In 2023, Metro Matters devoted a
decent amount of
attention to the
dysfunction in a number of
municipalities across the province.
One reason was that with so many new governments, it was important to keep tabs on which ones were having difficulty functioning. Another reason was that more local governments seemed to be having difficulties compared to past years.
But as time went on, one question started to appear on the various comment boards on which our videos were posted: Which municipality was the most dysfunctional?
“We are Harrison Hot Springs x 100,” said one person when we did a story on the mayor of Kamloops feuding with the fire chief.
“Kamloops is just as trashy,” said another when we talked about the mayor of Harrison Hot Springs trying to find “
the mole” in his community.
They’re arguably the two municipalities that have attracted the most notoriety in the last year for their governance situations. But one municipality has clearly had bigger issues than the other.
It’s true that both communities have mayors with an
acrimonious relationship with a
majority of council (Ed Wood in Harrison Hot Springs and Reid Hamer-Jackson in Kamloops).
A mayor has just one vote, despite the outsized attention they tend to receive. The nuts and bolts of local government boil down to a well-functioning council passing laws, and a professional staff implementing them.
That’s continued to be the case in Kamloops, despite the many headlines around Hamer-Jackson. Council may be a mix of left and right-wing politicians, but they’re united in trying to sideline the mayor while showing their
support for senior staff. Some votes are 8-1 (with the mayor being the 1), but the business of running a city continues at the same pace as most cities.
In Harrison Hot Springs, it’s a council split three votes to two, with a feud between two of them that go back decades, involving semi-regular shouting matches. Last week,
yet another meeting ended early due to a dispute. Virtually all senior staff members
left in the last year, and the lack of staff support meant even things like getting a
new playground got delayed.
Many municipalities across B.C. have controversial mayors, a dysfunctional council, or massive staff turnover, but Harrison Hot Springs was the only place in the province that featured all three in 2023.
Nonetheless, 2024 is a new year. While 160 other municipalities hope for effective governance, it would take a lot for any of them to usurp Harrison Hot Springs’ year.
