A meeting of city council was delayed Tuesday while a Brantford man was escorted out of the council chamber under the city’s customer code of conduct policy.
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Steve Talos was walked out of the chamber by Brantford police and city security after he refused to leave.
City officials say Talos has been temporarily banned from attending city council and committee meetings in person because of previous alleged violations of the customer code of conduct policy. He is allowed to attend meetings and appear as a delegation virtually.
The meeting was further disrupted when one man, a supporter of Talos, stood up and said, “this is bulls*&^,” after Talos was asked to leave.
Talos said the allegations raised by the city to justify his suspension are fabricated.
“All of the allegations against me are false,” Talos said in a Wednesday interview following Tuesday’s meeting. “Trying to enter the no-entry zone, leering at staff while they’re making a report are all fictitious, exaggerated.
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“I never interrupted or disrupted a meeting.”
Maria Visocchi, the city’s director, communications, community engagement and customer service, said the decision to suspend Talos came after careful review of the city’s customer code of conduct policy.
The policy came into effect in 2022 and has been used four times. It aims to ensure interactions with city staff are respectful, Visocchi said.
“The city will monitor the situation and determine whether Mr. Talos will be eligible to attend in person at future meetings,” Visocchi said.
Specifically, the city is alleging that Talos has verbally or physically intimidated, harassed or threatened others; repeatedly challenged or confronted staff; made malicious or harmful statements about others; harassed the corporation by sending a high volume/frequency of correspondence including constant accusations accompanying frequent complaints that have already been dealt with; shared with others, or circulated derogatory or insulting statements regarding city staff/representatives.
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The city is also alleging Talos has leered at staff while they are making presentations to council and responding to questions from city councillors.
Meanwhile, the city has implemented new security measures in the council chambers.
“This action is part of our ongoing commitment to ensure a safe, accessible, welcoming, and respectful environment for all customers, visitors, and staff members,” Visocchi said. “These measures were deemed necessary to address the safety concerns arising from interactions that fell outside the boundaries of our customer code of conduct policy.”
Visocchi said the new security measures are intended to protect all individuals in the council chambers including city council members, city staff and visitors.
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“The city is dedicated to fostering an environment where everyone can participate in the democratic process and conduct business in a safe and respectful manner.”
In e-mails sent to council members and others, including The Expositor, Talos said the city’s actions are “part of an ongoing harassment of me as a municipal taxpayer increasing from my campaign against municipal corruption.”
Talos said he wanted to speak to a resolution calling for amendments to improve municipal codes of conduct and enforcement.
The resolution calls for the city to support the Association of Municipalities of Ontario government efforts to have the provincial introduce legislation to strengthen municipal codes of conduct.
“Currently there is no appropriate mechanism for the accountability of municipally elected representatives when it comes to perpetrating harassment,” Coun. Mandy Samwell said during council discussion. “This is about appropriately addressing violence and harassment, not about restricting productive dialogue where municipal councilors and staff might not agree.
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“This legislation is not to be feared but legislation we must unfortunately recognize as necessary to ensure basic workplace safety for all.”
Talos said his removal from city hall on Tuesday follows four years of disputes over garbage pick-up and the repair of Wynarden Court.
Talos said run off from the road damaged Yates Castle, the historic building that he owns. There are huge potholes, major cracks in the roadway and no curbs to mitigate the run off.
That led to a temporary suspension of garbage collection and Talos said he spent a lot of time to get both issues addressed.
Garbage pickup has been restored and Talos said the road is scheduled for repair next year.
But Talos said it shouldn’t have taken that long.
“What if this was you, what if this was somebody else?” Talos, asked rhetorically. “Would you have gone through all of this to get garbage pickup?”
Talos said he spent a year in law school before deciding to pursue a master’s degree in history, becoming a history teacher.
It’s only because he has a year of law school that he can take on the city, Talos said.
“At some point, the public needs to know what’s going on,” Talos said.
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