If it ain't broke no need to fix it!

A reprieve but no end game. With the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board agreeing to partner with the City of Hamilton to find an appropriate site for a new education headquarters in the downtown core we are still left with the thorny question of what to do with 100 Main Street West, the current headquarters. Let me back up a bit. There is no guarantee that the Board and the City will find an appropriate site downtown and Crestwood could still be the ultimate destination but at least after intense pressure the Board has recognised that with consultation and the potential of very cheap square footage there is the possibility of staying in the core. Now to the very thorny and divisive issue of knocking down 100 Main for that is still the plan of the Board if it signs off on a deal with McMaster University. Where does that stand? McMaster officials made it clear yesterday in front of city councillors that they are now up against time constraints if they can't sign off soon with the Board. Holding up their deal is the issue of swing space in the Robert Thompson building where the Board would find themselves while building elsewhere with the intent on the city's part (supposedly) to move a concentrated Public Board of Health in afterwards. But more than one councillor is questioning not only the process for chosing the Thompson space, for instance there was no RFP done although in the real estate department an RFP isn't necessary it's just one of a number of options, but also the fact that the Right House which will have more than 53 thousand square feet available to lease when Community Services moves into the Lister Block, and that happens soon, is also the current home to most of Public Health. The required space is 53,200 square feet and thus many asked why was the Right House not considered and if there were concerns about the location were they ever addressed with the Aragon Group who manage a number of properties in Hamilton. The answers at times seemed to distress certain councillors who had heard a presentation from Irene Hubar who manages the Right House that she only knew of the Thompson building option when she read it in the paper. She went on to tell councillors that if the city moves out, the income from other tenants would only add up to 2 hundred thousand bucks forcing her as she said "to buy a lot of plywood to board up the windows". The upshot to this leasing deal is council deferred a decision until their March 7th council meeting where all heck could break loose. If the city decides to tender this project at this late date which is an option, the McMaster/Board of Ed deal could fall apart because of the aforementioned time constraints. If the city decides not to move to the Thompson building managed by Yale Properties and decides to stay in the Right House what happens to the McMaster/Board of Ed deal? It likely collapses because then the Board and/or McMaster would have to come up with their own "swing space" deal which when uttered openly during yesterday's marathon session brought a quick smile to Councillor Chad Collins face. This is going to be a very interesting vote because although the city wants McMaster to increase it's presence in the downtown core they don't want that presence at the cost of the demolition of 100 Main W. Here's an early look at the players and their attitudes. I will go ward by ward. In 1 McHattie was part of the presentation before the Board that helped create some breathing room looking for a new home for the Board. He's also a heritage guy and I personally don't think he's in favour of giving up on the current building. In 2 it was Jason Farr who led the charge to involve the Board in looking for a new home. His questioning of Hubar led me to believe that he's back on the fence regarding the "swing space". Morelli was in and out and did not speak but I think would follow the lead of Councillors Merulla and Collins. Merulla has already declared his support for the deal to bring Mac downtown is rescinded because he doesn't want to lose the Right House or spend the city's contribution of 20 million dollars. In 5 Collins from day one has not liked this deal but reluctantly supported it. If there is a force on council who can bring together a block of votes against  the swing space deal, it's Collins. Jackson in 6 has stated repeatedly he did not like the fact the City was hustled into a deal last summer that he was led to believe was imminent and hinged on city support. With no contract signed he remains a leaner I believe away from the current deal. Duval in 7 didn't have many questions but he's starting to feel the heat from his constituents who are just waking up to the Board of Education's plans for Crestwood. There is a growing movement to stop the Board from going there because of the number of  vehicle visits to the so called "birdland" neighborhoodMerulla and Clark join forces the majority will soon follow. Pearson in 10 a hard read on this one for she has stated this is a school board decision and if they want to do a deal with Mac and move to the mountain so be it but on the "swing space" aspect it's hard to say which way she will turn. Johnson in 11 gave the impression she was not convinced the Thompson building move was necessary and she is usually very tight with the taxpayers dollars and cents. Ferguson in 12 did not appear to buy into the Thompson building arguments at all and is a fiscal conservative. Powers in 13 is a consensus builder with recent proof the compromise worked out with Collins and followed readily by the majority of council regarding our new waste management contract. Powers is sensitive to the authority of the Board and does wish to see McMaster downtown. I got the impression that if somehow there was a good compromise to be found he'd be there to support if not craft it. Pasuta in 14 had little to say on this particular issue but is a team player and if there is consensus building that this "swing space" is not palatable with his colleagues he'll be there with them. Partridge in 15 although she has stated publicly in the past that this is the Board's affair I believe moved back to the fence after the presentation from the Right House. At the very least she'd probably like more time to study all the ramifications of this deal that was knocked together last summer. Mayor Bratina's thoughts are very clear on this. He wants Public Health in the Thompson building and the deal done between Mac and the Board of Ed completed tout suite. So what am I trying to say here? I think there are enough votes on council to nix the "swing space" move to Robert Thompson. If that is council's decision it may be the only way to save 100 Main from the wreckers ball. If there is no deal for space and costs become prohibitive and time runs out on a deal McMaster at least for now does not move downtown and knock down that 1966 building. But how then does the very big picture get resolved? The best result in my estimation is McMaster comes downtown with their jobs and occupies vacant office space in the Stelco Tower or the Robert Thompson building. It doesn't need a Taj Mahal at the corner of Bay and Main to stroke any philanthropist egos. The Board itself can renovate and expand into it's own parking lot at less cost than to move to the mountain. To me that's a win-win for the downtown. The worst case scenario sees the Board taking 4 hundred jobs to a site in someones back yard on the Mountain, McMaster moving downtown but knocking down the Board of Education headquarters in the process, "swing space" arranged in the Robert Thompson building so Public Health can eventually coalesce there with the end result that the Right House is boarded up for lack of tenants. That's the big picture that some people adhere to. That's not a big picture I can support and like many Hamiltonian's watching this debate closely one I suspect they can't support either. In other words if that building ain't broke............

