A Malton resident fighting to keep a local convenience store in his neighbourhood from being shut down received a surprising response from his area councillor, who called him a “cranky constituent.”

Frank Mcgurk wrote to Ward 5 Coun. Carolyn Parrish to complain about a development in his neighbourhood that would see the Brandon Gate variety store in Malton replaced with affordable housing.

“The plaza is a mainstay in this community where I have lived for 40 years plus. I smell another Clif Gilles (sic) move here. We do not need 30 more detached homes with front yards the size of postage stamps,” Mcgurk said in his initial letter.

“You are a cranky constituent – insulting to say the least,” Parrish said in a response letter. “I suspect from your tone, others may find your opinions equally rude so I’m not concerned greatly regarding your opinions of me.”

When asked about the exchange by CTV Toronto, Parrish confirmed she sent the letter and said she was particularly irritated by the insinuation that she was acting like Cliff Gyles, a former city councilor who served time in a federal prison after being convicted of taking bribes while in office in 2000.

“I’m here as a public servant, I’m not here to take abuse,” she told CTV Toronto via a telephone interview. “I’ve never taken a bribe and I don’t want to be treated like a crook.”

According to Parrish, the plaza where the Brandon Gate variety is located has been re-zoned and is slated to become affordable housing.

She said the convenience store has attracted gang-related crime and that its removal will help to “clean up the area.”

Parrish added that the plaza’s current property owner has the right to turn the land into “whatever he wants.”

But Mcgurk said he has never seen trouble at the site and questions the motive behind the decision.

“I doubt very much they will demolish the plaza and chain link as its all about greed the way I and a lot of others see it,” Mcgurk’s letter to Parish said. “The kids from the high school do hang out there for lunch and get to away from the school. Never heard of or seen trouble there.”

“We do not want another John Gardland Blvd or Jamestown here in Malton. When this plaza disappears, so does my vote for you,” he continued to say in his letter. “I will also voice my opinion to everyone I personally know in Malton. I would bet dollars to donuts that I know a lot more people personally in Malton than you do.”

Parish defended the development in her response letter and told Mcgurk his argument was without merit.

“The plan as proposed has larger lots than anything in the neighbourhood and the convenience store proposed has the look and feel of a residence,” Parrish’s letter reads.

“Your comment on the students is without factual evidence. There have been many violent incidents at that hang out. That’s why intelligent, hard-working store keepers don’t rent there and why Four Corners Health is moving out.”

The letter from Parrish was circulated on social media by Charanjeet Sodhi who became aware of the correspondence between her and Mcgurk.

"As soon as I read it my mouth dropped," Sodhi said. "I was in shock that an elected official can write something like this and be so unprofessional."

The owner of the convenience store in question told CTV Toronto he did not know anything about the exchange and that he himself had not received a response letter from Parish when he contacted her.

When reached by phone Wednesday afternoon and asked if she would be willing to comment on the letter, Parrish told CTV Toronto she was “not in the mood to deal with this.”

However, she defended the letter and the development, calling the current plaza “an eyesore.”

Parrish told CTV Toronto that the new affordable housing units will be the “largest in the area” and will not be “postage stamp” sized as Mcgurk claimed.

"Being a cranky constituent I think all constituents should be able to voice their opinion," Mcgurk said.

"I'm not a public figure, just a taxpayer and I wanted to voice my opinion."