Judgment day for Susan Stevenson for ‘bullying’ city staffer

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London’s mayor and deputy mayor are critical of a colleague’s “bullying” of a senior city staffer, but disagree on a watchdog’s recommendation to dock her pay – which would be a first in recent memory.

City council will consider Tuesday a report from the city’s integrity commissioner that found Ward 4 Coun. Susan Stevenson violated council’s code of conduct with a social media post on homelessness that “unnecessarily” identified Kevin Dickins, London’s deputy social and health development manager.

The report found “the councillor’s conduct constitutes harassment, bullying and targeting” and recommended a 30-day pay suspension.

The investigation stemmed from a May 30 complaint from Dickins, based on Stevenson’s resharing of a CTV London article in April where she shared an altered quote of his. The post to X could still be found Monday on Stevenson’s profile.

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The report says Dickins wrote Stevenson asking her to remove his name from the post, saying it was inappropriate to identify him personally and he would file a complaint if the post wasn’t taken down. She countered it was a direct quote, and she did not understand what the complaint would be.

The integrity commissioner found Stevenson editorialized Dickins’ quote, adding “provocative emojis,” and appeared “to suggest that this individual was responsible for the continuing problem of encampments in the city,” leaving him vulnerable to attacks from the public.

Mayor Josh Morgan said Monday he accepted the report and its findings. He also said he has always voted for recommendations brought forward by the integrity commissioner.

“First, I was not part of the investigation, nor do I have all the information, and second, often integrity commissioners are working across the province in multiple different municipalities and have a much wider perspective of what works and what doesn’t, and ultimately, can lead to a higher-functioning council by taking the actions they recommend,” Morgan said.

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He said that there are certain “written and unwritten” rules for politicians and city staff and how they interact to maintain decorum in order to work together. Morgan said council is city staff’s employer, and therefore responsible for having a safe and respectful workplace.

“The path of least resistance” could have been taken, removing or rewording the post as Dickins requested, Morgan said, and doing so doesn’t affect Stevenson’s ability to voice her opinion.

In a statement to The Free Press on Friday, Stevenson accused the commissioner of coming after her pay “because the questions I have been asking are too much.

“I won’t stop doing my job as councillor. The residents are suffering and as their representative, I will be their voice,” she said. “Everything I have ever said is respectful and reasonable.”

The watchdog’s findings single out Stevenson’s behaviour at the horseshoe during several committee meetings, where there is a “clear pattern in which the councillor takes the opportunity, even where an issue only relates tangentially to homelessness or shelters, to ask questions in a manner which allows her to repeat her concerns around the encampments issue.”

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The integrity commissioner added that while Stevenson could have questioned staffers privately, “the purpose of doing so during the meeting is to, once again, make known her disapproval of the city’s responses to encampments.”

Repeated questions, implied withholding of information and distrust of staff is interpreted as harassment, the report said, concluding it is Stevenson’s “pattern of conduct” along with the social media post, that led to their recommendation.

While he agrees Stevenson’s treatment of staff warrants punishment, deputy mayor Shawn Lewis said he’s conflicted on what that penalty should be. He said a second reprimand isn’t enough, but docking her pay is too much.

“This one’s a tough one for me, because I don’t think the punishment fits the crime,” he said “At the same time, I don’t think the councillor’s conduct was fantastic . . . and I say that as someone who has cut off some of her comments in the chair’s role.”

Lewis said there are limits to what a chair can do to police a meeting, but all of council should remember they are debating each other, not city staff, who are only there to provide information.

“Council and committee meetings are not question period,” he said. “I think that political theatre at the higher levels of government doesn’t serve anyone well . . . it speaks to a bit of the divided, very partisan political climate that we’re in today.”

Council will decide on Stevenson’s punishment, if any, when they meet Tuesday.

jmoulton@postmedia.com

@JackAtLFPress

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