U.S Steel, show us the money!!!

And so another dance with an American company resumes.
You know the story. American company buys Canadian property but doesn't treat it the same as its U.S holdings. On one nationalistic level I get that. If there is a downturn around the world and there was and we're still crawling out of it the tendency is to take care of your own meaning American steelworkers vs Canadian. That's an understandable reflex. However I seem to remember arguing in the late 80's against free trade with our American friends because once they had a deal in place they would not respect the deal they had been signatories to. All through the 90's especially during the recession our American friends continuously threw road blocks in front of that free trade agreement that Brian Mulroney so desperately wanted. Many many times and you can check this out, Stelco, Dofasco, Ipsco and Algoma Steel had to band together to attend hearings, lobby Ottawa, lobby Washington to have the American government actually live up to what the free trade agreement stated and at some cost. We, their greatest trading partners at the time (somebody will tell me if China has now surpassed us) were constantly lumped in with the dumping nations of Brazil, South Korea, Taiwan et al, nations pushing their businesses to do whatever it took to undercut American and Canadian steel makers. Has anything changed today? U.S Steel made a decision to purchase Hamilton Steel/Stelco because they thought they might make a profit especially off of the relatively up to standard Nanticoke operation. They knew there would be resistance and so they made promises. Promises to this day they have not lived up to. They have tried to break unions at Nanticoke and at Hilton Works and to some monetary degree they have by locking out their employees and forcing agreements they the steel maker can live with. They could lock them out of course because the world was in recession and so the corporate mentality was let's give the business of steel making to plants in Gary Indiana and elsewhere while we put the screws to the Canadians who apparently believe in health care, safety and pensions. Yeah, I get it U.S Steel. When times are good, when money is there to be made Hamilton and Nanticoke are great acquisitions, but when there is a recession and apparently your economists didn't recognise we were headed for a bubble that had to burst, it's a different story. It's called screw the Canadians and instead of actually putting money into the Hamilton plant you put it into hiring some of the biggest legal names around to fight against the Canada Investment Act all the way to our Supreme Court where you were told again and again through the legal process you didn't have a leg to stand on. So you did a deal and got an out of court settlement with Ottawa, brokered a deal with the Hamilton local, promised to fire up the plant and then, pulled the plug again. Now despite assurances at Hamilton City Council from Mayor Bob Bratina that there are signs U.S. Steel is getting close to firing up Hilton Works in the second quarter to actually make steel instead of just shipping coke to Nanticoke there are many sceptics in this city who want to see it before they believe it. And so at city council Ward 4's Sam Merulla passionately appealed to his colleagues to ask U. S. Steel to come before City Council and explain themselves, and explain to the people of Hamilton what is going to happen at Hilton Works. Part two of that motion which carried unanimously by the way also wondered out loud what the current official stance is of the Federal Government who did sign on to that out of court settlement last year. Indeed a further motion from Councillor Terry Whitehead is coming that will query the very makeup and execution of the Canada Investment Act. In fact it was Whitehead who suggested that under the Harper government there is one rule of thumb for the west and another for the rest of us.  Merulla who as I mentioned addressed council with great passion suggested this was a matter of sovereignty, that in fact the Canada Investment Act was operating like the "screw Canada act" his words. I can't disagree.
And folks it's not just about my community and it's heritage of steel making, this is also about London where Caterpillar is the big ugly American who first took our incentives, then tried to beat our workers into the ground and who has now announced those workers are toast because they're shutting the plant and stripping the place of it's equipment that many Ontarians and Canadians helped pay for. Hello Dalton, how about an injunction to stop them from moving anything out of that plant. This is about our friends in Quebec where aluminum was god, until a foreign entity purchased Alcan and started selling off divisions. Rio Tinto Alcan is no longer a Canadian owned manufacturing giant but is now just another division of another Multi-National.
What about Inco and Falconbridge giants that made us the leading Nickel producers in the world? Gone as well. What about steel? Wholly owned Canadian companies like Stelco, Dofasco and Algoma Steel are owned by Americans and Indians. From all over the world companies are looking at buying Canadian made assets and doing so while our federal government does nothing except for the case of  Potash Corp. The Government of Canada said it did not see a net benefit to allowing BHP Billiton to take it over and thus BHP backed away. That was 2010. When was our last federal election that gave Stephen Harper his majority? May of 2011 is the answer and in Saskatchewan you might suspect because of the federal intervention the NDP was shut out in what is traditionally a strong NDP province. The final tally there Conservative 13 Liberals 1 cuz nobody can beat Ralph Goodale. Folks this issue is bigger than our city council motion. I hope you are taking notice. There is a majority in Ottawa that has an agenda which we are just going to have to survive for the next three years. What we should not have to survive however is an assault on our working force by our so called friends from south of the border. We have been targetted and jobs in London, Hamilton and wherever there is a Zellers store are on the line. If we don't do something, if we don't start fighting back those jobs will be gone or they will be minimum wage. Hats off to Councillor Merulla for bringing the fight to council and hats off to his colleagues for supporting unanimously his request for an explanation about our future. I hope other municipalities and then provinces get in on the act to defend Canadian jobs. I hope we have the guts to say enough is enough.

