The topic of resident and council harassment was raised at the recent meetings of Tiny Township council and committee of the whole over a costly new administration centre to replace the current 57-year-old facility.
In a recent MidlandToday article, ‘Cyberbullying’ an ugly part of Tiny building opposition: Walma, several questions were posed to opposition protest organizer and social media host Karen Zulynik, centred at the controversy over the new building and comments made by Coun. Steffen Walma.
Zulynik told MidlandToday that she never even saw one of the comments that suggests council should be 'hit by a bus, tandem axel (sic), preferably'.
"On March 26th, two guys that I've never met did say 'hit by a bus'," Zulynik said. "It's buried in the comments from a main post that I never even wrote. I never saw it. It was on a post this person put about two job postings. I never made any post within the whole post. Just because I'm the administrator doesn't mean I can see every single post.
"I never would want staff to feel I am threatening their lives."
Zulynik contends that Walma would have seen it and rather than report it went to her or Facebook used it to his advantage by going to the media.
"I am being bullied by the man who says he wants to stop bullying. Walma had every opportunity to report it to me immediately. If Walma's goal is to discourage me from participating in municipal politics, I wonder what the integrity commissioner will have to say about this and my lawyer. I am in shock about what is going on."
As for the previous article where Walma addresses cyberbullying, Zulynik responded to questions from MidlandToday after the article was published.
When asked if she or her social media group’s followers had engaged in cyberbullying as per Walma’s definition, Zulnyik replied she did not condone such actions and encouraged both township residents as well as council members to maintain harmony in the community.
“Our Facebook group is focused purely on making Tiny council fully accountable to taxpayers,” wrote Zulynik. “We spend our energy on valid criticism of councillors in their decision making and prioritization, not personal insults or threats.”
Zulynik was asked if cyberbullying had been an escalation factor in the regular council meetings.
“The negative energy at council meetings is a direct consequence of councillors not engaging and actively listening to the public they have been elected to represent,” replied Zulynik.
She noted that as per her followers and perception, opposition had been raised to council’s direction with a desire for how the township operates.
“The mayor's frantic loss of self-control at yesterday's meeting is, in my opinion, a reaction not worthy of a leader of this community and a bullying tactic in and of itself.”
Zulynik referred to instances where meeting chairs had asked for respect and decorum from the audience; it was a recurring scenario as passionate residents would utter profanities against council’s words and vocally engage in opposition outside the Robert’s Rules of Order for parliamentary procedure, as well as the municipality’s newly-ratified procedural bylaw.
At the outdoor protest led in January, MidlandToday observed heated residents confronting Mayor Dave Evans and hurling insults as he turned to head inside for the council meeting. When informed of that behaviour by MidlandToday, Zulynik stated she had not seen those actions by people at the protest.
Evans, at that time, called the protesters “a very engaged and educated, smart constituency” whom he looked forward to working with on the project.
“I made a point of going right in the crowd, because this is all about getting lots of different inputs and different viewpoints, and we respect all of them,” said Evans in January. “We have followed a process that has been in place since 2014; it’s not like we’re coming up with anything off-the-cuff.”
The Tiny Township website for the administrative centre project includes a project road map, as well as roughly a dozen reports from council, staff, and third-party consultants since 2014.
But Evans isn’t the only person to have dealt with heightened emotions in the council chambers.
In neighbouring municipality Penetanguishene, residents opposed to similar issues as Tiny including short-term rentals and the construction of cell towers were instructed several times by Mayor Doug Rawson to show civility in the council chambers. Rawson’s concerns echoed Evans’ as he repeatedly informed Penetanguishene residents that town staff were following council directives, and they should not be faced with heightened emotions that were a direct result of council.
Despite the cyberbullying announcement by Walma, invitations to sit with the public over the next weeks were made several times during the recent meeting by the council member.
“Walma's invitation, unfortunately, is not genuine and is an example of political grandstanding,” responded Zulynik. “The public audience in the room knew this and openly challenged him on it. Not unlike the Mayor's reaction, his apparent smugness (sarcastic smiling, clear eye rolls, and overall defensive tone) are not worthy of a leader in Tiny.”
Her response noted the requests by herself and followers for meetings and other open discussions on township topics, adding that none of them had “been granted or even considered.
During the meeting, residents in opposition cheered and loudly applauded when Coun. Dave Brunelle prompted an immediate request for a public information meeting on the Tiny Township administration centre.
However, when asked where an appropriate venue would be that could accommodate a hybrid structure for the unknown return of Tiny’s seasonal residents, the capacity for in-person attendees, as well as the bandwidth required to host an online format, a 10-minute discussion emerged. Taxpayer costs, venue availability for the immediate meeting, and accommodating host viability were considerations council directed that staff explore, with the addition that the City of Vaughan was where a previous meeting had once been held under similar circumstances and requirements.
When asked what the most civil way was for concerned residents to inform a council to their interests, Zulynik wrote that continuing to shine a “public light on the shadowy decision-making practices” was her preferred method.
She noted that social media groups such as her own play a role, “given the broad reach and frequency with which truth about this council's tactics could be spread. This was not possible in the legacy print media era in this Township. Corruption and incompetence crumble when duly exposed,” Zulynik cited.
The TTAC update report, recommendations, and schematics for proposed facility variations, can be viewed on the agenda page on the Township of Tiny website.
Archives of council meetings are available to view on the township’s YouTube channel.
-with files from Andrew Philips
