Kamloops city council is considering doing away with public inquiries after a Zoom user disrupted Tuesday’s meeting by broadcasting hardcore pornography to people watching in city hall and online.
The incident, which resulted in the meeting being adjourned early, was the last straw for Coun. Bill Sarai. He said he had already been considering action on public inquiries after witnessing a steep decline in decorum and civility.
“The accusations and the finger pointing and the laughing has just gotten to the point where it hinders us to do our job,” he said.
Members of the public who wish to address council during regular meetings are instructed to keep to a five-minute time limit, be respectful and only raise topics that are being discussed by council as outlined in the meeting agenda.
However, the public inquiries portion often takes up a significant amount of time — occasionally more than an hour — and meetings have been plagued by disruptive behaviour, particularly in recent months.
Members of the public, some of whom frequently attend and address council on various matters, have been admonished for being disrespectful to city staff, asked to leave after interrupting proceedings, and persistently reminded to remain quiet after laughing, jeering or making remarks aloud during council discussions.
'Not what we're here to do'
Sarai said councillors and city staff would still be available to residents, just not in the middle of a meeting.
“We're more than willing to answer any questions that come our way, individually or as a group, whatever channel they need, and our staff are available,” Sarai said.
The councillor added he believes Kamloops is one of only a few communities that still include public inquiries in their regular meetings, with two places on the agenda where people are invited to address council.
“Both spots take up three-quarters of our time of doing the city's work that the taxpayers of our city have elected us to do, which is the business of the community — not getting finger pointed at or telling us our emails aren't getting addressed or because they're not getting the answers they need,” Sarai said.
He had noted earlier in the meeting, in response to an inquiry about council communication, that some people are indeed getting replies from elected officials or staff — they just don’t like the answer.
“This is a podium they're going to come to. That's not realistic. That's not what we're here to do, that’s not what I'm here to do. I'm here to work for the citizens.”
The City of Kelowna's regular council meetings don't include a public inquiries portion, and it doesn't appear on agendas for such meetings in other cities, including Vernon, Chilliwack and Prince George.
According to city websites, formal written submissions are permitted in Prince George, while Nanaimo allows for a public question period in some meetings — but members of the public can only ask questions of certain agenda items.
Meeting devolves into chaos
A turbulent public inquiries session Tuesday culminated in a Zoom-bombing incident which happened after an online participant asked to address council.
The attendee, identified only as Sue, was given permission to speak, and the face of a white-haired woman appeared on screen before a video showing pornographic clips and vulgar language set to loud music blared through council chambers.
Many people in the room were shocked, but some could be heard laughing — including Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson.
“Sue, you’re getting a little out of hand there,” Hamer-Jackson said as city staff cut the video feed.
The public inquiries portion continued, and council moved through a couple of items on the agenda before the city’s corporate officer Maria Mazzotta asked for a recess.
“I just want to flag for you that the visuals that were broadcast over Zoom by the participant during public inquiries — that many people in this room laughed at — were deeply disturbing for a number of staff watching this meeting online,” Mazzotta said.
The meeting was recessed for a few minutes, but after council reconvened, Mazzotta asked council for a longer recess or to adjourn the meeting. Her request was met with audible laughter and jeering from members of the public in the gallery.
“Point of order in the gallery, please,” Coun. Mike O’Reilly interjected. “Control the gallery, Mr. Mayor.”
Hamer-Jackson said he didn't see the video, and then said he only saw the elderly woman's face and “a cartoon.”
“Just so you're aware, what people saw watching on Zoom, they saw full screen," Mazzotta told the mayor. "So it was incredibly disturbing for those viewing. And the laughter in this room, just as, if not more disturbing — regardless of who it came from."
Sarai then made a motion to remove both public inquiry portions from council agendas.
“If somebody needs to get a hold of us, they can email us or come to the front counter [at city hall] and request our information,” he said.
Mazzotta said staff could work to bring forward a report, and council could make a decision at a future meeting. Tuesday’s meeting was then adjourned.
City issues apology
The City of Kamloops issued a public apology after the meeting.
“We take this matter seriously and are actively reviewing our procedures and security measures to prevent similar occurrences in the future and will take steps to prevent this from reoccurring ever again," the statement said.
Hamer-Jackson told Castanet Kamloops he thought the incident was “terrible.”
“I was not laughing because there was some sexual act. I saw a cartoon, is what I saw, and actually what I seen was shocking, because there was old lady there, then all of a sudden — boom,” he said.
When asked what could be done to make sure it didn’t happen again, Hamer-Jackson said that would be up to the city’s IT staff.
“I’m not as smart as the last mayor,” he said, referencing a moment earlier in the meeting when he was told his predecessor would take initiative himself to respond to questions from residents.
“I don't have those answers, but I will be asking staff, and I already did ask that."
Mayor blamed for decline
Coun. Stephen Karpuk, this month’s deputy mayor, said Tuesday's incident would likely be “the catalyst for change.”
“From my opinion, we’ll see no more public inquiries, and certainly nothing from Zoom unless they're vetted and are appropriate for the speaker or presentation on the matter at hand,” he said.
“But public inquiries — I think we just saw the end of it today.”
He said chairing a meeting isn’t an easy task, but still blamed the slip in decorum and civility seen in council chambers on the chair, Hamer-Jackson.
“It's largely stemming from the inability of our mayor to learn his job," Karpuk said.
"He was elected. Unfortunately, he has failed to fulfill the role as a mayor by learning his role, by taking courses, by learning from others who have a better understanding of policy, procedure, process."
Mounties notified
Will Beatty, the city’s community services manager, said staff would be sending the Zoom recording to the RCMP for investigation.
He said a risk assessment must be done if the city wants to continue allowing people to anonymously participate in a meeting.
“All it takes is an email address and an IP address to be able to get on to it — but again, considerations around that will be made with council as well as senior leadership,” Beatty said.
Karpuk said he was concerned for those affected by the incident.
“We have to be mindful of workplace conditions," he said.
"This is our staff's workplace. We are required to provide a safe workspace for them — and this was completely offside."