It's almost done, for now!

Well we have a compromise on waste management that appears to have legs. Tomorrow evening city council is expected to handily accept a seven year contract that maintains weekly garbage pickup plus 26 days throughout the year beginning in April of 2013 where an extra tagged bag or container of garbage can be put out for pickup.
This compromise hatched by councillors Russ Powers and Chad Collins wooed enough rural councillors to easily pass today at the General Issues Committee with only three dissenters, Councillors Johnson, Ferguson and McHattie. The majority patted themselves on the back for avoiding a divisive council debate and possible rupture along urban and rural lines. The majority also patted themselves on the back for being seen to be attacking the widespread disease of illegal dumping of garbage that they believe has plagued the city since the one bag a week policy was adopted. We'll see. Indeed a friendly amendment to the main motion was passed unanimously asking staff to report back one year after implementation to see whether the tag system has worked, and whether illegal dumping was impacted. Frankly several councillors touched upon my greatest concern and that is, responsible citizens will always do what they're told in the waste management department from separating recyclables to filling their green bins with organic waste. Unfortunately there is a segment of society who don't care one bit about their fellow citizens. These are the folks who dump waste wherever, who dump their used furniture at charity bins, who paint walls and call it art, who spit on our sidewalks, who empty their ash trays in parking lots, who don't shovel snow off their side walks, who in general are anti social, anti citizen and anti order. They will never change whether there is an amnesty, tag days or a member of public works in their front living room trying to educate them about waste and land fills. They just don't care about the rest of us. So we'll see if illegal dumping is impacted and we'll see just how many extra tags the citizens of Hamilton use up which will have an impact on our landfill and our waste diversion. And of course we will witness whether or not our councillors can stick to their plan or tinker some more down the road for they have allowed themselves the room to do so. People we are told want garbage peace. We shall now see, if that will be so. Call me a cynic but in two years time I expect new instructions in the mail from the city on how to handle waste. I hope they're positive ones for I have to tell you what was passed today and will be passed tomorrow evening, is not progress.

Ground Hog Day!

