â–ş Listen Live
â–ş Listen Live

Nelson city manager authorized to ban people from city hall

Nelson city council has granted city manager Kevin Cormack the power to ban people from city hall under the Trespass Act following a few recent incidents.

According to a staff report placed before council on Tuesday, there have been a “small number of isolated incidents” of harassment at city hall lately.

“Our city manager had to make a quick decision,” corporate officer Sarah Winton told council Tuesday. “It was chaotic and it was quite frightening for many of the staff. The police were here.”

The incident involved someone upset about vaccine mandates, who has since been banned from city hall.

According to the staff report, local governments have the authority to ban members of the public from entering municipal offices and the Trespass Act can be used to enforce that decision. The city’s lawyers suggested council should authorize a staff member to do so.

Council agreed they had a duty to protect staff and their discussion was less about the merits of banning members of the public than the mechanics involved. They debated whether the motion should grant the same powers to others in the city manager’s absence, but were told an existing chain of command would automatically apply.

They also discussion at length whether the mayor ought to be named in the resolution, but ultimately the motion passed without that amendment.

Greg Nesteroff
Greg Nesteroff
Greg has been working in West Kootenay news media off and on since 1998. When he's not on the air, he's busy writing about local history. He'll soon publish a book about the man who founded the ghost town of Sandon.

Continue Reading

chnv Now playing play

ckkc Now playing play

- Advertisement -

Related Articles

- Advertisement -

Latest News

Friends of Kootenay Lake Stewards host fall events at Harrop Wetland and annual Kootenay Lake Summit

Friends of Kootenay Lake Stewardship Society is inviting community members to participate in a series of hands-on events this fall at the Harrop Wetland and to join the upcoming Kootenay Lake Summit.

Former Nelson public works director, councillor Bob Adams dies at 82

After 26 years looking after the city's infrastructure, Adams served four terms on city council.

Infrastructure, housing, UNDRIP will top agenda as local governments meet in Victoria next week

Members of local governments and First Nations are gathering in Victoria next week for the annual Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) convention.

B.C. Conservatives support federal bill to classify intimate partner killings as first-degree murder

B.C. politicians are voicing support for a federal Conservative bill that would classify the killing of an intimate partner as first-degree murder. 

Whitewater eyes funding to pave access road

Whitewater Ski Resort is asking the Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) to back its bid to pave a six-kilometre stretch of the Whitewater Access Road.
- Advertisement -