FILE PHOTO - Kamloops Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson has been absent for more than a third of all closed council meetings since he was elected.

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson misses more closed meetings than the rest of his Kamloops council colleagues combined, according to city hall records.

His absences vary from conflicts of interest to personal reasons, and once leaving to speak with a third party without returning.

The attendance records were provided by staff at city hall, showing records for all nine elected officials at closed council meetings since the 2022 election.

"It is disappointing and it's something I think the community needs to understand, that the mayor has an obligation to not only be at open meetings to represent the city, but also the closed meetings," Coun. Kelly Hall said when contacted about the attendance records.

Hamer-Jackson, who is the one council member considered to have a full-time role and who earns a salary nearly three times that of his colleagues, has missed 21 of 60 closed council meetings. The other eight councillors have missed a combined 17. They range from Coun. Margot Middleton with four absences down to Coun. Stephen Karpuk who hasn't missed one meeting, according to records provided by City of Kamloops staff.

The mayor wouldn't answer when asked why he had missed as many meetings as he had.

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It's a track record that appears to have begun from the outset of his tenure when he missed both of the first two closed meetings. For two of this council's three December 2022 closed door meetings, he recused himself due to conflicts of interest.

In 2023, council hosted 35 closed meetings of which he was absent for 11. This year, he has so far been absent for eight of 22 closed door meetings.

Hamer-Jackson doesn't have the same track record for meetings that are open to the public with just one standout absence on Dec. 6, 2022, when he recused himself for a conflict of interest and went home for the rest of the meeting.

Closed meetings typically deal with land, legal and labour matters, and not all of issues discussed become public knowledge. 

"I think the importance of being there is you're part of the council of the day, relative to running the corporation," Hall said. "It's important to have everybody's view in the room at that time, provided they can be there and not be in conflict."

The records provided to iNFOnews.ca show only meetings for all of council and excludes separate committees, of which there are currently five. Hamer-Jackson, however, isn't a member of any committee and since June has been barred from sitting in on confidential committee meetings.

Communicating through text messages, Hamer-Jackson refused to comment beyond directing iNFOnews.ca to a recording of a Dec. 8, 2022, council meeting.

The video showed a brief discussion between Hamer-Jackson, city manager David Trawin and the city's lawyer Denise McCabe. Attempting not to reveal the contents of the meeting ahead, Trawin and McCabe said council was going to hear a legal opinion that may be "adverse" to Hamer-Jackson's interests. He was expected to not attend. Since that meeting, Hamer-Jackson has told iNFOnews.ca he was provided a "ten-page" legal opinion that he was only allowed to read once.

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He then attempted to direct iNFOnews.ca to speak with McCabe, retrieve a copy of the legal opinion and forward it back to him.

Hamer-Jackson said the recording makes it "perfectly clear" why he didn't attend the Dec. 8, 2022, meeting and added he was "excluded" from a closed meeting two days earlier. He refused to comment further when asked whether there is a connection to the remaining 19 absences.

"I don't have those stats in front of me as you do. So I'm not sure at this time. You should try to be more of a reporter as they focus on true, facial (sic) and accurate stories. I was just trying to help you with that information. But I see you have a different motive," he said in a text message and when asked once more to comment further. "I'm busy now. No comment."

Of the 21 absences, Hamer-Jackson missed seven meetings for "personal reasons," eight for conflicts of interest and five for reasons unexplained. The seven "personal reasons" were all before August 2024 and the city added a new "unexplained" category to its records since that month. It's not clear just how many "personal" absences were explained.

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For three of those conflicts, he failed to return for the remainder of the meeting. Two of his unexplained absences included a "recusal" that wasn't specified as a conflict and one in which he left to speak with a third-party and did not return.

Hall said he couldn't see any correlation between the December 2022 meeting and the rest of Hamer-Jackson's absences.

"We've come to the point where we're going to conduct the city's business as best we can, regardless if he's going to be there," Hall said. "If he's not there, then we've got a job to do and that's to conduct city business we're elected to do."

Of the rest of council, only Coun. Katie Neustaeter has recused herself for a conflict of interest. Most of the councillors absences were labeled as personal.

Councillors Bill Sarai, Dale Bass and Nancy Bepple, along with the mayor, each had one absence for city business.

It's not clear whether the mayor's absences will continue, but he hasn't been to five of the last six closed meetings. He gave no reason for the most recent three, according to city records.

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.

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