Kamloops City Councillor Katie Neustaeter has no problem educating Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson on conflicts of interest, but seems to have challenges when it comes to her own.
Tax Exemptions
During a Committee of the Whole meeting on Aug 19, 2025, one of the items on the agenda was to grant permissive tax exemptions for some non-profit properties.
Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson asked whether they could sever (separate) the individual items as he felt he had a conflict on part of the recommendation.
Schooling the Mayor
Neustaeter took the opportunity to point out the Mayor’s mistake:
Just a point of clarity. If we have a conflict of interest, aren’t we supposed to declare it before a presentation comes forward and we listen to the information and before it goes to a motion?
Mayor Expresses Concern
The Mayor noted in the case of Thompson River Recovery Club, there are people that worked on his campaign, and a family member. He said he would recuse himself and asked “am I going to get a code of conduct complaint”. After a bit of discussion, he then asked: “maybe we can do what we did with Councillor Sarai here the way you did last council meeting”.
What About Sarai?
The Mayor was referring to the Aug 12, 2025 regular council meeting where Councillor Bill Sarai seconded a motion and voted on it.
In that case Deputy Corporate Officer Denise Anderson pointed out afterwards that Sarai had previously declared a conflict of interest on the matter. She suggested Council motion to rescind that vote and allow Sarai to recuse himself.
There were no points of clarity from Neustaeter. Instead she motioned to rescind the vote. There was also no need for Sarai to fear a future code of conduct complaint.
Failure to Recuse
Let’s get back to the tax exemptions. After the Mayor recused himself, the recommendation was voted on. Neustaeter at no point disclosed her own conflict of interest.
Neustaeter’s 2022 campaign manager Alix Dolson is the agency coordinator for the Kamloops Sexual Assault Councelling Centre. Dolson was also one of Neustaeter’s supporters during a recent court case.
Like Sarai, there is no need for Neustaeter to fear a future code of conduct complaint.
Election 2026
The next election is October 17, 2026. If you were considering voting for Katie Neustaeter or Bill Sarai, I urge you to reconsider.
Sarai Petition
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