Anxiety, anger and a punished London city councillor’s defiance

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City council took the ultra-rare step of docking her a month’s pay for past conduct. Two of her supporters shouted at them from the public gallery during the debate. And one council colleague expressed “dread” over attending meetings.

But one day after that heated debate at London city hall, Ward 4 Coun. Susan Stevenson remained unapologetic about her approach to city staff, social media posts about issues like homelessness and any affect on fellow city councillors.

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“I am responsible for what I say and do, and the tone of what I say, but I am not responsible for how somebody else feels,” Stevenson said in a Wednesday interview with The London Free Press. “I’m not going to be silent at the detriment of the people in my ward, because others are uncomfortable having these tough conversations.”

Tuesday, city council voted 8-6 to dock Stevenson 30 days’ pay after city hall’s integrity commissioner found a social media post that named a city bureaucrat, Kevin Dickins, amounted to harassment and bullying. Two Stevenson supporters shouted at politicians during the debate, forcing a recess. One left voluntarily and another was forced to leave.

The watchdog also criticized Stevenson’s behaviour toward staff during council meetings, saying the rookie councillor who’s now seeking the federal Conservative nomination in London Centre “badgered” city staff with questions.

During Tuesday’s debate, Ward 11 Coun. Skylar Franke admitted she feels “anxiety” coming to city hall debates.

“I have experienced anxiety coming to council meetings when I know that the topic of discussion will be used as a platform to berate staff, instead of an opportunity for us to debate ideas and solutions,” Franke said during the meeting.

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“If I’m feeling anxiety, dread, and foreboding in coming to some of our meetings, I can only imagine that other staff members might feel similarly if not worse.”

Several politicians, Franke included, even apologized to staff for not interjecting in the past, including referencing an exchange between Stevenson and the former city manager last year.

“I want to take this opportunity to also say I’m sorry that our staff feel this way, this is an awful situation nobody wants to be in,” said Ward 1 Coun. Hadleigh McAlister. “We want to have a welcoming environment, that people actually want to come to work and not feel threatened.”

Asked about the supporters whose shouting from the public gallery forced a recess, Stevenson on Wednesday said “emotions are high” and added: “They are very high right now, and it’s an indicator of how important it is that we have these conversations.”

City councillors are paid $65,137 per year, meaning losing 30 days’ pay cost Stevenson about $5,350. Stevenson has appealed a December 2023 reprimand to the Ontario ombudsman for social media posts about homeless people and promised to appeal the latest decision, maintaining her defence that the investigations were not fair.

jmoulton@postmedia.com

@JackAtLFPress

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