Kamloops City Councillor Keturah (Katie) Neustaeter jumped in on an email I sent to Corporate Officer (CO) Maria Mazzotta yesterday. I was quite surprised by her words and wondered if other citizens have received similar messages from Neustaeter.
Re: Code of Conduct Breaches
I’ll be very honest, I probably send more emails to the City and Council than the average citizen, but I do believe I have very legitimate concerns. My emails also certainly relate to City business.
Many of my emails are follow ups, as I often do not receive a reply. That’s why I was very uncomfortable receiving the following email from Neustaeter.
Initial Email
My initial email on this chain was sent to Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Byron McCorkell on October 10th, 2025. That was over a month ago.
If you haven’t read my earlier article, you can do so here: Thou Shalt Not Complain.
My understanding from the Code of Conduct Bylaw is that members of Council or staff can submit complaints. As Neustaeter is well aware, sending complaints to the Ombudsperson takes a considerable amount of time, and her term would most likely be completed before an investigation could be completed.
Follow Up Emails
I sent 3 follow up emails before receiving Neustaeter’s email.
Oct 21, 2025
Oct 31, 2025
Nov 13, 2025
Response to Neustaeter
Although I was deeply offended by Neustaeter’s email, and could have ignored it, I felt I should still share my thoughts with her. Hopefully she’ll reflect on her words and choose them more carefully when engaging with other citizens.
I’m hoping I receive a better reply from CO Mazzotta, as she is generally prompt and helpful. On the other hand, I did question her participation in the breaches.
Another Breach
Although I haven’t received a response from the City or Council as to who the other 2 Code of Conduct complaints are against, there has been speculation that one of them is against Councillor Stephen Karpuk.
As the City is very protective of the privacy of dismissed or withdrawn complaints, it is doubtful that they will confirm that Karpuk was a respondent. Of course, if it is true, they can’t deny it either. At most, I expect we’ll hear something that includes “FIPPA”.
Request for Resignations
As noted in my initial email, I respectfully demand Neustaeter and Sarai’s resignations. And now, I also request Karpuk’s resignation.
The decision to prevent citizens from submitting Code of Conduct complaints directly was a significant one. As one can see, Neustaeter would prefer me to go to the Ombudsperson than permit someone to submit a complaint on my behalf. She also demonstrates no accountability for her actions in this matter.
Perhaps the Mayor or another member of Council will take a stand for transparency and accountability. Maybe it will even be Councillor Mike O’Reilly who submits the complaint. This is a great opportunity for him to show us what kind of Mayor he’d be if elected in 2026.
Your Experiences Emailing City Council
I’ve heard numerous cases of citizens sending emails to citycouncil@kamloops.ca, and receiving no reply or acknowledgement. What has your experience been? Has it been good, or bad? Please let us know in the comments.
Reach Out
If you haven’t already, you may want to reach out to Council at citycouncil@kamloops.ca and let them know how you feel about these breaches. Feel free to join me in my demands for resignations from these councillors.
UBCM Submission
If you need further reason to reach out with comments, I encourage you to review Appendix 8 of Council’s report to former Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs Ravi Kahlon. Have a look at pages 431-433 at the very end of the document. Aside from recommendations clearly targeting the Mayor, one of them specifically targets the public.
Weaponization of codes of conduct is a great choice of words. Has there ever been a more obvious example of weaponization than within our own Council? With the number of complaints they have lodged at the Mayor, one or more of them was bound to be substantiated.
Regardless of investigator findings, the 4 “substantiated” complaints against the Mayor are still subject to questions of their validity.
Election 2026
The next election is October 17, 2026. If you were considering voting for Councillors Neustaeter, Sarai, or Karpuk, I urge you to reconsider.
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