FARRAWAY's HAMILTON

They should all be fired!

2012-02-10T16:57:00.000-08:00

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?

2012-02-08T17:22:00.000-08:00

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!

2012-02-07T13:45:00.000-08:00

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?

2012-02-06T11:39:00.000-08:00

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!

2012-02-05T12:58:00.000-08:00

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!

2012-02-02T10:57:00.000-08:00

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!

2012-02-01T11:19:00.000-08:00

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.

A whopping annus horribilis!

2012-01-31T05:01:00.000-08:00

What exactly is the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board thinking?
Over the past year they have held illegal closed door meetings for which they have been admonished. They have spent money to punish whistle blowers among their ranks only to find out the whistle blower had done nothing wrong. They have allowed ARCs (accommodation review committee's) three of them to work in solitude on three different areas of the city without any reference to co-ordination. Indeed the terms of reference for these ARCs may have been lax based on the way the Provincial funding winds are blowing. Surely when these ARCs were set up the Board Trustees and staff were aware that we had been in a significant economic downturn for several years with no end of misery in sight for world economies which impact on us as a country in general and the property tax base in particular. Surely they must have known the dollars would not be there no matter what was recommended. And yet we have ARCs now recommending the closure of a minimum of two Secondary Schools on the mountain with the construction of a brand new one on the south mountain (ummm I remember Southmount, do you?). In the lower city we have recommendations that close an iconic Parkside in Dundas, Sir John A. MacDonald in the core, and the heritage building that is Delta Secondary while constructing a brand new high school in the downtown core. The third ARC is contemplating the shutting down of a pair of iconic schools at Highland and Ancaster Secondary and constructing new ones. All of this costing 128 million dollars today (you know the price tag never comes in under budget, always over) for the construction of four new facilities by 2015.
Come on. What is everyone smoking? The money isn't there and won't be especially after the scary Drummond report comes out. And finally to wrap up their annus horribilis this Board soldiers on with a deal with McMaster University that allows the destruction of the current Board of Education Headquarters allowing a move to the central mountain where I am told the Ward Councillor doesn't really want them, at Cresmount, nestled behind strip malls off of Upper Wentworth and surrounded on three sides by residential neighborhoods. Outside of some employees slipping out on their lunch break to do some quick shopping what does one suspect will happen when the day is done for the employees of this new sprawling (typical urban sprawl from the 70's) two story building? I would suggest they will drive straight home many through those residential streets. Their economic impact outside of tackling Timmies in the morning will be zilch. Meanwhile downtown the new construction will generate revenue from building permits and person hours on the job and will bring an extra 50 white collar workers offsetting losses to the mountain but is that a long term economic impact? Not really.
I have a few questions if you don't mind.
Have we really explored all options to keep the Board of Education downtown? I don't think so since the downtown Councillor Jason Farr has launched an idea for a second tower on city hall property. Was that contemplated a year ago when the Board was searching? I think not. Understand the history of this Board and it's Separate School Board brother who have more often then not worked in isolation from other jurisdictions because that is their mandate which they aggressively protect.
Would keeping 350 white collar workers in a refurbished and possibly expanded existing building be a boost to the downtown especially if McMaster worked out a different location deal to move 4 hundred workers to the core? Absolutely. Could McMaster negotiate directly with the city about a second tower? Why not?
Could McMaster work out a deal with the Board of Education to take over the footprint of Sir John A.? Why not?
Indeed since Bob Young has hijacked the football stadium from the West Harbour couldn't McMaster with the help of the City's remedial monies move four hundred people onto a site overlooking the West Harbour only minutes from Jackson Square and Copps Coliseum? I think so.
I'd like to know right now what the heritage community thinks about losing one of the city's iconic sixties buildings. As I recollect they sure didn't want city hall going anywhere so where do they stand on the Board of Education headquarters?
Some final thoughts.
One board trustee suggests and we quote from today's Spectator Jessica Brennan of Dundas, "I appreciate the concern of people who want to keep us downtown, but to move away from the actual idea now would be dishonourable to the process of planning and thinking and community engagement we've had up until now".
Really? What is dishonourable to process is launching a flawed process with flawed thinking in the first place and whatever happened to it's never too late to change your mind especially if you're changing your mind to get something right. Finally when will the citizens of Hamilton wake up to the fact that a very closely knit group of people who are hardly ever challenged at the ballot box and who control in excess of 566 million tax dollars have in their hands the fate of your children? They have shown in the past that they cannot read trends correctly or even more frighteningly have been misled by staff into false decisions (remember Southmount, Sir Wilfred Laurier and the windowless schools at Sir John A. and Scott Park). When will they be reigned in?
I hope it's soon for the sake of families who currently attend Highland, Parkside, Ancaster, MacDonald, Sherwood, Delta and Sir Allan McNab.The only thing missing from this annus horribilis, is a castle on fire.

Absenteeism at the City of Hamilton

2012-01-30T17:23:00.000-08:00

As departmental budget presentations got underway on Monday we learned that although absenteeism rates have been dropping slightly each year for the past couple of years we still have a substantial problem facing us. The current rate is now 9.94 average sick days per eligible employee. In other words on top of allotted vacation days people for whatever reason are taking an extra 10 days off from their duties. That adds up in a major corporation like a city to tens of thousands of hours in cost. Some folks truly are sick, some need the time to deal with a sickness in the family and yet we all know people who figure weeks and months in advance where to take a strategic so called sick day to lengthen a long week or even a vacation. What to do about it this cost? Ward 4 Councillor Sam Merulla reminded the General Issues Committee that once upon a time Hamilton had an incentive program in place to discourage absenteeism. By unanimous vote the Committee approved a motion of Merulla's requesting staff go away and look at a potential revival of such a program in the future.
We also learned that over the next five years up to 42 per cent of existing Managers will retire compared to only 12 per cent of the non-management work force. Do we have a "human resources crisis" asked Ward 1 Councillor Brian McHattie that requires an extraordinary response? Staff will review the ramifications.
Finally on day one of these departmental budget deliberations we learned the number required to operate Public Works in 2012. The ask is for a 6.9 million dollar or 3.9 per cent increase over 2011 for a total allocation of 184 million bucks. Public Works of course is responsible for Transportation, Engineering, Strategic Planning, Cemeteries, Forestry, Traffic, Facilities Fleet, Forestry, Parks, Horticulture, HSR, Water, Storm and Waste Water. Yep Jerry Davis the General Manager has a lot on his plate. By the way Jerry I have some infrastructure that needs attending to, Mohawk running East from Garth to Upper James. Yikes, it's crumbling every day. But I digress. The budget process continues Thursday and Friday as we return to regularly scheduled meetings like Planning tomorrow. I will be tweeting highlights at Doug Farraway14.

