FILE PHOTO

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Reid Hamer-Jackson

Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson's state of the city speech would have been much different if not for last-minute interference by the city's top employee and deputy mayor.

Hamer-Jackson submitted photos to the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce ahead of the event with the goal of putting together a slideshow that showed the "successes" in Kamloops, along with the social issues on city streets.

The city was alerted and stopped it before the presentation was made.

That top employee, acting chief administrative officer Byron McCorkell, was suspended by the mayor less than two weeks later.

When asked by iNFOnews.ca on March 27 if he suspended McCorkell out of retaliation for the slideshow interference, the mayor denied it.

"Not even close," he said. "You know I'm not a retaliatory guy."

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He later conceded it was part of a "list" of reasons, but he was apprehensive about how much he should say when he first spoke about the suspension.

McCorkell stepped into the chief administrative officer role earlier this month, taking over while David Trawin is on a leave of absence for an undetermined length of time.

At the chamber of commerce event, the mayor opened his speech noting that it would have been accompanied by a slideshow if not for the interference. It would have included photos, most taken with cell phones of development projects around the city and social disorder.

Photos of boarded up buildings, graffiti, human feces and one, which caught the attention of media and the city, of what has been described as oral sex in a public place.

iNFOnews.ca has seen the photo.

It depicts a man facing the camera lens with his back against a wall. What appears to be a woman is in front, on her knees, with her back facing the camera. They appear to be in an alley and they are fully clothed. Some details of his clothing are visible, but it's difficult to identify the man as the low quality of the photo blurs his face.

The city was alerted by the chamber of the photos to be included, so McCorkell said he stepped in and stopped it. The mayor continues to say he did not see the photos but rather forwarded them to the chamber. He asked people to send him the photos, without saying it was meant for a presentation.

READ MORE: Kamloops mayor suspends city's top employee

McCorkell said he acted to "protect the corporation" from potential legal liabilities by stopping the photo from being shown. Aside from the potential legal issues, he also acknowledged that the city wants to protect its "image," but that possible violations of privacy and intimate image legislation were the top concerns.

He added that the mayor could have spoken with the communications department for help with photos in order to present the message he wanted. That didn't happen.

In the wake of McCorkell's suspension, Hamer-Jackson claims he's gotten phone calls from unionized city staff who have "thanked" him for the move. Some, he claims, worked in the bylaw department -- a division McCorkell oversaw through an overhaul that placed the city in a long, protracted legal battle with the union.

Hamer-Jackson said another reason for suspending McCorkell was because of his "directive" to have Hamer-Jackson's election signs moved from some locations during the 2022 civic election. They were later replaced, Hamer-Jackson said.

Beyond his personal issues over the slideshow and supposedly moved election signs, Hamer-Jackson said it's time for a "new direction" as he continues to point his main focus on social issues in the city.

Council has already jointly voiced support for McCorkell as they head into a meeting this afternoon to address the suspension.

Although the mayor frequently laments he has no support from the eight councillors, of whom he needs the support of at least four to pass his own initiatives, he insists that he expects some support on the two-thirds vote needed to oust McCorkell from his job.

He believes four councillors shouldn't be allowed to vote on the matter anyway because of potential conflicts of interest.

The mayor said councillors Stephen Karpuk, Bill Sarai, Margot Middleton and Mike O'Reilly are in a conflict because they each have immediate family members who work for the city, while acting chief administrative officer McCorkell is their boss along with the rest of the city's 900 employees.

Hamer-Jackson won't be at today's 3 p.m. meeting. He said he'll be in Vancouver on Thursday afternoon for meetings before flying to Las Vegas on Friday.

He wouldn't say who he was meeting with in Vancouver, but did say he wouldn't postpone the appointments and it's "probably" city business.

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