Those words in a tweet from Councillor Chad Collins during the middle of three public budget presentations centred around parking meters in Waterdown and to some extent on tax increases in Flamborough.
Look, today was a mixed bag of issues a heavy bag mind you, so here are some of the highlights.
Those parking meters are likely toast in downtown Waterdown. A motion will likely be put forward by the local councillor Judy Partridge and based on today's sympathy around the table will likely be passed easily.
A proposal to move forward on design work for a new central Police Investigative Services Division Headquarters costing 1.5 million to be split by the City and the Police Service was approved as a prudent step toward ultimately building a 15 million dollar Forensic Services Facility. There was some push back however. Councillors although acknowledging the need for the facility wanted to know how the heck the 15 million dollars would be found and where. You see this capital request is currently not part of the 10 year capital project plan for the city. There was concern that taking on any additional debt in addition to that ten year list might push Hamilton's debt to a point where our credit rating might be impacted negatively, in other words costing us more to borrow. Staff was directed to come up with suggestions on where and more importantly when this 15 million expense could be injected into that long list of capital projects. The sentiment around the table this day seems to be projects in my ward better not get bumped back. In other words, no jumping the queue for our Police. By the way their first choice for this new facility is bounded by  Cannon, Mary, Catherine and Rebecca.
In this blog I hope you'll indulge me for I am leaving the lead story for last which is the presentation regarding those companies who would love to manage our HECFI facilities, Hamilton Place, the Hamilton Convention Centre and Copps Coliseum, something I wrote about on Tuesday.
Before that however a couple of interesting numbers. Did you know that in the Golden Horseshoe alone gross farm receipts total just over 1.4 billion dollars with 222.3 million of that coming from the City of Hamilton?
Did you know that in Hamilton alone the Agra-business including farming, processing and storage is worth well over a billion dollars? It is one of Hamilton's best kept secrets. The General Issues Committee received the presentation and report from reps of the Golden Horseshoe Agriculture and Agra-Food Strategy.
Now to the final big issue of the day.
As you know six different groups have shown interest in HECFI properties, three of them local and only interested in one entity of the package with three multinational entertainment groups willing to take over management of all three facilities. A representative of KPMG made this initial presentation basically explaining who the proponents were and what their preference was. Now the hard work the nitty gritty of crunching numbers begins with a report back to the GIC April 4th. Before I leave this subject an explanation as to some of the push back from councillors led by Ward 4's Sam Merulla who was one of the key figures in pushing for a complete HECFI review. For him there needs to be significant mitigation of current liabilities, in other words this process must lead to savings for taxpayers. One other significant comment came from Ward 5's Chad Collins who asked city staff to make sure all ideas are explored including hybrid solutions. By this he meant maybe a local group might run the Convention Centre for example with one of the multi nationals taking on the entertainment facilities of Copps Coliseum and Hamilton Place. As mentioned we learn more April 4th.
Tomorrow on "For the Record, Council Edition" Ward 6 councillor Tom Jackson is my guest beginning at 5pm and airing at the top of the hour throughout the evening.

Hope springs eternal!

I still have my Hamilton Predators down payment receipt. I was ready to stand in line all night to get my Hamilton Coyotes seasons tickets. Sound like an NHL fan, a Hamilton booster and  idiotic optimist? You got me for it's a blend of all three.
Tomorrow we learn more about six proposals from outside interests who want to get their hands on some civic property namely, Hamilton Place, the Convention Centre and Copps Coliseum. Of course this is good news for all taxpayers since we won't be on the hook down the road for tax subsidies HECFI  lived on since day one of it's inception. One wonders what these suitors actually want to do with these three excellent properties? Well we know the three local bidders only want what works for them. Carmen's Group for example is only interested in the Convention Centre and Sonic Unyon is only after Hamilton Place. The three big boys, all multinationals who would run all three facilities range in ascending order from GlobalSpectrum/Live Nation owned by Comcast Spectacor who happen to own the Philadelphia Flyers to SMG/Forum Equity who manage 77 arenas including the homes of the Pittsburgh Penguins and the New York Islanders, to the biggest of them all AEG Facilities/Katz Group owners and operators over a hundred stadiums and arenas around the world plus the Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, LA Galaxy home to David Beckham and Robbie Keane plus running the Staples Centre home to the Lakers and Clippers. Trust me when I say whenever the NHL plays games in Europe to open the NHL season it's playing games in AEG operated facilities and Philip Anschutz the world's 124th richest man at 7 billion is one of the most powerful figures within the NHL. In other words if Phil sends a message via twitter or pigeon to New York Gary Bettman is listening. And so what to make of the interest of these three international groups. Are they here to manage the building for the Bulldogs? Do you think they're hear to host a Star Trek convention? Maybe they want the Moody Blues to play three straight nights instead of two, do you think? Or do you think the three biggest players in arena and stadium management believe it's only a matter of time before the NHL succumbs to it's losses in the desert and moves the struggling, gasping, buried in debt Phoenix Coyotes to a friendlier venue and more supportive city not to mention supportive hockey nation.
We know from all the studies done over the past decade including last weeks study by the Conference Board of Canada that Southern Ontario is ready for a second National Hockey League team. Only one city has a building (yes it needs to be renovated and upgraded but it has a downtown footprint doesn't it) in operation that could handle an immediate transfer in a hockey mad country. Sure we all know the Sprint Centre managed by AEG is NHL worthy but it is not exactly located in a hockey mad location. Remember the Scouts failed in Kansas City in a previous incarnation. Nope there are two hockey mad markets that are ready for expansion or relocation to be found in Canada and they are Hamilton and Quebec City where currently the shovels are employed moving snow not earth. In other words folks even as other media explore for the umpteenth time the market that is Seattle where local folks are trying to resurrect the NBA and bring in the NHL to make the operation viable (the existing building would need massive changes to configure for hockey) only one city stands prepared to open its arms to immediate relocation and that is Hamilton. And now that it's not Jim Balsillie thumbing his nose at Gary and his rules but influential existing partners in the very clubby NHL bidding to take control of the HECFI venues one does even though one does know better, get there hopes up. Knowing that within a half hour drive of Hamilton 750 thousand people could become their customers these big players I believe have set their course for Hamilton to grab any team that may be relocated to Canada and to market and promote concerts that can't be held in Toronto due to Leafs and Raptors schedules in the Air Canada Centre. And remember both Gary B. and his right hand Bill Daley have said out loud ever since their court dates in Phoenix (and trust me they didn't want to say this out loud) that the Toronto Maple Leafs do not have a veto when it comes to a team moving into their market place. Hmmmm, should I get my hopes up or not? I certainly can't wait for tomorrow's presentations by the bidders (wonder if council will go in camera) to see what their intentions might be then we can all wait in line together outside of Copps overnight if needs be to get our Hamilton Coyotes seasons tickets. By the way should we start the name the team contest before tomorrow's briefing or after?

