Stealth Promotion Amid Tax Pain: Kamloops Grows Management While Residents Tighten Belts

At a time when Kamloops residents are bracing for significant tax increases, job insecurity, and the rising cost of simply staying afloat, the City appears to have quietly done what it does best: expand management — without bothering to tell anyone.

Buried inside the City of Kamloops’ organizational chart dated January 16, 2026 is a notable change. Long-time Communications Manager Kristen Rodrigue is now listed as Communications and Strategic Partnerships Director.

No press release. No Council announcement. No public explanation.

Just a new director-level title quietly appearing while taxpayers absorb the consequences of years of ambitious — and increasingly controversial — capital spending.

A Promotion So Quiet You’d Miss It — Unlike the Tax Bill

The City’s organizational chart confirms the promotion, but the absence of any formal disclosure is striking. This is not a lateral move. Director-level positions typically come with significant salary increases, expanded authority, and a seat closer to the executive core of City administration.

At a moment when residents are being told the City must tighten its belt, staff are being promoted into higher-paid strategic roles — without public scrutiny or discussion.

If transparency matters, why did this promotion happen silently?

The Face of Build Kamloops Messaging

Kristen Rodrigue is not an obscure internal hire. She has been one of the most visible voices shaping how residents are asked to understand — and accept — Build Kamloops, including its most contentious projects.

Rodrigue has:

These are not neutral projects. The performing arts centre alone has ballooned to an estimated $211 million, a figure that dramatically exceeds earlier expectations and has generated widespread public backlash.

Yet residents were repeatedly assured that escalating costs would not meaningfully affect their tax bills — messaging that rings hollow as tax increases now arrive.

Strategic Communications or Strategic Damage Control?

The new title — Communications and Strategic Partnerships Director — is revealing.

This role is not just about issuing press releases. It suggests:

In other words, as public trust frays and skepticism grows, the City has elevated the very function responsible for selling its decisions to the public.

That may be good strategy for City Hall. It is far less reassuring for taxpayers.

Management Bloat in an Era of Austerity — for Everyone Else

Kamloops residents are being told there are hard choices ahead. Budgets are tight. Costs are rising. Sacrifices are necessary.

Apparently, those sacrifices do not extend upward.

While frontline services face scrutiny and residents face higher bills, City Hall continues to add director-level roles — the most expensive tier of municipal staffing — at precisely the wrong moment.

The optics are hard to ignore:

This is not “right-sizing.” It’s doubling down.

Build Kamloops and the Democratic Disconnect

Public frustration with Build Kamloops isn’t just about dollars — it’s about process.

Many residents felt sidelined by the Alternative Approval Process, confused by shifting cost estimates, and patronized by reassurances that massive borrowing somehow wouldn’t hurt household finances.

Communications strategy mattered enormously here. And the City’s response to growing criticism appears to have been not reflection — but reinforcement.

Promoting the architect of that messaging during peak public dissatisfaction sends a clear signal: the problem, in City Hall’s view, is not the decisions themselves — it’s how they’re perceived.

A Question of Priorities

No one disputes that communications matter. But when residents are struggling, priorities matter more.

Is now really the time to:

Or should City Hall be modeling the same restraint it asks of the public?

Conclusion: Transparency Isn’t Optional

This article isn’t about personalities. It’s about governance.

A quiet promotion during a period of public financial strain undermines trust — especially when it involves someone so closely tied to selling the very projects driving that strain.

If City leadership believes this promotion is justified, they should explain it openly:

Until then, residents are left with the impression that while they’re being asked to pay more and accept less, City Hall continues to quietly reward itself behind closed doors.

And that, more than any communications strategy, is the message people are actually hearing.

Do you believe City Hall is prioritizing the right things during a time of rising costs? Share your thoughts with KamloopsCritic.ca.