Kamloops citizens are burdened with outrageous property taxes, and most other expenses are increasing faster than their income. While many employees pack a lunch for work, the same isnโt true for Kamloops City Council. They enjoy free meals and trips at taxpayer expense.
Free Meals
The City advised that Council meals are provided on Council and Committee of the Whole meeting days.
Free Trips
One of the Council's recent trips was to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) annual conference in Ottawa. This was a 4 day event from May 29 to June 1, 2025.
Despite emailing citycouncil@kamloops.ca objecting to any more than 2 council members attending the event, 5 councillors attended. This included Councillor Bill Sarai, whose attendance I clearly noted my opposition to.
FCM Expenses
Hereโs the numbers the City provided regarding the councillorโs expenses for this trip:
This of course left me with questions, which I sent to citycouncil@kamloops.ca:
Much to my surprise, Councillor Sarai responded to my email:
I did send numerous emails. 12 of them were follow ups looking for responses to emails I originally sent as far back as November 2024. Council directs us to send emails to citycouncil@kamloops.ca, but โservice excellenceโ doesnโt seem to apply to responses.
Saraiโs reply leads to several other questions:
- Since when can a deputy mayor instruct staff? As per the letter Council presented to the Mayor in Dec 2022, โNo elected official โ not even the mayor โ has the authority to direct municipal staff in the conduct of their official employment duties.โ
- If Sarai wasnโt initially going, why did he feel his presence was necessary when his schedule cleared?
- Did Sarai not consider the additional expense related to last minute booking, and whether his attendance was worth it to the taxpayers?
- Does Sarai realize that having a budget does not obligate councillors to spend it all?
Where Did They Stay?
Iโm assuming these councillors have heard of hotels.com, Expedia, etc. No one pays full price for a hotel anymore. So assuming we allow 5 nights for a 4 day conference, where did they stay to come up with these hotel expenses?ย
Why didnโt Bass and Bepple share a room? Why didnโt Sarai share a room with his whisper buddy Hall?
Fiscal Responsibility
I cringe whenever this council asks us to allow them to borrow more money. The expenses above are a great example of how Council manages a budget.
Iโve heard the word โboldโ used in reference to Councilโs last AAPs for the PAC and arena multiplex. Considering the definition โshowing an ability to take risks; confident and courageousโ, I suggest that it's easy to be โboldโ when you're spending someone elseโs money.
Iโll be a solid NO on the AAP for the new RCMP building. To be clear, Iโm not against a new building. Iโm against the poorly thought out plan.
Sarai Petition
Not thrilled with Sarai? Havenโt signed the petition for him to resign?
You can add your name here: Bill Sarai Must Resign From City Council
0 Comments