By Jeremy Deutsch - Kamloops This Week - April 02, 2008
Arjun Singh stepped down Monday as city council representative on the city’s social planing council, but, according to Mayor Terry Lake, Singh was going to be removed anyway. Lake said Singh would have been removed last week, but city council was on a break. Singh resigned from the social planning group following a heated dispute with the Ray Jolicoeur, chairman of the social planning council. His departure came after a meeting at city hall between himself, Lake, Jolicoeur and city CAO Randy Diehl on Feb. 26 to discuss Singh’s behaviour at social planning council meetings, which has been described as dominating. Singh was perceived to have threatened Jolicoeur after the meeting. Lake said Singh’s resignation is not just the result of the situation with Jolicoeur, but extends to how he has conducted himself historically at the meetings. “The concerns we’ve had expressed from members of the council through the chair of the committee was that he has not conducted himself in what they would consider an appropriate fashion,” Lake said. Singh himself used an e-mail to describe the Feb. 26 incident at city hall.“After the meeting, I was pretty emotional. I took Ray by the arm and asked him why he had not just come and talk to me one-on-one. I said, ‘Don’t make me have to go through that again’ or something pretty close. This was a totally wrong thing to do, and Ray took it as a threat. I would have probably taken it the same way if I had been Ray. I totally didn’t mean to threaten, but I needed to be a lot more careful and professional.”Singh has since apologized for his actions, calling them “a painful mistake.“It’s really important that members on the social planning council feel they are able to do their work unburdened by my involvement,” he said.
Singh told KTW he was unaware his behaviour had become an issue at the meetings, chalking it up to his passion for social issues. “Sometimes, as a councillor, you need to talk, and sometimes you need to listen,” he said.“I think I got the balance wrong on the council the past while.” Singh said he hopes to learn from his mistakes and vows to continue his commitment to social issues in Kamloops. Jolicoeur confirmed Singh’s account and has since accepted his apology. Jolicoeur said he hopes the incident doesn’t deter people from joining volunteer committees out of fear of potential bullying by city councillors. Lake said the committee is set up to be a good sounding board from the community about social issues and was never intended to be a place where council members impose their views. The mayor himself has fielded complaints from fellow council members over Singh’s penchant for dominating conversations. Lake hopes the change will allow the committee to do its work. Singh also sits on the city’s environmental committee.His spot on the social planning committee will be taken by Jim Harker, who is the city’s alternate.
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Listen up, Councillor Singh Editorial Kamloops This Week Apr 2
On his Facebook.com page online, Kamloops Coun. Arjun Singh writes he “is going through a painful learning experience.” That would be the experience of eroding any patience that existed among members of the city’s social planning committee, who apparently could not endure any more of Singh’s monopoly of discussion. The concern regarding Singh’s constant verbosity led to a meeting with social planning committee chairman Ray Jolicoeur, Mayor Terry Lake and city CAO Randy Diehl, at the end of which Singh grabbed the arm of Jolicoeur, telling him, “Don’t make me have to go through that again,” or something to that effect. Jolicoeur took it as a threat, and Singh has agreed it probably came across as one. Singh has since apologized and resigned from the committee.(He expands on the issue, in detail as usual, on his blog, which can be found at yourkamloops.com).
While this civic contretemps will likely have no effect on Singh’s re-election bid in November, it does bring to light the issue of when advocacy becomes an obsession. Quite frankly, Singh has far more time to delve into various issues than do his fellow councillors, social planning committee members and the public in general. Most people cannot find enough time to devote to activities of pleasure, never mind activities of activism, due to the fact most people are under immense pressure with full-time jobs and family responsibilities.Singh manages an apartment building owned by his family and is married with no ‘. It stands to reason that Singh — unlike the majority of Kamloopsians living and working day-to-day to keep the wolf at bay — will have far more time to devote to his pet causes. This is why he can travel to New York City, or Ottawa, or Vancouver to attend conferences to discuss saving this or that. But when Singh opts to rattle on and on and on at city council or social committee meetings, does he realize his peers likely have far busier lives to which to attend? Following this “painful lesson”, perhaps the first-term councillor now does. This is not to suggest Singh should become a mute on council.His passion for causes and his groundbreaking interactivity with voters is to be commended.But there is a reason God gave us two ears and one mouth. Unfortunately, Singh learned this lesson the hard way.
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