Down to the nitty gritty!

2012-01-26T15:06:00.000-08:00

Hamilton's budget process is well underway. We have already been provided an over view and a number from City of Hamilton staff. The number is a 2 per cent tax increase. There are outstanding deferred issues that might impact on the budget to the tune of .8 per cent if approved. Thursday Boards and Commissions began making their presentations and in the court of public opinion there were winners and losers. For example the Hamilton Police Service brought in a budget request of 4.4 million dollars, an increase of 3.37 per cent for a total allotment of 135,641,540 dollars. Yep it's a huge chunk of your tax bill and the city has absolutely no power to force the service to bring in a zero budget increase. But Chief Glenn De Caire skated through his presentation without taking a knock. Indeed praise was heaped on the service not only for the presentation and their work in the field but for actually listening to the city's request to bring in the lowest budget increase possible. The Chief pointed out that 88 per cent of the total police budget is driven by compensation and benefits leaving little wiggle room to chop programs or equipment. Another winner according to the General Issues Committee was the Hamilton Public Library who came in with a request of a 1 per cent increase over last year. Praise was the operative word again for outgoing Chief Librarian Ken Roberts who retires at the end of April. I had a chance to chat with him before the presentation for once upon a time I sat on the Public Library Board. He leaves well satisfied with what he has been able to shepherd to completion with a spotlight on the renovations at the Central Library. Also receiving praise, although I was surprised no-one asked them about parking fees at Tiffany Falls was the Hamilton Conservation Authority who brought in a zero per cent budget request. One highlight for them, is taking away gate fees Wild Waterworks. Matching the HCA with praise was the Niagara Conservation Authority who upon receiving Hamilton's request for a zero per cent achievement went back over their budget and found enough to get to that position. Now to the losers in the public relations department, and that would be Conservation Halton. They went before the GIC and requested a 5.3 per cent increase over 2011. The amount of money is small, only 9 thousand bucks but as several councillors suggested that is not the issue. In fact both Councillors Clark and Ferguson asked to be opposed to the Halton submission. As Ward 9's Clark said "we are just ignored". If you didn't know local councils can only request, they cannot order Conservation Authorities to do anything. They can only appeal to a higher authority and virtually never win. That's day one for Boards and Commissions. Tomorrow we hear from such bodies as the Art Gallery of Hamilton, the RBG, the Philharmonic and the Opera to name a few. By the way we got some good explanations on several matters from Ward 14's Rob Pasuta on "For the Record, Council Edition" airing throughout this evening. Check it out on Cable 14.

What's next goats?

2012-01-25T19:01:00.000-08:00

Let me explain. The quote came from Ward 7 Councillor Scott Duvall at Hamilton City Council. The issue? Urban chickens. Yep they're back on the radar. But before I flesh out the Councillor's quote the larger issue for council was approving a new Responsible Animal Ownership Bylaw, and they did with one very significant change. There will be a limit to the number of pets a household may own, not an unlimited number as recommended by staff and accepted by the planning committee. That number is now 4. So within the 8 wards of the old City of Hamilton where households were restricted to two pets, the more the merrier. In most of the rest of the new Hamilton the limit had already been four. Many councillors spoke about the calls and e mails they have been receiving from constituents wondering if they had lost their marbles discussing unlimited. Well unlimited is out, the number four is in. Now the chicken issue. Here's the context. At committee there was a movement to let staff do the research and let the committee make an informed decision for there are other jurisdictions who are allowing the return of chickens to an urban environment. Then the tide turned when Ward 14's Rob Pasuta our guest tomorrow on Cable 14's Council Edition decided that in the end he would not be voting for such an introduction of chickens in Hamilton so why waste staff's time. But at council he supported the side that wanted the information saying he would still vote no on the issue but wanted at the very least through the report education that would inform urban citizens on the complexities of chickens in the city. In the end council voted 9 to 6 to let staff do the research to allow council to make what Ward 1's Brian McHattie called and we quote "decisions that our evidence based". Urban chickens will now be studied by staff with a report to come back during the third quarter of the year. Oh by the way as you can imagine from the title of this piece, this is where the quote from Councillor Duvall came from. As he was voting no to a study and a waste of staff's time he wondered out loud and we quote, "what's next, goats, emus, ostriches" It got a chuckle. For the record voting for further study were counillors Jackson,Collins, Merulla, Morelli, Farr, McHattie, Johnson, Pasuta and Partridge. Voting against Mayor Bob Bratina, and councillors Whitehead, Duvall, Clark, Pearson and Ferguson.
On to the very emotional debate over eight beds to be moved from Charlton House to a property owned by the new partnership of Lynwood Charlton at 121 Augusta. At planning committee staff recommended that the request to alter zoning to allow 121 Augusta to be within 3 hundred metres of the next closest Residential Care facility be waived, be rejected. It was. At council a motion to defer from the Councillor from Ward 2 where the debate rages on was accepted on a 13 to 2 vote. There will now be further interaction between the city and the proprietors to see if there is another property to move these 8 beds that accommodate 8 teenage girls who suffer from mental disorders into, that does not impact on the density of such homes and half way houses that dot the inner city. The issue will return April 11th to council. Councillor Brad Clark who had experience helping to write legislation regarding this type of facility during his time at Queen's Park made an impassioned plea not to defer but in fact to overturn the planning committee's recommendation. Indeed and we quote he said "I'll stake my life on it, this will not be a problem". Only Clark and Pearson were opposed to the motion to defer. Again we have not heard the last of this. Also remember as I pointed out in an earlier column next month the city will move to divest itself of the current Charlton House where the 8 beds are located because it is as staff described it "crumbling". Renovations and upgrades to the tune of 1.2 million are required for this home, a structure owned by the City of Hamilton. Something has to give.
Finally amongst a number of "Notices of Motion", this one from Councillor Jason Farr who wants city staff to "be directed to formally propose the City Hall second tower site to the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board for a nominal long term land lease fee and undertake discussions with the Board on their requirements. You might be going "huh" right about now. An explanation. The original plans for Hamilton City Hall as designed by Stanley Roscoe in 1960 discussed a second tower to be constructed south of the current main building. In other words on the second level parking lot over the garage across from Central School. Umm taking my reporters cap off and inserting opinion, just who would build this building? If it's the school board how might a new tower compare in cost to what the Board is contemplating, which is to build a new home on the central mountain? It would likely cost more but that's just a guess. How important is it to the downtown to keep the board and it's employees there as McMaster moves on to the existing property at Bay and Main? Good question. My preference is to keep all those white collar jobs downtown as McMaster introduces even more people to our sidewalks, restaurants and cafes. Cost will likely determine what happens next, but it's definetely something to watch for.

