Photo: Castanet Kamloops Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson greets supporters ahead of a rally last week on Columbia Street West. Fingers were pointed in both directions a week ago when Kamloops Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson misled reporters to lure them to a rally at which the mayor sicked his angry supporters on one of his most vocal critics, a local journalist. But only one person is to blame.
Hamer-Jackson was wagging his finger in the face of Brett Mineer, the host of an afternoon opinion show on Radio NL. He has not been shy about criticizing the mayor's performance on air. The mayor wanted Mineer gone from the event and he said so.
It’s important to note that Hamer-Jackson called the supposed news conference personally , sending a series of late-night text messages to local journalists days earlier. I got a text from the mayor at about 11:45 p.m.
on July 11. He said he wanted reporters at the scenic lookout on Columbia Street West at 10 a.m.
on Monday, July 15, for an announcement regarding “resignation consideration.” This is inherently newsy, especially coming a few months after city councillors took the unprecedented step of formally asking the mayor to quit . Then, after a roller-coaster speech with his wife by his side, Hamer-Jackson stood there at the scenic lookout and said he’d “never really considered” stepping down at all.
Ugly scene stoked by mayor This was no press conference, where journalists are invited to ask questions so that information can be disseminat.