(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)

This week's Kamloops city council meeting turned tumultuous when the mayor was scorned for not intervening when a member of the public took too long to ask a question and for not doing his homework.

The trouble began during the public inquiries segment of the meeting Tuesday, Feb. 28, a period meant for questions related to the meeting's agenda, when a resident went over the five minutes of allotted time without asking a question, frustrating at least one councillor.

"We've got business to run on the city agenda and I'm more than open to answering questions," councillor Bill Sarai said. "So far, you have not had that. You're just making your own opinion, which is unfair to all of us."

The questioner, Mac Gordon a failed council candidate, was taking issue with the City's decision to evict residents of the Northbridge Hotel as winter approached.

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Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson asked Sarai if he'd like council to vote and have Gordon removed from the podium but Sarai fired back to say it's up to the mayor to make that choice on his own.

"It doesn't work that way," Sarai said. "You have your job to do, you should be doing it."

Instead of making the decision, Hamer-Jackson called for a five minute break. Gordon didn't return to the microphone, but he told iNFONews.ca the mayor asked to meet with him personally another day.

The nearly five-hour meeting ended with the rest of council pushing back against the mayor.

He tabled a notice of motion to support social agencies to hire 15 street outreach workers with the goal of having them on the street 24/7.

"You could have a (bylaw officer) or a security guard — and a security guard can't do anything and a lot of the time a (bylaw officer) can't — an outreach worker can... sit down and talk to them and say, 'Let's go to The Mustard Seed, let's do this, let's do that,'" Hamer-Jackson said as he tried to explain his intent behind the motion.

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The mayor was criticized for not doing his homework before asking for a vote.

"I'm trying to wrap my head around where you're going with this," councillor Mike O'Reilly said, noting it's not clear where funding will come from or whether any vehicles or office space would be needed.

Hamer-Jackson suggested funding should come from the province and be directed to non-profits. He suggested there was only one outreach worker on the streets of Kamloops but city staff said there are 25.

The City is running a pilot project with Canadian Mental Health Association and ASK Wellness with outreach workers on the streets 16 hours everyday, according to community and protective services director Byron McCorkell.

READ MORE: Kamloops mayor leaves meeting for his own motion

"So far it's proving to be quite successful and we're hoping to come back to council with the results of that pilot in hopes of continuing that pilot," McCorkell said. He didn't say when that might happen.

The eight councillors, while agreeing they'd like to see more services in Kamloops, opposed Hamer-Jackson's motion with an 8-1 vote.

Some noted that without somewhere like a sobering centre, detox or treatment to send someone, there's little use in having a greater outreach presence on the streets.

"What we're debating is a motion from our mayor that, in my view, lacks depth, lacks structure, is very vague," councillor Kelly Hall said. "The motion lacks substance and I can't support something that isn't well thought out."

The mayor asked what more substance Hall would be looking for.

"I guess what I'm saying, your worship, is when you bring a motion forward, if you collaborate with your colleagues and talk about what the motion is... there's a lot of good things that come from that. It's something you might learn one day," Hall said.

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