The 2012 Budget>

2012-01-24T14:18:00.000-08:00

With the process now in the final stretch here's an update on your pocket book.
As of this day, your total municipal tax increase is 2.3 per cent with point three of that, education tax. In other words as we get into the nitty gritty the City of Hamilton tax increase is 2 per cent or an increase of 68 dollars based on the average residential assessment of 258 thousand dollars. Where do we stand compared to other communities you might wonder? Ottawa has already approved a 2.39 per cent increase. Kingston has approved a 3.5 per cent increase. Haldimand has a target of 3.1 per cent with Niagara already approved at 3.14 per cent. Toronto of course is currently in the final stages of haggling over a 2.5 per cent increase. Indeed, only York Region projected at 1.8 per cent is lower than Hamilton in all the Province of Ontario for significant municipalities. Several councillors today praised city staff for the work they have already done and emphasised to the City Manager Chris Murray that this message needs to be passed along to not only naysayers within the city but those who bash Hamilton from outside our city limits. Is the city done with this budget process? Absolutely not. Thursday and Friday of this week Boards and Commissions will make their presentations. On the 30th of the month individual city departments will present their numbers and their requests going forward in greater detail than we have seen so far. What are some of the challenges going forward? Sixteen items have been referred by Council to the 2012 budget. If all were approved the total tax increase impact would be .8 per cent, so council will have to tread carefully. As well, there are 5 requested enhancements that need to be dealt with. If they were all approved the increase would be .06 per cent. So as you can see there are outstanding issues to the tune of an .86 per cent increase on top of the current position of 2 per cent that need to be dealt with.
For those of you watching this process keep an eye on Public Works and Social Services understanding that if the City is going to try and get below 2 per cent the cuts will have to be made from only a third of total spending. The other two thirds are locked in, from the Police Service budget to the Hamilton Conservation Authority. The city of course can appeal any increases but two thirds of the budget is under a higher authority where appeals rarely are received well. The final budget process begins in earnest on February 7th with public delegation received on the 15th. The final budget will be ratified by council on March 7th. Stay tuned because now favourite causes in each ward of the city come under scrutiny. I will be at City Council Wednesday evening and back at the General Issues Committee Thursday and Friday for those Board and Commission presentations. Cheers.

City hopes!

2012-01-18T10:26:00.000-08:00

Who are the Lake Ontario Offshore Network? I don't really care as long as they bring as they hope to do 19 hundred skilled and high paying jobs to Hamilton under the auspices and leadership of Windstream Energy. For the record however the Network is made up of four lobbying companies, the Walters Group who will fabricate structural steel, the Hamilton Port Authority who will provide the facilities to assemble the parts, McKeil Marine who will use its resources to transport and erect the parts and Bermingham Foundations Solutions who will erect the parts. Oh you're asking what they hell are they hauling and erecting? What, did I bury the lead again? There's a reason. In the Province of Ontario currently there is a moratorium on the construction of Windmills. We're told more scientific study of the impacts of wind energy is needed in this province. Some would suggest last year's decision was politically motivated but whatever the reason there are those who are at the local level are attempting to get the Provinces attention. One of those who has already filed a notice of motion on the moratorium issue is Ward 15 Councillor Judy Partridge. She believes council was misguided when it imposed it's own moratorium on wind generation projects within Hamilton. The particular project this consortium is lobbying for is a 1.5 billion dollar wind farm in Lake Ontario off the shore of Wolfe Island near Kingston. It's estimated 7 hundred million of the value of the project would stay in Ontario with Hamilton becoming a leading player in an evolving industry. We can only hope the Province sees the wisdom soon and lifts the moratorium for such projects putting Hamilton on the map. The skill sets required are already here for prospective employees and coupled with the expansion of the city's Agra-business could move us away from our proud heritage as the "steel city" to become the "innovative city". The local moratorium will be discussed at next week's City Council meeting.

In other news the way is now clear for a complete debate over the future of waste management in Hamilton. A delegation from a proponent that was not selected by Public Works staff, had their say before the city's Audit, Finance and Administration Committee. The complaints from Modern Landfill Inc, a former contractor in the city, were received with comment. That's it. On to the debate February 6th.
Also of note the Newport Yacht Club located between Fruitland and 50 Roads has received a reprieve from the same committee. A little background. The Yacht Club holds 238 boat slips in it's Marina surrounded by residences. Established in the 80's there were to be a couple of condo towers. The Marina is owned by three numbered companies controlled by Rosart Properties. Rosart is in serious tax arrears to the city and wishes to sell the property. City staff have agreed that the best way out for all involved is to write off what is currently owed, a total of 260 thousand dollars and change. Here is their reasoning. Without a sale by Rosart to the new owners who are the residents of the Newport community a tax sale would have been required costing the city 475 thousand dollars in lost taxes. Committee members agreed with staff. Going forward the residents co-op with business plan in hand will once again become taxpayers hopefully not in arrears.Council approval is still needed.
Thursday I interview Ward 9 Councillar Brad Clark. Up for discussion, windmills, garbage, and residential care facilities among other subjects. I hope you'll tune in to Cable 14 at 5pm.

