A Bearspaw developer claimed crowds of residents displayed a “mob mentality,” after he attempted to raise unrelated concerns at open houses intended to provide information regarding sanctions imposed on three Rocky View County (RVC) councillors.
According to Chris Graca, he and Bearspaw landowner Alexander Kurteev attended the Sept. 16 open house at the Lions Club of Bearspaw out of curiosity regarding the sanctioning of Couns. Samanntha Wright, Crystal Kissel and Kevin Hanson. The event grew tense, he said, when he was shouted at during the session and denounced as a disruptor.
“Did I feel threatened? Well, not really. I just looked at the whole thing as a joke,” Graca said. “You see these adults, and they’re acting suddenly like children.”
Graca and Kurteev acknowledged they had clashed with Wright before, when she opposed a redesignation for the property they hope to develop. Graca said the open house “was of interest” to them because Wright is the elected representative for their division.
Kissel said she believed the men were frustrated by the subdivision process and attended the meetings to voice complaints relating to their application, which she said was inappropriate.
“It was not an open house to discuss all kinds of things; it was just there to talk about the sanctions, if you had questions, and to understand why we were speaking out now,” she said.
According to Graca, Kurteev tried to ask questions, but was “shut down” by Wright. Video of the meeting posted to a private YouTube channel and shared by Graca shows Wright interjecting once Kurteev brings up a subdivision application he had submitted to RVC, but he was allowed to ask questions pertaining to the sanctions. Shortly after, Graca also tried to ask a question.
“I didn’t get to the point where I was able to ask my question before…she cut me off,” he said. “She went on a long diatribe about a bunch of nonsense, and then when I tried to [rebut], she came and she tried to grab the mic out of my hands.”
Wright acknowledged she may have jumped to conclusions about what Graca planned to ask, after seeing him holding a package of documents she believed were related to the subdivision application. She added she was trying to keep the open house on topic.
At that point, Graca said, people began shouting at him and threatening him, while others began walking out, ending the meeting.
“It was actually insane,” he said. “It was a very disgraceful show from people who are supposed to be part of the democratic process.”
The video clips – some with names like “Retard Tries to Explain Open House Meeting,” “Old Loser Cant Face Me,” and “Old Retards In My Face” – capture attendees shouting down Graca for asking questions they felt were off-topic, and one woman threatening to hit him with her cane. In some videos, Graca appears to also interrupt conversations between councillors and those in attendance.
“Chris was walking up to people who were in the middle of conversations and poking his head in there and starting to gibe at people,” Wright said. “Towards the end, I asked him to leave, because people kept coming up to me saying, ‘Why is he getting in my face and videotaping me? Why is standing there and trying to get a rise out of me?’”
Two days later, Kurteev and Graca attended another open house, Sept. 18 at Weedon Hall, which was also attended by Rocky View Weekly. Kurteev was again given the opportunity to ask a question early in the evening.
During an intermission, Hanson requested nobody record the proceedings. As the meeting progressed, however, someone spotted Graca filming the discussion and the session grew tense. Several people crowded Graca and another man accompanying him, shouting at them to stop recording and swatting at their phones. One man told Graca “somebody will punch you in the nose” if he didn’t stop recording.
Kissel tried to defuse the situation and give Graca an opportunity to speak, but he was repeatedly interrupted by the crowd. After Graca asked whether the councillors felt they were sanctioned for a reason – to which Kissel allowed the crowd to respond, with a resounding “no” – Kissel asked the men to leave.
“I can’t really hold the councillors accountable for what their constituents do,” Graca said. “But what I found shocking was, we didn’t have a chance to speak. What I’ve been told multiple times by all three councillors is that it was inappropriate and we were hijacking the meetings.”
Kissel maintained the men disrespected the time of other attendees at the open houses, and while “there’s no justification for violence, ever,” she felt they brought it upon themselves.
“They chose to come to a meeting where they were asked not to video, and they continued to video,” she said. “They created the perfect storm. I got involved because I needed everyone just to stop and take a breath.”
She added she welcomed scrutiny.
“People who did not support us were still welcome to come and ask us about the sanctions,” Kissel said. “Even if they thought the sanctions were spot on, they’re still allowed to come and ask questions.”
Nevertheless, both men said they felt the open houses were meant more as a forum for the councillors to garner support from sympathetic constituents, and therefore the sessions weren’t truly open.
“What I got out of this is, basically, you are not welcome to speak if you are not in support,” Kurteev said.
