It's also not clear how long the legal dispute could last, but it's possible it could continue past their four-year term.

Hamer-Jackson filed an application in court last week, aiming to have a judge strike a significant portion of Neustaeter's evidence from the defamation suit. Hamer-Jackson claims some of the evidence Neustaeter plans to rely on is hearsay and opinion, adding that parts are "prejudicial and embarrassing" to a fair trial.

Some of the allegations she used "consist solely of a compilation of political attacks," his application reads.

Hamer-Jackson plans to challenge emails he wrote, a written copy of the March 17 joint statement and Neustaeter's account of the mayor's dealings with her family.

The application is scheduled to be heard by a judge later this month.

None of their claims have been proven in court so far.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Levi Landry or call 250-819-3723 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom 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.

News from © iNFOnews, 2023