"Corktown is a success story"!

2012-01-17T13:39:00.000-08:00

"Hamilton is a success story". The words of a very nervous Brian Bogusat the President of the Corktown Neighbourhood Association as he led off the residents defense of their neighborhood against a new residential care facility at 121 Augusta. The request to change the zoning at this address came from the owners, the newly amalgamated Lynwood Charlton Centre.
Some facts before I get on with the story.
Charlton Hall is an existing residential care facility operating out of two connected houses at 152 and 156 Charlton. It cares for 8 girls aged 13 to 18 who have mental issues and who have in many cases run away from home. It's a seven day all day operation with two staff on hand at all times. The proposal asks that these girls be moved from what is described as a crumbling facility to 121 Augusta where existing day programs are run and have been run for some time. If approved the request would have seen renovations taking place on the second floor to house the girls.
However since 2001 the City of Hamilton has had on it's books a bylaw prohibiting the establishment or location of any new residential care facilities within 300 hundred metres of other existing residential care facilities. In this case a move to Augusta of the existing program would take it to within three hundred metres of another residential care program on Forest Ave also run by the proponents. It currently has six beds four of which are used on a rotating basis for adults who are mentally challenged. In other words a home that gives caregivers a break. Both the programs we are told are necessary and for the girls we are told it is a one of a kind program for the city. But the rub is this, Hamilton's downtown is saturated with residential care facilities which led to council's 2001 decision to create a moratorium on further expansion of these kinds of programs unless they were more than 3 hundred metres apart which the programs proposed for Augusta and existing at Forest are not. They are to be clear both run by the same proponent. The idea then and now is to encourage these kinds of programs to find homes elsewhere within greater Hamilton instead of imposing the burden on the downtown core. On the surface a clear cut violation of not only the bylaw but the intent of the bylaw. But now the story really gets going. The city owns Charlton Hall described as "crumbling" by the head of the city's economic development department Neil Everson. Indeed he reported to the Planning Committee that next month there will be a recommendation that along with a couple of other city owned properties the city should divest itself of 152-156 Charlton. Why you might ask? I'm glad you did. It is falling apart and it has been identified that there is asbestos on the premises among other things. Total estimated cost of repair to the landlord, the taxpayers of the city of Hamilton, 1.2 million dollars. The value of the property estimated at 550 thousand dollars according to Mr. Everson. Thus the proponents for 121 Augusta described a positive variance of the bylaw as a win-win for everyone. The program for the girls would go on. The Charlton Hall program would come out of a designated moratorium on residential care facilities area into a less dense neighborhood on the fringe of Corktown, the city would save the 1.2 million on renovations, and might even see some revenue by divesting themselves of the property. Does this seem to make sense to anyone?
Not to the residents like Mr. Bogusat who freely admitted to me afterwards that he came to Hamilton 16 years ago to buy a cheap property fix it up, then flip it. He's still here because he fell in love with our city. Two other residents who did their research came to Hamilton from Toronto aware of the changing face of Corktown and it's emerging new image. They believe that progress, that "success story" could be harmed if another residential care facility takes place no matter what good work may be going on at 121 Augusta. This debate got heated at times with Ward 2 Councillor Jason Farr leading the charge against the proponent suggesting that while in print Lynwood Charlton was implying there would be no impact on the neighborhood in fact verbally in front of the committee they admitted there likely would be some. Further adding fuel to the fire were the questions and comments of Ward 8 Councillor Terry Whitehead who asked staff had there been exemptions anywhere else in the core since 2001. The answer was yes, but they were different issues than this one. He also asked when the Good Shepherd asked to amalgamate two of it's facilities totaling 34 beds did they get what they asked for? Now it really gets interesting. The staff recommendation was to not amend the bylaw which Council agreed with. But as we all know the Good Shepherd have their amalgamated facility because they took their case to the Ontario Municipal Board and won. Is this the road we're about to go down again? Committee afters hour and hours of delegations and debate supported the staff's recommendation to deny the variance which now goes to council next week for ratification. But have we heard the end of this story? Once council makes a decision will the proponent take on the neighborhood at the OMB? We'll keep following for you.

The Yuck factor!

2012-01-16T16:36:00.000-08:00

Although city staff had hoped for a decision on the future of waste management in Hamilton we are into a delay. The final decision to be made at the next meeting of the Public Works Committee, February 6th to be followed by City Council for final confirmation of the new plan. Staff had hoped the decision could have been made before the end of the month so that all can be set for the rolling out of the seven year plan in April of 2013. What's the holdup? The legal department advised that since one of the bidders on this major contract had filed a complaint about the process and would not be heard until Wednesday's Audit, Finance and Administration meeting it was best for Public Works to hold off until the complaint were heard and a Special Public Works meeting could be held to make a recommendation on which proposal would be accepted. We can tell you that staff have recommended a plan that saves the city 3.6 million dollars per year and adds three years to the life of the Glanbrook Landfill. It's Project 5 costing taxpayers 21.2 million dollars per year. What would it mean to you? The biggest feature would be the increase in containers you could put out every TWO weeks, and that's six. Blue boxes and green bin pickups would continue on a weekly basis. Several other municipalities have moved to bi-weekly pickup of trash including Ottawa which is about to implement and Halton Region where they are about to move from a six container pickup to three. In other words there are a lot of different ways to handle our waste and some of the sticking points that were appearing around the committee table today included pet feces and, well, kiddy poo. What to do with all those diapers over a two week period or where to store kitty litter during a warm spell over two weeks became topics of debate. More to come in a couple of weeks time.