They should all be fired!

I'm taking deep breathes. I really am.
Why?
The newly posted information from the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board is actually giving me heart palpitations.
Why?
I can't wait to craft them a new ...you know what I mean.

Here are the facts as released by the school board regarding their scoring of a site for a new education headquarters. They through the services of Cushman and Wakefield looked at 18 different sites for a re-located head office for they are entering into an agreement with McMaster University to take over their current location at 100 Main West.
You know the debate right? People want to save the building. People want the Board to stay downtown keeping 350 white collar jobs where the city needs them most, right, you know this.
You know the Board has unveiled plans to build on the Central Mountain in Cardinal Heights just off Upper Wentworth and just a stone's throw, although we don't advocate that, from Toy's R Us. As a taxpayer you know all of this is happening and you might wonder why Crestwood was chosen as the new headquarters over 17 other potential sites investigated by the aforementioned Cushman and Wakefield on behalf of the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board. Here's why.
Using 12 criteria from amenities and accessibility to location, parking and proximity C and W concluded the Crestwood site scored 3.67 points and weighted scored 86.69 total points. Nice score. What was the next nearest score you might wonder and how badly did they do in comparison since the Board's decision has all the appearances of a slam dunk?
You really want to know?  It's Friday night. I don't want you to choke on your pretzels and beer or gag on your Chinese take out. You want to know. O K, here we go.
The next best score was given to Jackson Square, yes our under inhabited Jackson Square which has struggled for at least 20 years to be the vibrant place envisaged by another generation of decison makers.
What was the score you wonder out loud as you digest a second round of chicken wings washed down with a lovely Heineken? I'll tell you.
Jackson Square scored 3.65 points or point zero two off the Crestwood score and weighted 86.49 total points, or point two off the Crestwood score.
Have you digested those numbers along with your slice of Friday night pizza? You have? Then here goes.
These trustees and their Director of Education need to first of all be spanked and then fired for incompetence or should I say in a calmer manner their lack of civic pride/involvement.  For .02 they would move 350 white collar jobs to the central mountain instead of keeping them right smack dab downtown at the corner of King and James? Really? What are they smoking? Isn't this in fact a statistical tie? Indeed as you look at the criteria, the Jackson Square site actually won 8 of 12 categories with one tie. Gadzooks who's cooking the books to make a win for Jackson Square look like a nice silver medal? I couldn't possibly begin to speculate because then I would need to find a lawyer but this decision smells to high heaven. Apparently when the Board (I doubt the trustees established the criteria, hello Mr. director and staff) established their criteria they didn't think about city building they only thought about where the might be most cozy thus coming in in third place was Highland at 83.65 for a total weighted score. I'm sorry you thought the Board of Education for the City of Hamilton, sorry, the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board should move from a property in the heart of downtown donated by the City of Hamilton in the 60's to a property you own in Dundas that you are actually considering tearing down? Is that what you thought? In fourth place was the Innovation Park. O K, I see some merit in that but wouldn't there be remediation problems like the remediation problems you site for the West Harbour lands which only ranked tenth on your list? But I digress. You see the pattern I see here is very clear. Lets look at properties we own (meaning the board, that's why Ancaster High is on the list scoring 11th) and then through this process since we know we'll be scrutinised lets throw in a couple of city locations we don't own to keep the lawsuits away. Once we've done that with an outside firm using whatever weighting they want to establish we can announce a grand plan of moving out of the core of the city to the mountain using the proceeds of the sale of 100 Main to help pay for Crestwood while closing seven high schools and building 2 while refurbishing others. Oh now I start to see it. It's all about the money, the Board's money which is actually your money but who's counting you in the decision making loop? It's clear this Board doesn't give a rat's behind about the big picture. It's clear that a majority of trustees don't care about partnerships unless there's a picture of a Canadian Prime Minister on it. It's clear they haven't got a clue for one of the criteria  they had studied was parking and Jackson Square beat Crestwood
Monday they meet. I hope the taxpayers of this city who support this Board with their tax dollars are there to meet them, sullenly and vocally.

