ARMCHAIR MAYOR
ROTHENBURGER: Pointing the finger for allowing drugs and guns in hospitals
IF YOU'VE BEEN WONDERING who to blame for allowing illicit drug consumption and weapons in B.C. hospitals, and leakage from the "safe" drug supply, here's the answer: whoever's in government, anywhere.And who will fix the problem? Easy: whichever political parties are not in government, anywhere.For the past ...
Apr 11, 2024
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ARMCHAIR MAYOR
ROTHENBURGER - What did the CSO arbitration cost Kamloops taxpayers?
IT WAS GOOD NEWS when the City announced that all the problems have been ironed out with the Canadian Union of Public Employees over the switch from Bylaws to Community Service Officers. "We can confirm that the entirety of the dispute and all differences have been resolved to the satisfaction of the City and the ...
Apr 10, 2024
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Armchair Mayor
ROTHENBURGER: A surprise piece of mail reopens the debate on mayor's conduct
THINGS SOMETIMES arrive in unexpected ways. Take the Integrity Group report on an investigation into Mayor Reid-Hamer Jackson's conduct at City Hall, for example. The investigation, triggered by a shouting match between the mayor and a City councillor in the mayor's office, was completed almost a year ago, and a report...
Apr 06, 2024
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ARMCHAIR MAYOR
ROTHENBURGER: Tax exemptions for developers won't solve the housing crunch
DEVELOPMENT COST CHARGES don't make for exciting reading. In fact, a lot of people probably don't even know what they are, but they go to the root of a very important question: how much should residents be expected to pay so land developers can increase their profits?Right now, with the provincial government rushing pe...
Apr 04, 2024
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ARMCHAIR MAYOR
ROTHENBURGER: Please, let's allow the Byron McCorkell episode to go away now
THE BYRON McCORKELL affair is over. Let it stay that way.Acting CAO McCorkell was suspended from his job, then he was re-instated. Let it end there.Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson, at first quoted as saying he intends to carry through with his original plan to explain the suspension on April 9, currently appears inclined to l...
Apr 03, 2024
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Armchair Mayor
ROTHENBURGER - Why I won't be joining any convoys to protest the carbon tax
THE CARBON TAX hasn't changed my life. I don't drive less because of it.Yet, I support this tax because I'm an environmentalist at heart and worry about climate change, and the experts say the carbon tax accomplishes what it's designed to do, which is discourage people from burning so much fossil fuel.I just don't happ...
Mar 30, 2024
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ARMCHAIR MAYOR
ROTHENBURGER: Outcome of suspension should have been easy to predict
THE LATEST BIT of turmoil at City Hall was always bound to end badly. When Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson suspended acting CAO Byron McCorkell on Tuesday, it kick-started a chain of events that has become all too common. Somebody leaks it to the media and by yesterday the whole world knows about it, though not the details. C...
Mar 28, 2024
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ARMCHAIR MAYOR
ROTHENBURGER: TRU's claims about commitment to transparency aren't convincing
A LITTLE MORE than a year ago, TRU was in the midst of a major controversy over allegations made against two of its senior administrators. It was big news. Dozens of claims of bullying, sexual harassment and disrespect were made, and the university launched a lengthy and very expensive - $1 million - investigation. Whe...
Mar 27, 2024
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Armchair Mayor
ROTHENBURGER: Mayor would run again tomorrow despite 'tight cuffs'
I'LL BET YOU THOUGHT last Sunday was a celebration of the Irish missionary St. Patrick, a time to wear something green and drink green-coloured beer.Well, that, too, but more importantly it was the anniversary of the St. Patrick's Day manifesto, the day in 2023 when all eight City councillors gathered the media in coun...
Mar 23, 2024
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ARMCHAIR MAYOR
ROTHENBURGER: Why we should keep calling our mayors 'Your Worship'
I READ AN ARTICLE the other day in which Mayor Reid-Hamer Jackson says the honorific "Your Worship" has lost some of its meaning and he's OK with plain "Reid." Unless those who address him with "Your Worship" are sincere, he said, there's not much point to it. A number of other Canadian ma...
Mar 21, 2024
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