On another issue a move by Ward 12 Councillor Lloyd Ferguson to bring back the ramp from Mohawk Road to the west bound 403 that disappeared during the planning of the Lincoln Alexander Expressway hit a snag. It appears that the Ministry of Transport does not intend to spend a dime on the construction of such a ramp costing anywhere from five to ten million dollars claiming it's the City's responsibility since it resolves a local traffic issue. The cost is two hundred thousand dollars for City Staff to come up with a design which is already approved and found in the 2012 budget. Councillors were shocked with the stance by the MoT with Ward 7's Scott Duvall wondering out loud if the city should even spend a nickle on design knowing it doesn't have the money to build the ramp if the Province continues its intransigence on this issue. In the end the design work will go ahead and the lobbying of the local Liberal Cabinet Minister Ted McMeekin will be ramped up. Excuse the pun. Up next another Planning session.

"I think I ruffled some feathers"!

2012-01-12T12:01:00.000-08:00

A great quote from the Councillor for Ward 2 Jason Farr Thursday at a special meeting for the "Responsible Animal Ownership By-Law". Surprisingly only a handful of people were on hand. More surprisingly the by-law as redrafted by City staff does not include a definitive number of animals per household as did the old Hamilton by-law which was two. For tarantula owners three "docile" members of that family (non venomous) are back in as are pythons and anacondas as long as they don't grow more than 3 metres (nine feet). Frankly I don't care how long they grow I'm not going to be caught dead anywhere near them. Where the feathers hit the fan was over the issue of "Urban Chickens" a growing trend for those who have issues with who and how their food is grown. In other words people who want their eggs taken by their own hand and not purchased at a grocery story. Last November this very committee after listening to delegations decided to ask staff to further research Urban Chickens vs rural and come back with recommendations on how chickens might be handled in a city environment. The staff work had begun but at the urging of Ward 12 Councillor Lloyd Ferguson that work came to an end, at least at the Committee level with a motion to rescind that request from back in November. Council still needs to make a final decision but it was clear even from those who supported the staff work and who lost a 4 - 3 vote that ultimately and certainly two of those votes would have gone against Urban Chicken raising. Farr was the most passionate councillor on the issue of researching the entire issue before making a decision. But as Ferguson pointed out if ultimately we're going to turn down Urban Chickens why waste staff's valuable time. That swung the fourth vote towards rescinding which came from the Councillor for Ward 14 Robert Pasuta who is a farmer and who has raised, hogs, dairy cattle and chickens on his operation. Although open to discussion in the beginning he decided on the second go round of councillor comments to end the staff work stating there was never any way he was going to vote for urban chickens so "let's deal with it now". Urban chickens my friends, will not be crossing the road. Up next is a public works committee meeting on Monday which I will be attending that deals with the thorny issue of what to do with our garbage for the next five to ten years. The underlying current to watch for is a desire by councillors to make sure this is the last time for a while that the issue is debated, letting taxpayers get used to a system that doesn't change every year. I will be on an almost daily basis updating you on council issues. As well I will be hosting Cable 14's For the Record, Council Edition beginning Thursday the 19th. Our first guest the Councillor for Ward 9 Brad Clark. Hope you'll join us on the 19th at 5pm.

Get ready for fireworks?

2012-01-11T18:40:00.000-08:00

Council's first meeting of the year is now over. A rather tame affair except for the issue of garbage. Oh there were concerns expressed about the impending deal between McMaster University and the Hamilton and District Board of Education re the Board of Education Centre and the City of Hamilton's amalgamation of the Board of Health's various offices possibly in the Robert Thompson Tower. That debate was fun because the Mayor suggested if the City didn't go through with it's amalgamation and consolidation then the deal between the other two might be in jeopardy. That was instantly challenged by ward 5 councillor Chad Collins who asked pointed questions of City staff about the relationship or linkage between the two deals. The answers he received which clearly suggested as far as staff were concerned the two were not linked led to an uncomfortable attempt at explanation from the Mayor. After lengthy discussion a proposed amendment to the committee recommendation from ward 2's Councillor Farr was defeated. More on this one to follow obviously.
Now to garbage. As passionate as I've ever seen him the Councillor for Ward 6 Tom Jackson launched into a passionate defence of an interim policy to provide 12 additional amnesty days for extra garbage bags calling it the minimum we can do to stop what seems to be an orgy of dumping. He quoted some frightening numbers; a 3 hundred per cent increase in illegal dumping as reported by bylaw enforcement since Hamilton went to a one bag per week policy. Coincidence he wondered? On Monday the 16th the Public Works Committee will review proposals for garbage collection beginning in 2013 and running for who knows how long. Certainly one of the concerns expressed at council was the fact that Hamilton's garbage collection has changed so many times since amalgamation that people can barely keep up, indeed councillor Collins suggested the current garbage calendar looked like a Mayan calendar with all the intricate symbols. The interim plan for garbage collection was passed but Monday could be one of the most interesting Public Works Committee meetings in a long time as the new plan is debated for presentation to council. Thursday, the new Animal Control Bylaw is before Planning. We'll be there.

Not so happy old year!

2011-12-31T11:25:00.000-08:00

2011 wasn't all bad personally.
I got a new right hip. I had a nice trip to St. Lucia. I got to see Houston while tagging along on my wife's business trip. I also got terminated. Oh well. Keep the cheques coming.
On a broader scale 2011 was darn close to amazing.
I consider the earthquake/Tsunami/nuclear meltdown in Japan to be the story of the year around the world, not just because of the suffering that took place but because of the very power of Mother Nature to wreak havoc on this planet. A second world story that changed the course of history was the rising up of people's everywhere toppling dictators and autocratic regimes. The change that is still going on in the Middle East is reminiscent of the fall of Communism in Europe two decades ago with the potential to be even more impactful especially if the Persian Gulf states go up in flames. The third most important story I thought was the rise of social media. Think of the pictures from Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and now Syria. Without social media these history changing events might not have taken place. The same with Japan. Have you ever seen more stunning pictures taken by so called non professionals disseminated to the rest of us through social media as quickly as you did that day on March 11th? Not ever.

