Reid Hamer-Jackson is officially the mayor of Kamloops after he was sworn into office on Nov. 1, 2022.

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson said at his inaugural speech his goal is to start five separate task forces at Kamloops city hall.

His first, and most predictable, is his "recovery task force," which would focus on drug recovery and homelessness in Kamloops.

"I've been working hard for about four years, working at getting recovery facilities. And I've been working about three years on the streets in the middle of the night... talking to people on the streets," he said. "They're good people, but they just don't look good. They've got a lot of good ideas and a lot of them are looking for recovery."

He won the 2022 election campaigning largely on a platform focused on public safety and accountability at city hall.

He expanded on what he plans to do now that he's official taken over the mayor's chair during his speech on Nov. 1.

READ MORE: Kamloops mayor-elect setting poor example: Expert

"We are here to build bridges, not build walls and fences around Kamloops," he said, in a nod to past criticisms that his proposed drug recovery centre would amount to a concentration camp.

His five "task force teams" would focus separately on drug recovery, attainable housing, healthcare accessibility, transportation and recreation, he said.

"We have other committees too, and I'm not saying we're going to eliminate those," he said in an interview after the meeting closed.

When asked how he chose the five task force topics, he said they're some of the more import challenges for the city.

He wants to start the task forces as soon as possible, which won't necessarily be restricted to city councillors.

READ MORE: One relationship already threatening to test new Kamloops council

Previous mayor Ken Christian had one mayor's task force, which focused on economic recovery during the pandemic.

It included MLAs, MP Cathy McLeod, Tk'emlups Kukpi7 (chief) Rosanne Casimir, economists and business people from the Kamloops area. The 16-person panel, including Christian, then presented suggestions to kickstart the local economy for council to consider.

That task force held its first of four meetings in May 2020, with the final report released in September.

Hamer-Jackson will soon appoint who will sit on the city's other five committees. Each includes three councillors.

Hamer-Jackson's inaugural speech and the full council meeting can be found here.

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. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2022