FILE PHOTO

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

The mayor of Kamloops won't be on the hook after a city-contracted security company told City staff he was directing their employees.

Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson directed Neptune Security guards to a property near his own car dealership last month three or four times, but the City's chief administrative officer, David Trawin, said it's a "closed issue."

"I think the mayor has realized he shouldn't be directing contractors or staff in that way," Trawin said.

Neptune Security emailed City staff after Hamer-Jackson told the employees to park on a property just next door to his own business. The mayor said he wanted to ensure the guards would be able to catch any security issues around Stereo Warehouse.

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He added he was not looking to benefit himself by ensuring the security guards were near his own business, Tru Market. Instead, he wanted them to station somewhere more central along the Victoria Street West corridor, which hosts two homeless shelters, a supportive housing facility and a city-operated storage facility for people who are homeless.

Trawin, too, said Hamer-Jackson wasn't looking to gain a benefit by using his position as mayor to direct a city-contracted company. Instead, he said Hamer-Jackson was acting as a business owner on that street, likely "without realizing people look at it differently when it's the mayor."

Trawin added council dealt with the issue "internally" after he and the City's legal counsel discussed it. He didn't say exactly what was done to address any conflict of interest or abuse of office allegations.

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iNFOnews.ca reported last week the mayor had directed the company on his own accord, which could have put him at risk for both abusing his office and a conflict of interest because of his own business interests.

Trawin also recognized Hamer-Jackson was instrumental in getting security on that street in the first place — before he was mayor — when businesses in the area saw an increase of property crime and drug use in the area once shelters and supportive housing facilities started opening.

Tru Market wasn't spared of those issues either. Hamer-Jackson has had numerous vehicles on his lot broken into or vandalized, and one vehicle was even torched on his lot just after he was elected.

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Hamer-Jackson said he helped convince B.C. Housing to contract security for the area, which splits the cost with the City.

Neptune security guards have now been directed to park on public property across from city hall when they work in the area, rather than park on private property among the businesses in the area, which the previous security company was doing since 2020.

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