Are you kidding me?

So let me get this straight.
I get it that it's passed the 11th hour in fact it's probably a minute to midnight.
I get it that a proposed second tower to house the Hamilton Wentworth District Public School Board may have been explored to some degree over the years.
I get it that the Board has probably made it's mind up after a lot of considered discussion and debate, I mean when you release drawings of where you're going it pretty much means you're going.
I get all that.
What I also understand is the Board has not yet signed a deal with McMaster  giving up 100 Main Street West to the University. I also know that an important part of this deal is the City of Hamilton's leasing move at the Robert Thompson Building which allows the Board of Ed temporary space for it's staff while building on the property at Crestwood with the Public Health Department consolidating there afterwards. I also know that many councillors will not spend one penny more than is budgeted to get a lease done with Yale Properties which IS still an issue.
Given those facts I wonder why on earth the former Councillor for Ward 2, the current Mayor of Hamilton, one Robert Bratina would not support a motion to direct staff to approach the Board one more time with a proposal to explore a long term very friendly lease at the back of City Hall? The proposal to re-open very late in the hour discussions came from the current Ward 2 Councillor Jason Farr. His explanation in short. We have never formally said to the Board that we want them to remain a part of the downtown core, indeed he suggested it might be a bridge to enhancing relations between the two legislative bodies.
As the debate went around the table it appeared the motion might fail since there seemed to be a great deal of reluctance to get involved in another legislative entities back yard, to be seen to be meddling in an area where the City has no jurisdiction. Indeed Ward 9's Brad Clark suggested this Hail Mary pass to the Board left him uncomfortable since obviously the Board on it's own using it's own experts had finally come to this decision as is their right. Surprisingly at least to me the Mayor echoed many of those same comments suggesting that for years as the Ward 2 Councillor he too had attempted to keep the Board downtown but at this late hour with the Board clearly going in another direction this was not the time to interfere in someone else's jurisdiction.
In one of the most impassioned pleas to at least throw the pass and see what happens Ward 8's Terry Whitehead called the Board's decision to vacate the downtown and build their new offices on a significant green space off of Upper Wentworth with 4 hundred parking spaces to boot, was "asinine".
The vote was finally called after a second speech from Farr to at least throw the pass and see if there could be a completion. In favour of directing staff to approach the Board regarding the second city hall tower site  were Whitehead, Jackson, Collins, Merulla, Morelli, Farr, Powers and Pasuta. That drew some slight gasps as people realised the motion was passing. Against were Mayor Bratina and Councillors, Partridge, Ferguson, Johnson, Pearson and Clark.
Where I come from if there is still time left and your quarterback can throw the ball 70 yards into the end zone to see what might happen, that's the play you call. You don't drop your knee to the ground and let that time tick off the clock when you are losing and losing we will be when those jobs move out. As I carry on the analogy is the Mayor not in his role somewhat related to any coach who's message always must be do not give up until there is no time left on the clock. Isn't that what we try to instill not only in professional but amateur sports?
It seems to me if you are going to wear the chain of office you need to lead the way no matter how lost the cause might be. Council with all due respect to the Board and its decision is simply saying with this motion we really really really want you to stay downtown, won't you please at least examine this possibility before all T's are crossed and I's dotted. It's a reasonable and responsible thing to do considering millions of city taxpayers dollars are on the line here.  The Mayor in my opinion failed the  litmus test of leadership on this occasion. It's a shame.

Echoes of amalgamation!

