Maybe the better question is: Who isn’t paying attention during Kamloops City Council meetings? If I was presenting to Council and councillors were busy with their phones, I would be annoyed. How frustrating is it to feel unheard because someone thinks they and their phone are more important than listening? This behaviour is nothing short of rude and disrespectful.
Addressing Council
After witnessing many occasions where councillors are busy on their phones while someone is speaking, I sent my complaint to citycouncil@kamloops.ca last month:
Although I assume my email was received, as of yesterday’s regular council meeting, nothing had changed.
Addressing The Deputy Mayor
During yesterday’s meeting, I emailed citycouncil@kamloops.ca again at 1:38 pm:
To my surprise, I received a reply from current Deputy Mayor Kelly Hall at 2:03 PM:
I then replied to Hall:
Bass Chimes In
In a similar manner, Councillor Dale Bass attempts to justify her phone usage:
I then replied to Bass:
Bass’ response to that was:
I get that I have a tendency to be pretty direct and blunt, but is this an appropriate response for an elected official?
Not So Public Meetings
As a citizen and taxpayer, I am concerned about the amount of secret conversations occurring during a public meeting. While other councillors seem to be more discreet with their phone usage, Councillors Bass, Hall, and Sarai are habitual offenders.
What are these conversations with staff that are going on? Aren’t the appropriate staff in the room? What is being discussed? Why is it being hidden from the public?
The other issue is the whispering. Again, Hall is the worst offender. I always wonder what they are plotting when I see councillors whispering to each other during the meeting. What is being said, that it has to be hidden from the public?
Should Phones Be Banned?
Does there need to be a cell phone ban to get these people to pay attention to the job at hand? It’s clear from the exchange above that Hall and Bass were reading and sending email during the meeting. What I find odd is that they chose to respond to the email I sent during the meeting. My emails to Council generally go unanswered.
If Hall tries to use his temporary Deputy Mayor title as an excuse, it isn’t a valid excuse. He’s on his phone regularly, whether he’s DM or not.
I don’t think a ban is necessary. Councillors just need to respect each other and those speaking to council. Put the phones down and stop whispering.
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