In Canada the Federal Election was gripping because of the rise of the NDP under Jack Layton and the vision Stephen Harper has been employing for the last decade which essentially has the Liberal party running in circles. I don't like it one bit but one does have to admire his ability to chip away at the traditional base of support of the former so called ruling party. In the end although the majority victory for Harper was significant the death of Jack Layton within weeks of his party's success stunned the country making it the number one story of the year. After Layton and the election one would have to think Canada's withdrawal from combat in Kandahar would be the third most important story, although they won't be out of danger until we completely withdraw from Afghanistan.

Locally the stadium debate which dominated 2010 finally concluded in 2011. Was there anything more divisive in the community this past year? Well yes is the answer for by the end of the year we had angry taxpayers demanding the Mayor's head for giving his Executive Assistant a 30 thousand dollar pay raise or a 33 per cent pay hike. Folks we may be mad about this but the stadium issue and it's resolution will resonate down the decades, Bratina's folly notwithstanding.
For me although the settling of the labour dispute with Local 1005 was important and the job announcement from McCain's exciting the third most important story of the year was the renovation and rebirth of the Lister Block soon to be reopened. There is no greater sign of recovery in our downtown core than this reclamation project.

In the world of sports I think there really was only one story that dominated headlines. Concussions. Not only to Sidney Crosby but also a stunning array of top talent in hockey and from football. Heck my daughter received one in 2011 and so we know up close and personal how such an injury can impact a life. I don't really think anything else came close.

What do I think might happen in 2012? I lost my crystal ball some time ago so here is what I hope will happen in 2012. I hope the Mayor of the City of Hamilton begins to understand his role. Since he is only one vote he needs to lead through personal example instead of championing only what he believes in. In other words on big issues with broad implications whether he personally believes in them or not he must understand that if it is going to be good for Hamilton he must becomes Hamilton's champion. If council believes LRT is the way to go then Mayor Bratina must be the leader he was elected to be. If not he will be isolated by council and turn in to the longest running lame duck Mayor we've ever had.
I hope in 2012 that leading Hamilton citizens will put their heads together to come up with a sustainable use for "Auchmar". Not only should the home Sir Isaac Buchanan built be restored to its full glory but so should the 8 acres of land surrounding it. Vision, resources, funding, leadership and above all a lot of hard work are needed now to save Auchmar from the gleam in a developers eye. It can be done by this generation just as Dundurn Castle was saved by others.
In 2012 wouldn't it be nice to see the U.S.A rebound economically and actually trade fairly.
Wouldn't it be interesting to see the democracy movement invade the Arab peninsula?
Would you like to see every Canadian NHL franchise make the playoffs? I would.
Wouldn't it be nice if the Tiger Cats actually got consistent and travelled to the Grey Cup?
It will be interesting to watch which Republican out of a scraggly group emerges to take on the Democratic President. Who will emerge in Layton's shadow as the New Democratic Party leader and will anyone challenge Bob Rae's grip on the Liberals?
Finally and most importantly now that Tim's has left the corner can we get the lights at Aberdeen and Dundurn back to a more traditional sequence. We're idling away the ozone layer people!
Have a great New Year.

Save Auchmar sustainably.

2011-12-15T09:20:00.000-08:00

The author of “Dusty Corners” in the Mountain News has struck a chord. In his column of November 17^th mountain historian Colwyn Beynon has given us a vision of what could become of “Auchmar”, the city owned heritage home built by one of Hamilton’s great personages and personalities, Sir Isaac Buchanan. In his vision Beynon sees a development at the corner of Fennel and West 5^th that would rival the gem that is Dundurn Castle. Please Google, “A new beginning for Auchmar” and let your imagination run wild while reading. I think Colwyn is on to something and if I might I’d like to add more to that vision.

I’ve lived most of my life on the west mountain and yet have only been on the grounds of “Auchmar” officially once and that’s when the Hungarian Sisters of Social Services were selling off anything they didn’t want back in 1999 and on that day I did not enter the mansion itself. A couple of weeks ago, I walked the property boundary discovering what had always been hidden by that mass and mess of greenery along Fennel and West 5^th, an oasis of green and a gem of an economic opportunity never losing sight that the number one focus should be on the preservation and glorification of this heritage site. The Honourable Sir Isaac Buchanan who built “Auchmar” in 1855 not only was a leading figure in Hamilton but also in Upper Canada and Great Britain. One wonders, did he ever sit still. In brief Sir Isaac loved our mountain and wondered out loud why hadn’t the City of Hamilton developed above instead of below the escarpment? He was the force behind the first Board of Trade which evolved into our modern Chamber of Commerce. During the 1860’s with his own money he raised the 13^th Battalion which evolved into our venerated Royal Hamilton Light Infantry. He was in on the ground floor of railway development in Ontario with the Great Western Railway recognized as the first railway “system”. He promoted the Presbyterian Church in Canada with special attention paid to Knox and MacNab Presbyterian in Hamilton and others throughout Southern Ontario. He was to put it bluntly one of the most active entrepreneurial and political figures this city and this province has ever seen. So why endorse Colwyn’s vision of what could be? Because what might be is to painful to contemplate. An offer has been floated to fund a complete restoration of “Auchmar” in return for the acres of land you and I now can see rolling northwards from the dormitory. This development vision entails the construction of town houses. This can’t be allowed to happen. I would call upon leading political and economic figures in this city to come together with an action plan not only for the restoration of “Auchmar” but also for it’s continued sustainability. We have Dundurn. We have Whitehern. Now it is time to recognize the Mountain’s greatest heritage building by focusing resources and resourcefulness upon it. I’d love to see my son or daughter married there as Colwyn dreams. I’d love garden centres and florists to attach their names to the buildings and the acres of green space we will save. The RHLI museum could have a wonderful new home and archivists and genealogists could share space in the numerous outbuildings. Can the Chamber, the RHLI, LIUNA, the City and leading entrepreneurs be drawn into a financial discussion about possibilities for the future? I should hope so. We the citizens of Hamilton own this treasure and it is up to us to provide for it’s future, a future that should reflect the past and it’s preservation with the modern realities of sustainability. I think a panel of leading citizens could certainly come up with a better vision than mere town houses.

