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Justin Altmann, Stouffville Mayor, Defends ‘Creepy’ Wall Filled With Residents' Photos

The mayor calls it his own “mind map.”
Andrew Francis Wallace via Getty Images
TORONTO, ON - AUGUST 6 - Stouffville mayor Justin Altmann greats guests prior to his wedding to Jenny Hillier the Lebovic Centre for Arts & Entertainment, August 6, 2016. (Andrew Francis Wallace/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
Andrew Francis Wallace via Getty Images

The elusive "Pepe Silvia" may not have been among the photos but that doesn't mean that locals of this Toronto suburb weren't freaking out about this discovery.

The mayor of Whitchurch-Stouffville is under fire after a Stouffville Sun-Tribune reporter discovered that his office bathroom is covered in photos of local townspeople in what Mayor Justin Altmann calls his own "mind map."

Those on the "CSI-style" wall, however, are calling it "creepy."

Altmann, who was elected in 2014, had his secret uncovered when the the Sun-Tribune reported it earlier this month. The photos include town employees, business people, councillors, and reporters. The mayor said the photos are related to a police investigation that has lasted more than two years, but did not clarify what the investigation was about. York Regional Police would not confirm or deny any investigation, according to the publication.

"Somebody on council is leaking top secret information," Altmann told the Sun-Tribune. He added that he has "40 binders and 5,000 emails" in connection with his bathroom wall photo montage.

"It's absolutely creepy," Samantha Farrow, a longtime resident who runs a family business told the Toronto Star. "I was horrified when I saw my picture. I couldn't believe my picture was on the bathroom wall in the mayor's office." Farrow said she has no personal dealings with the mayor.

Tom Winters, who in 2015 asked for a compliance audit of Altmann's campaign finances, is also featured on the wall.

"I think it's just a childish thing," Winters

told The Star. He put [my photo] there because I questioned his authority."

Altmann further explained his wall by saying he has been the victim of bullying.

"For the last two and a half, three years, the harassment, the bullying that I have endured has been very, very monstrous," Altmann told the Sun Tribune. Part of that abuse, he said, has been in the form of slashed tires.

"It's not regular behaviour by any means," former mayor Sue Sherban said.

Read the full story and see images of the wall here.

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