Stouffville council to discuss alleged "break-in" to Altmann's office

yorkregion.com
July 19, 2017

The story of Justin Altmann’s bathroom wall won’t go away.

At a July 18 council meeting, Coun. Maurice Smith put forth a notice of motion asking for an investigation into a break-in at the mayor’s office. Smith was referring to a comment Altmann made on 105.9 The Region July 11.

“Somebody broke into my office took photos and leaked it to The Star,” he said during the interview. While it’s unclear who Altmann was referring to during the interview, the photos of the wall that appeared in the Stouffville-Sun Tribune and the Toronto Star were taken by Metroland reporter Ali Raza on Jan. 25, 2017.

According to Raza there was no break-in involved in obtaining the photos. “His executive assistant (Debi Paterson) let me into his office to show me letters from children in town addressed to the mayor,” he said. While Raza was in the mayor’s office he said the washroom door was open and the pictures that were part of Altmann’s "mind map" were visible in plain sight. 

Raza happened to have a camera around his neck at the time because he had just taken photos at an awards night at Town Hall.

“Upon seeing the now infamous wall, I immediately snapped some photos because I was so confused as to what I was looking at. I thought I could take a detailed look at the wall if I had a few photos of it,” he said.

According to Raza, Paterson was in the bathroom doorway as he was taking the photos.

She requested for him to not use the photos, Raza said. He told her that he would need to speak to Altmann about the wall. Raza attempted to get in touch with Altmann but was unable and decided not to pursue the matter further.

When the Toronto Star published a story early this month that mentioned details of the wall but with no photos, Raza decided what the mayor’s executive said about not publishing the photos was no longer relevant.

Altmann did not respond to requests by press time. Smith’s notice of motion will be discussed at the next council meeting Aug. 22.