Doug Farraway

Bettman and the new NHL

2011-12-08T12:11:00.000-08:00

Re-alignment came to the NHL and the hockey world on this past Monday. Do you like it?
For years this reporter has been pushing for a geographical re-organisation of the league. As a huge foe of the Bettman footprint of the 90's the geography movement was always going to be a challenge, but for the most part the tiny perfect commissioner has got this one right. How so Doug?
Gary Bettman last year recognised Atlanta was done like dinner and because certain Canadian interests had lobbied him the way he likes to be lobbied, politely, Winnipeg became a reasonable destination point for a floundering franchise. The Commissioner of all the hockey pucks got that one right but getting it right necessitated a review of the league structure.
What we get is four conferences, two with 8 teams and thus a lesser statistical chance of making the playoffs, while two feature seven teams each.
In the west, the far west, we now have Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Phoenix and Colorado. Well, geographically most of this alignment makes sense although it would have been just as easy to move Colorado into this Conference as well. The Mid Western Conference will now feature, Winnipeg, Minnesota, Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, Columbus, Nashville and Detroit. Could Detroit have shifted into the east? Yes is the answer because geographically it poses no problem, and maybe eventually it will since there will be more movement within the league sooner than later. We will talk about that in a paragraph or so.
The Eastern Conference will now feature, the Rangers, Devils, Islanders, Penguins, Flyers, Capitals and Hurricanes. The North Eastern Conference will retain Boston, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Buffalo and the two Florida based teams (a little weather shock in store for them for sure) Tampa Bay and Florida. It's a geographical leap from Montreal in the north to Miami in the south but at least it's the same time zone and what hockey player doesn't like taking his golf clubs in December on a Florida swing. All in all a lot of rivalries are saved although Colorado and Detroit will be muted as will Winnipeg and the rest of it's Canadian brethren, but all in all I'll take it for now, and here's why. It is inevitable that Phoenix will fail and thus be moved. The only place it can move to over night is Kansas City. There are no other NHL ready arenas and that includes Hamilton capable right now of taking on this floundering franchise. Hamilton's Copps Coliseum needs an expensive make over and without a "sugary daddy" like Jim Balsillie to do it, it likely doesn't happen any time soon.Thus in a flash Kansas City lands a team whether long term it's a viable solution or not. Kansas City would then naturally move into the Mid Western Conference leaving the west with seven franchises and the Mid West needing to shift one. Do you think Mike Ilitch has built up enough credit with Gary Bettman to move the Red Wings from the Mid West to the North East? I think so.
Mr. Bettman sees the future and knows the Coyotes must move so he's made room for them to do it. Indeed with other fluky franchises out there like the Islanders he has built in opportunity to either keep his league at 30 if others are forced to move like Atlanta and soon Phoenix or expand to 32 even with some movement.

If Phoenix moves to Kansas City and Detroit shifts to the North East creating 8 franchises there, Gary will still have the opportunity of expanding into Quebec City and Southern Ontario bringing in fresh monies and actual hockey mad markets to placate any disgruntled owners. Then by applying a little more geography we could see this within five years; a North East division comprising, Detroit, Buffalo, the Leafs, Toronto 2, Ottawa, Montreal, Boston and Quebec City. The East would line up with the Rangers, Islanders, Devils, Capitals, Flyers, Penguins, Hurricanes, Lightning and Panthers (that's 9 but bare with me). I would ask Winnipeg to shift to the West creating this Conference, the Jets, Flames, Oilers, Canucks, Sharks, Ducks, Kings and Avalanche. And finally the Midwest would feature, Kansas City, Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago, Nashville, Columbus, Minnesota and one from the East. I would nominate Carolina who have much more in common with Nashville and Columbus than they do with the New York and Pennsylvania based clubs. It's under this plan a league that papers over it's trouble spots, expanding into new markets, namely Kansas City, Quebec City and the under serviced Southern Ontario market while retaining a number of current rivalries and creating new ones. I think Bettman is gazing into a crystal ball and aligning his league for further expansion and movement down the road. In this picture I see no hope for Hamilton. Alas.

dkf December 8/2011 D

A small world indeed!

2011-12-05T12:56:00.000-08:00

My wife and I are just returned from St. Lucia. If you sense my writing style has changed to reflect an English influence you might just be right. Ninety per cent of the people at our small resort were English which led to some interesting discussions. More on that in a moment but first some comments about the islanders. St. Lucian's are quite friendly for the most part which can't be said about some of the islands in the Caribbean we have visited previously. And the St. Lucian's I spoke with when they determined we were Canadian expressed their affection for our country. Indeed the head landscaper at our resort on our first day there approached us on the beach (we went to the beach every day rain or shine, and there was very little shine thanks for asking) and told us how he had lived in Toronto for five years, working and giving as much money and support as he could afford to his daughter who was attending George Brown college studying to be a nurse which she did successfully, returning to St. Lucia to work at the hospital in the capital city of Castries, dad returning with her, mission accomplished. Anthony loved Canada except for one thing, our winters. We agreed, naturally. When we went on excursions we usually ran into a Canadian couple from another resort and invariably they were from around Hamilton. There was the couple from Cambridge, another from Kitchener Waterloo and our topics of discussion would invariably end up revolving around RIM the NHL in Hamilton and what about those Maple Leafs. Invariably while chatting the Brits on the bus would tell us that as a nation we were very nice and get ready for it, they really liked the fact we weren't Americans. In fact several couples in tune with the daily news (we didn't have TV's at our resort, and I've got to tell you I didn't miss them one bit) suggested that one day and maybe soon we'd be bailing out their country. I was really struck more so on this trip than any other we have taken how much we are liked, admired and respected around the world. In Castries the kids of a certain primary school as a school uniform wear red and white. Why? The Canadian government made the school possible and for that act among others on the island we are it appears highly regarded. But back to that small world I mentioned in the title. One chap from greater London I was chatting with while we waited for the open tram car at the Rain Forest excursion (trust me the RAIN part of the excursion lived up to it's name) told me where he was born. Are you kidding was my rebuttal, you were born in the same town as my grandfather (who passed in Hamilton in 1949 so I never met him)? Yes this chap was born in Plaistow, now just a station on the London Subway system. While waiting for one of our restaurant dinners (we went all inclusive so you know how that works) we chatted briefly with a couple from Connecticut. But she was from Hamilton and did we know the Cohen's which brought my response "which ones" which made her laugh. You go all the way to St. Lucia to find someone from Hamilton who has a number of relatives living and working here and you meet someone else born in the same little village as your granddad? It is remarkable I think to know how inter related we are when we inter act with each other. Did I mention the rain? It didn't matter it was one of the most relaxing vacations Debbie and I have every taken but now it's time to formulate then complete the bucket list which at number one demands a visit to England to trace my ancestry. First stop, that little subway station in North East London, Plaistow. Or maybe a visit to White Hart Lane if the missus will let me. Cheers and viva St. Lucia.