So on a nice sunny day eleven years on.......as the Corporate Services Department presented their initial budget figures for 2012 to the City of Hamilton General Issues Committee (a cut by the way of minus point one per cent) rearing out of the mists of time echoes of a distant debate. What to do with Municipal Service Centres. Hamilton has six from the rejuvenated City Hall on Main Street West to the former city halls of the five amalgamated communities of Dundas, Ancaster, Flamborough, Stoney Creek and Glanbrook. Raising the issue of seeming duplication of services was not a councillor representing an inner city or former City of Hamilton ward but the suburban Brad Clark who represents Ward 9 mostly existing of upper Stoney Creek While most former City of Hamilton Councillors had given up this particular argument after several attempts to eliminate these service centres, as Ward 5's Chad Collins explained, after butting their heads endlessly against brick walls Clark an avowed enemy of duplication wondered out loud would a motion to give every ward in the city a service centre fly? He feels its grossly unfair that large areas of the city do not have these service centres which he believes could easily be eliminated as city run operations and rather rented out for valuable income from others looking for solid facilities. His basic stance was this; if we all can't have one why are we continuing to perpetuate this duplication when on many days of the week work is not being done at these centres which he described as drop in centres where folks can share a cup of tea. Whoops. This elicited heated comments from Councillors Brenda Johnson and Marie Pearson representing Glanbrook and lower Stoney Creek who praised the work being done. Indeed Pearson in a passionate defense listed the RCMP and the Hamilton Public Library as two significant occupants of the former Stoney Creek City Hall and that whenever she visits,there are all kinds of people seeking the services of the City of Hamilton. As Councillor Collins told me afterwards a number of services were rationalized after amalgamation for that was the whole idea, save money wherever possible, but the matter of Town Halls was too sensitive an issue during the early years of amalgamation to push over the finish line. One wonders with the defection of Clark whether or not a move to shutdown these regional service centres might gain strength if not during this budget period but next year's?
On another issue several councillors discussed the last election and certain irregularities that took place. Corporate Services through the City Clerks department handles municipal elections. Ward 3's Bernie Morelli expanding on comments from Tom Jackson in Ward 6 talked about the names of dead people being found on the voters list, of entire Seniors homes being left off, and of certain locations being non-accessible to all voters.   When told that all polling places in the city had been personally visited by City Staff to make sure they were accessible and that the city was held hostage by lists provided to them by MPAC (Municipal Property Assessment Corporation) Morelli said, "respectfully I have heard this response before" and he went on, "I want this fixed or relatively better" before the next election. A report will come back with recommendations to see what might be done including the inception of a citizen's committee to work with the Clerk's Department. I would like to confirm Ward 8's Terry Whitehead will be with us this week on "For the Record, Council Edition" Thursday at 5pm with many repeats of our interview following.

Delay, delay, delay or should I say deferred?

For the third time Hamilton's Public Works committee has put off making a decision on a major waste management contract that kicks in April of 2013. After listening to another staff presentation, a presentation based on questions and scenarios committee members had at the January 16th meeting a motion to defer the question on a motion by Ward 8's Terry Whitehead. Despite having all the numbers in front of them several councillors wanted to make sure the best possible decision could be made going forward and thus sought more time. I have a feeling the supporters of the Whitehead motion which essentially called for the status quo on weekly pickup but allowing two bags or containers double the current limit thought they might lose the motion on a tie and decided to fight again another day. From where I was sitting it looked like Whitehead, Jackson, Duvall, Merulla and probably Collins were going to vote for the motion with Jackson vehement in his comments about a bi-weekly proposal which is preferred by staff. It appeared that tilting toward not accepting today's motion were councillors, Powers, Ferguson, Partridge, Pearson and McHattie with the only unkown Pasuta who did not speak to the staff recommendation or the motion. So the debate over our waste is held over until Monday March 5th. One observation if I might. How much does it cost to hold some of our highest paid talent hostage to these deferrals. A lot of work has already gone into this debate. All the senior waste management staff have now sat through a January 16th presentation and today's. How many hours of wasted person hours have now ticked off because this committee and by extension council dither on this file. It's also not fair to the successful bidder on this file who needs to have a plan ready to go in just over a years time. They have more than just one contract and need to know which direction we are going so they can cost out their personnel needs and perhaps the purchasing of new equipment. Someone needs to crack a whip and get on with it.

Waste Management Monday!

