Photo: KTW File Photo

Kamloops Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson

A code of conduct investigation has found that Kamloops Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson misled the public when he said he was approached by people in the community who thought a councillor accused him of sexual misconduct.

The investigation examined two complaints by Coun. Katie Neustaeter. It was conducted by lawyer Sarah Chamberlain of Southern Butler Price LLP in October of last year, with a price tag of $8,900.

On the first claim — that Hamer-Jackson misled the public by saying he had been approached by citizens who believed a statement read by Neustaeter implied sexual misconduct on the part of the mayor — Chamberlain found he breached the code of conduct.

A second complaint by Neustaeter was dismissed. The complaint alleged Hamer-Jackson discriminated against Neustaeter “on the basis of gender, age, and physical appearance” in comments from the mayor and his former lawyer that allegedly “endorsed and perpetuated the misogynistic view with his own statements and support of the position.”

Chamberlain recommended the city consider “appropriate censures as found within the code of conduct" for the mayor, including a public apology and training.

This past June, city council imposed a 10 per cent pay cut on the mayor for six months or until he delivered an apology letter for this infraction. He was reportedly directed to sign the letter in February after the investigator found he breached the code of conduct by making public statements he knew, or ought to have known, were false or misleading.

News conference was catalyst

The complaints stemmed from a news conference last year at which Neustaeter read a prepared statement on behalf of city council calling the mayor out for alleged “chaotic and unpredictable behaviour.”

The statement also claimed council had been subject to “violations of personal and professional boundaries.”

The mayor later filed a lawsuit against Neustaeter, alleging the statement was defamatory and resulted in the public believing he engaged in sexually inappropriate conduct toward women.

Hamer-Jackson has been accused of sexual misconduct. He is alleged to have touched a woman in the Blue Grotto nightclub in March of 2023. The incident is connected to a separate defamation suit the mayor filed against developer Joshua Knaak.

The six councillors who met with Chamberlain told her their statement on Hamer-Jackson’s behaviour did not refer to any alleged sexual impropriety by the mayor.

Mayor's story changes

Hamer-Jackson went on to reference the incident with Knaak in interviews with reporters, claiming it was connected to council's statement. The mayor and his then-lawyer, David McMillan, told Chamberlain they had been approached by citizens who told them they believed the statement referred to sexual misconduct.

“However, both declined to provide me with the names of these individuals or any supporting evidence to corroborate that this occurred,” Chamberlain's report states.

Hamer-Jackson cited his ongoing lawsuit with Neustaeter for his refusal to provide details to support the allegation.

When Chamberlain told him that was “not a valid legal basis” to withhold the information, he changed his story and said one unknown individual driving a blue truck yelled "pervert" at him.

“These two explanations are contradictory," Chamberlain's report states. "The mayor was then asked to attend a follow up interview with me to explain the inconsistency, but did not do so, and did not provide any valid basis as to why he could not attend a second interview."

Hamer-Jackson later said he was worried about violating privacy rights, Chamberlain said in her report, despite being informed there was no legal basis for such a concern.

'There is no evidence'

The investigation found Hamer-Jackson breached council's code of conduct by claiming he had encounters with citizens who also interpreted the statement to mean sexual misconduct.

“He bears some onus to provide evidence in this investigation to substantiate that what he claimed in public statements to have occurred as a consequence of the statement,” the investigation reads.

“There is no evidence to corroborate his statements that he was approached by citizens who called him ‘pervert’ or otherwise implied that they believed the statement referred to sexual impropriety, are true and not misleading.”

Neustaeter’s second claim was dismissed, as the investigator found Hamer-Jackson cannot be held responsible for McMillan’s conduct because his comments were not based on Hamer-Jackson’s instructions.

Last year, McMillan told Kamloops This Week that when a "young, attractive-looking" councillor claimed personal boundaries were violated, people might infer sexual misconduct. During the investigation, McMillan said he was paraphrasing feedback he heard from citizens, and his point was that the context of a statement can change depending on who delivers it.

McMillan is now taking Hamer-Jackson to court, claiming he's owed over $35,000 for legal work from 2021 to 2024, while Hamer-Jackson says the work was pro bono or done on a contingency basis.

Hamer-Jackson fires back

The mayor told Castanet Kamloops he disagrees with Chamberlain's findings.

He said he takes specific issue with her determinations based on the fact he wasn't able to provide the name of the person he claimed called him a "pervert" in that alleged drive-by name calling.

“I don’t know how I would actually track that — run to my vehicle and race down the highway and track him down?” he said.

In her report, Chamberlain noted some confusion in Knaak's timeline of events, specifically as it relates to the alleged Blue Grotto incident. Knaak's wife also refused to sit down for an interview as part of the investigation.

Speaking with Castanet, Hamer-Jackson took aim at both points. He called Knaak's evidence inconsistent and claimed the allegations against him are false, despite the investigation concluding council’s statement had nothing to do with the incident.

“She was the judge, jury, executioner,” the mayor said of Chamberlain. “They're hiring these expensive lawyers out of Vancouver, and to get the result that they want or don't want.”