For the Toronto bedroom community of Aurora, it's a political storm of epic proportions: warring councillors, allegations of muzzled free speech and an ethics commissioner fired after just two months on the job.
And sitting in the eye of the swirling controversy? An 80-year-old great-grandmother and her blog.
Last week, with the ink still drying on his contract, David Nitkin was fired from his position as integrity commissioner for the town of about 50,000.
His sacking came one day after Mr. Nitkin filed his first and only ethics report, in which he dismissed a formal complaint against town councillor Evelyn Buck. The complaint was undersigned by the mayor and five councillors who allege Ms. Buck contravened the town's code of conduct.
Central to their complaint is Ms. Buck's personal blog, in which she details her political exploits, posting regularly and often at length. The online journal provides a fly-on-the-wall perspective of the town hall's inner workings but is also a venue for Ms. Buck to air her opinions on local issues or her town hall colleagues.
A former mayor and long-time Aurora politician, Ms. Buck started her blog in 2007 after growing tired of being dismissed by her fellow councillors. She said they developed a habit of hindering her motions before council.
"If I have no role at the council table, I will damn well create my own role," Ms. Buck said yesterday from her Aurora home. "I will keep people informed on a daily basis about what's happening at that council table and that's how my blog started."
Ms. Buck admits she can be a little "rough around the edges" but says she only calls things as she sees them.
However, her keystrokes have struck many a political nerve and on July 21, a motion was passed to formally lodge a complaint to the ethics commissioner, Mr. Nitkin.
Mayor Phyllis Morris said the complaint was a last resort after two and a half years of enduring Ms. Buck's public shenanigans, which include thwacking another councillor with a rolled-up newspaper and putting her "coat over her head if she doesn't believe in anything."
The mayor insists she has no problem with free speech or blogging and the complaint isn't a personal vendetta against Ms. Buck. Rather, the complaint was an effort to defend town staff, she said.
The formal complaint alleges that Ms. Buck has published "completely unmerited public criticism of staff in a manner that unjustifiably maligned their professional competence and credibility."
Ms. Morris said the straw that broke the camel's back was an entry in which Ms. Buck suggests town staffers may have doctored minutes from a town meeting.
Town staffers are powerless to defend themselves against councillors, the mayor said.
"Do I find some of the comments despicable, absolutely. But I can rise above them when they're about me," Ms. Morris said. "I cannot ignore them when they're about staff."
As for Mr. Nitkin's firing, Ms. Morris steadfastly denies it had anything to do with his report, which rejected her complaint against Ms. Buck as "ill-informed," "incomplete" and "inappropriate." It also said the manner in which the complaint was issued "may be ... wholly political."
Mr. Nitkin could not be reached yesterday for comment.
His report will be tabled at the town meeting next month and has not yet been made public. Ms. Buck, however, has posted an excerpt on her blog.
Ms. Morris said Mr. Nitkin was fired because he went beyond the town's code of conduct, which outlines proper procedure for an ethics complaint investigation.
She said Mr. Nitkin overstepped his jurisdiction by requesting personal impact statements from the complainants.
As for Ms. Buck, she remains unruffled. "Would I ever take down my blog? Certainly not."
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Choice words from http://www.evelynbuck.com
April 22, 2009
As usual, Mayor and Councillor [Evelina]MacEachern had much to say during the meeting and there was little time for anyone else before the clock ran out.
April 5, 2009
Harrumph! Walt thinks amalgamation/merger between Aurora and Newmarket is a great idea. But he accuses me of being an "alarmist" for contemplating the possibility. Where's the consistency? Eh. Even more to the point ... where's the hyperbole?
November 26, 2008
A legal opinion on our recently passed Code of Conduct is on hand. It was vetted behind closed doors before being released for public consumption. That's the weirdest thing!
March 4, 2008
The Mayor's voice is seldom still. The nittering and nattering continues unabated except when she calls upon Councillor MacEachern to allow herself time to breathe and ensure little participation from anyone else at the table.