One of the most important debates in the city's history could take place tomorrow. It's all about garbage.
This year your garbage calendar will remain basically the same except for the amnesty dates that will be included allowing you the opportunity to get rid of more than one bag a week. Councillors hope these amnesty days will cut into the rapid increase of illegal dumping in Hamilton. The debate on Monday however will be about a seven year contract that with only a little tweaking over that time period will give taxpayers "continuing change" relief. But what will the deal look like? Will it be the status quo of one bag or container a week? Will it be six bags on a bi weekly pickup schedule which seems to be preferred by staff giving Hamilton more bang for its buck. Could it be a blend? We find out tomorrow at Public Works with ratification of whatever the committee decides coming Wednesday at City Council. Watch these councillors at this Special Public Works meeting. Brian McHattie will likely praise the one bag a week stance that council had previously taken and he will suggest any change from what he calls a progressive Hamilton garbage collection policy will be a step backwards. Brenda Johnson will likely be strong in her support. Watch the three city mountain councillors. Its Tom Jackson who has pushed for the amnesty days because of the illegal dumping especially along the mountain brow. He is supported in that push by Scott Duvall and Terry Whitehead. What none of the mountain councillors appear to support is a bi weekly pick up that would leave medical and animal waste collecting and possibly smelling for two weeks instead of one. This who discussion may come down to the "poo". I will be there for the entire debate tweeting at dougfarraway14 and will have a blog posted after the debate is done at blogspot.com. 

Here we go again!

The Hamilton Farmers Market is once again in the spotlight. An amended motion to conduct a feasibility study on privatising the management of the Market including whether the current manager's position should be broken into several positions passed unanimously today at the General Issues Committee meeting which had listening to the budget presentation of the Community Services Department under which the Market falls. Citing continuous concerns from stall holders and anecdotal concerns that attendance is down at the newly reopened Market dominated today's discussion. Ward 5 Councillor Chad Collins put forward the motion suggesting this for profit business should be privatised for the benefit of everyone. Ward 8's Terry Whitehead agreeing suggesting governments never do a good job in the market place. Most passionately Ward 6 Councillor Tom Jackson opined that even after a six million dollar infrastructure investment "it isn't clicking on all cylinders" that the Market is "an enigma". Although he did not vote against the motion Ward 1's Brian McHattie suggested that over time the Market in it's present City Managed format will right itself and make money. He said the Market is still in a transition phase, that "people don't like change" so lets give it some time.
One unfortunate by product of this debate may be a lost promotion. A new manager for the market was to start the job next week. Most councillors believed that although it is public knowledge who is going to get the job the position itself should be put in abeyance until the review is carried out and council determines which route it will take in the future. Community Services Manager Joe-Anne Priel gets to handle that one.

Measuring racism in Hamilton!

Interesting discussion at the General Issues Committee regarding a pilot auditor generals project. About 3 hundred thousand bucks a year for two personnel over three years is being discussed for this year's budget. It has been deferred back to staff for a rewrite but it seems clear from the speeches and questions from around the table that after 8 years of discussion it is about to happen. Stay tuned.
Secondly Ward 4's Councillor Sam Merulla brought forward a notice of motion regarding U.S. Steels actions at Hilton Works. More on that to come.
Most interestingly 9 recommendations were brought forward by the Committee Against Racism who's advisory purpose is to advise, advocate and consult on relevant issues in the community of Hamilton relating to racism and it's consequences.
I will paraphrase the 9 recommendations for brevity's sake.
One; that council direct the Access and Equity Office to a release a report detailing the number of total staff at manager level who have completed the Racial Equity Training.
Two; that council on behalf of CAR request a copy of the Hamilton Police Service's Equity Policy. By the way it came up during the presentation that CAR has been asking for a copy for 8 years without receiving one.
Three; that all councillors and their staff take racial equity training within one year of office (CAR accepted a suggestion that it be two years)
Four; that Council approve the formation of an Access and Equity Standing Committee of Council.
Five;  that Council direct Management including Human Resources to develop and implement a plan of action making the City's workforce more reflective of the City's diverse population.
Six; that Human Resources actively consult with CAR on recruiting, hiring, promotion and retention with updates every six months to CAR.
Seven; that Council direct staff to make the City's website multilingual.
Eight; that council approve a feasibility study establishing a resource centre with a staffed telephone line including education and training for the community.
Nine; that Council direct the Access and Equity office to work in collaboration with CAR on the development of a public awareness campaign that will focus on the impact of racism and how to address it.

Councillor Tom Jackson had this question, "how much and who will pay for such a resource centre?". The response from Roger Cameron chair of CAR was basically a number of partners including the city. One more note. The CAR presentation wanted to make it clear that the United Nations no longer appreciates the term "visible minority". CAR will no longer use that term and asked that perhaps Hamilton become a leader in this country in using the interim term of "racialized persons". Something to watch for perhaps down the road.

Tomorrow Ward 12 Councillor Lloyd Ferguson will join us on "For the Record, Council Edition beginning at 5 o'clock, following hourly thereafter on Cable 14. Some of the subjects we'll discuss, the ongoing budget process, the 11th hr attempts to keep the Board of Education located downtown and Ward 12 issues like Wilson Street reconstruction this summer that will impact or not, on Heritage Days in Ancaster. Hope you'll tune in.