Kamloops mayor, council welcome rules policing public’s bad behaviour in council

Thinking of watching a Kamloops council meeting? Turn your phone off and prepare for a bag check.

Council chambers in Kamloops this term have periodically been a theatre of bad behaviour and not just among elected officials. Mocking and distracting conduct from the audience have escalated security concerns for city staff and now members of the public are subject to a set of conduct rules.

The bulk of the rules require the public audience to be respectful listeners, restricting them from speaking, eating or interrupting the meeting. They also restrict people from using electronic devices during the meeting and subject them to bag checks.

Although council had no role in implementing the new policy, it’s a welcome change for them.

“It’s unfortunate, but that’s the world we live in now,” Coun. Dale Bass told iNFOnews.ca.

She said previous terms have largely been without incident, but the past three years have seen heckling from the gallery and some behaviour that had city officials question whether their safety was at risk.

“There was a time earlier in the term where some of us were concerned that a certain person who was coming in regularly to speak might be unwell enough to do something,” Bass said. “Some of the rhetoric that came out of that individual was just so bizarre and unsettling… some of us wondered if that could be someone who might go off the deep end.”

She said there have also been times when some staff members wouldn’t join council meetings in person because of safety concerns.

The conduct rules for the public come a year after council received a third-party report detailing security gaps at city hall. A copy of that report was almost entirely redacted in a Freedom of Information request, but Bass said it showed there was work to be done and it was up to staff to follow through.

It also comes after council suspended its public inquiries section at its meetings, where residents were once allowed to ask questions about the topics related to the meeting. Poor conduct came to a head with a porn-bombing incident on the livestream feed, which led council to suspend it and review the rules.

Behind the scenes, some councillors have faced more specific threats and harrassment during the term.

“I’ve had a few very concerning incidents throughout this term and they are fairly baffling. I’ve never experienced this kind of conflict in the workplace before,” Coun. Katie Neustaeter said.

Much of it has been gender-based, she said.

“There is an element of added work that you take on when it’s in a public forum and I accept that,” she said. “That doesn’t meant that it’s acceptable. It means that I will not let it get in the way of the work I came here to do.”

Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson, too, at least partly welcomed the change.

“Think it would be great but needs procedural justice,” he said in a text message to iNFOnews.ca.

On an unrelated note, he went on to take issue with the numerous code of conduct investigations into his own behaviour.

“Seriously how can anyone be as bad as they allege I am,” he said.

Bass and Neustaeter said Kamloops isn’t alone in the devolving conduct directed at public officials. There are numerous examples of tensions between politicians and the public in BC and the country, but both Bass and Neustaeter also pointed to Hamer-Jackson as at least part of the reason for a worsening environment locally.

“It’s always been just ‘come in and be polite.’ There have been moments where it wasn’t particularly polite, but not like what we’ve experienced this term,” Bass said. “And, we had strong mayors that said sit down or out you go. We didn’t have to have (bylaw officers) there to monitor.”

They both said previous mayors have maintained control over public council meetings, but Hamer-Jackson has been seen to let behaviour slide on numerous occasions in council meetings.

The rule on electronics also adds the complicating condition that members of the media are the only ones allowed to use electronics in council chambers.

“Yes, it does pose a problem. What do we do with a blogger who comes in that some people refer to as media and other people don’t? What do we do if journalism students come in?” Bass said.

She said city staff will likely address any changes needed if issues arise, adding that council meetings have long had a rule against cell phones.

The rules against electronics does two things. Like a movie theatre, it means the audience can’t use cell phones inside and it also restricts people from recording elected officials during the meeting.

While the city does livestream meetings and save the recordings for later viewing, they have been edited in the past.

On multiple occasions, like in a case just last month, staff have cut out portions of the recorded meetings where Hamer-Jackson breached privacy law by publicly revealing information he was not allowed to.

Anyone in the room, of course, would have heard what Hamer-Jackson said, but it isn’t included in the public record through video or the meeting minutes.

In Lake Country, a similar case occurred where the mayor’s words were edited from the record. Mayor Blair Ireland’s profanity-laced hot mic moment in January was cut from a public hearing video before the district posted it online.

Neustaeter and Bass, however, said the city will commit to transparency as the new rules take effect.

Asked for comment on the new policy, the BC Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs said local governments “are autonomous, independent, democratically elected and accountable to their constituents.”

It had no specific issue with the new rules for Kamloops.

The ministry said providing the public a chance to engage is an important part of transparency, but council also has an obligation to protect the safety of everyone in attendance, including the public and council members.

“The best way to do this is to ensure that procedural rules are clear, are followed and order is maintained. Local governments are required to establish a procedure bylaw that sets out the procedures for how meetings are to be conducted, including opportunities for the public to speak. In extreme circumstances, councils may have to consider additional security measures to ensure the safety of all,” a statement from a ministry spokesperson read.

A newly-formed city hall watchdog group, Kamloops Citizens United, said the rules “treat ordinary residents as potential threats.”

“People have the right to express concern or frustration to their elected officials, but this council continues to discourage or disallow public participation in council meetings,” the group said in a statement.

The group criticized it as an overreach, while urging council to themselves observe the rules of decorum.

City staff who brought in the new policy were not available for comment.