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Nearly one-third of city staffers at a raucous public meeting on a southwest bus line felt physically or verbally abused, according to a city survey.

The poll, conducted the day after the Feb. 23 public consultation on the 22-kilometre, Woodbine-to-downtown rapid bus transitway at Woodcreek Community Association, showed nine of the 30 staffers polled felt badly treated by those opposed to the project.

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Some of them said they were grateful security staff were present, and that emotions had boiled over to a troubling extent.

Following that meeting, Mayor Naheed Nenshi accused members of the lobby group Ready to Engage with threatening and verbally assaulting city workers at the meeting, leading him to cancel future gatherings on the issue.

“This type of emotionally abusive feedback was directly related to members and affiliates of the Ready To Engage group,” commented one staffer in the survey released Wednesday.

Said another: “While I wasn’t physically harmed, there were several times where I felt concerned for my safety.”

Of the 30, six said they felt somewhat unsafe, 16 somewhat safe and another six very safe.

None said they felt very unsafe during the meeting.

Ready to Engage spokesman Alan Hallman picked up on that last number, saying it shows police were correct in not laying charges and that Nenshi went overboard in cancelling further meetings.

Photo by Jim Wells / Jim Wells/Postmedia

“It clearly outlines the mayor was totally over the top and this is not the first time,” he said, calling the mayor undemocratic and thin-skinned.

“He owes all Calgarians an apology.”

Transportation spokesman Sean Somers, who was at the Feb. 23 meeting and part of the survey, called the event emotional and tense, but added he was prepared for it.

“I’ve got a thick skin. It’s part of what I do in being involved in public consultation,” he said.

On Wednesday, about 100 Ready to Engage supporters rallied outside City Hall to condemn the BRT project, calling for the completion of the southwest ring road first.

While former TV journalist Doug Fraser addressed the group, well-known local blogger Mike Morrison tried to shout him down and engaged in heated discussions with other Ready to Engage members.