Nanfan Nonsense

2011-11-22T14:50:00.000-08:00

What's a Nanfan Doug?
Not what, but whom. John Nanfan was the acting Governor of the English Colony of New York in 1701 when he signed on behalf of the Crown a treaty with the Five Nations of the Iroquois which bares his name. That confederation through this document gave England beaver hunting rights in Southern Ontario, Western New York State, and great chunks of land stretching to the Mississippi including present day jurisdictions like parts of Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. In return the English promised hunting rights in this territory in perpetuity. Sweet deal. Indeed it's so sweet the Six Nations of the Iroquois rely on it to this day to bamboozle our authorities.
Recently one of those authorities, the Hamilton Conservation Authority closed the Iroquoia Heights Conservation Area to the citizens of Greater Hamilton because a native hunter was spotted with a crossbow searching for deer. For four days while the HCA consulted with their contacts on the Six Nations Reserve signs were posted warning every day taxpaying citizens to stay out. No jogging. No biking. No walking the dog. No doing anything in this area all because one person believing he has the legal right to hunt anywhere at anytime waving the Nanfan as proof of his legitimacy chose to do so. Indeed right now and through the month of December an unknown number of approved native hunters will be beating the bushes hunting deer to a total of fourty in an area North of Jerseyville Rd. The HCA in it's releases and on it's website states these hunts are legal because of recognized treaty rights. That's Nanfan folks in action as agreed to by the Provincial Minister responsible Chris Bentley three years ago. I put it to you that not only was the 1701 signing of this treaty bogus but Mr. Bentley's interpretation of three years ago was politically motivated at best and a gross cock-up at worst. How so Doug?
Let's go back in time to show just how airy fairy Nanfan was and remains.
During the 17th Century the Iroquois admittedly one of the most powerful native confederations in the America's fought with the expanding colony of New France and it's native allies. It was an economic war based on the sale of beaver pelts to Europe. The Iroquois in that century raided far and wide creating a power vacuum in Southern Ontario whilst scattering, murdering, and enslaving the Tobacco, Neutral, Petun and Huron Nations. But well before Nanfan there was a new player in town, the Ojibway led by the Mississauga who pushed the Iroquois out of Southern Ontario.
Indeed for a Confederation who wave Nanfan in our faces when they want their own way, be it in Conservation Areas hunting deer or consulting on native bones found in Red Hill or when they occupy construction sites in Caledonia there is a collective amnesia regarding other treaties and factual events and happenings that they were party to.
Examples?
In the year 1700 one year before Nanfan was agreed upon (but not ratified until 1726) the Iroquois had ceded control of Southern Ontario to the Mississauga, allies of the French. Indeed in 1700 the Iroquois were not only dealing with the English Governor but also were agreeing to a preliminary deal with the French.
In fact in 1701 mere months after doing their Nanfan deal the Iroquois along with 39 other native representatives were doing the Great Treaty of Montreal recognized to this day by historians as unique in the annals of treaties anywhere in the world. After that treaty the French took control of not only Southern Ontario but expanded throughout the Great Lakes area establishing forts and trading posts at Detroit, Oswego (on the border of the traditional Iroquois settlements in New York State) Toronto and Niagara.

As you can see the Iroquois were pretty smart traders. They gave away rights to land they did not control. They received rights from the English in areas that the English did not control. They then made peace with everyone so they could resume their role as middle men in the fur trade. Thus Nanfan is bogus.
The Iroquois would not see Ontario again until 1784 when the Governor of Quebec Frederick Haldimand purchased a tract of land extending for six miles on either side of the Grand River from the Mississauga (how ironic eh?) for those Iroquois who remained loyal to and fought for the British in the American War of Independence. The Iroquois under Joseph Brant believed this grant of land acknowledged the Confederacy's sovereignty. But the British Crown never acknowledged that claim. Indeed going back to Nanfan the Iroquois agreed, although they would argue it to this day, to a document that made them subjects of the English Crown forfeiting all claims and rights to the land except those hunting rights in perpetuity. Yikes.
As Forrest Gump might say, "bogus is what bogus does".

The facts are clear. The Iroquois did not have the legal right to give away lands they did not possess nor occupy having agreed just the year before that the Mississauga were in control.
In 1784 the Mississauga ownership of the lands was confirmed with the purchase by Haldimand and the Crown. In fact a year ago as the Federal Government settled a land claim with the Mississauga regarding Toronto and it's environs the fact regarding ownership since 1700 was driven home.
Now back to the beginning. Why did Ontario cave over Nanfan?
Because it wanted no more confrontations with Six Nations or any other group of militant aboriginals.
Politically the Liberals had staked a claim to conciliation after the Ipperwash incident during the tenure of Mike Harris.
No more police shootings of natives would happen on the McGuinty watchIpperwash. Since that time and with that approach other authorities have had to fall in line and negotiate instead of doing what many in the general population would like to see happen. And that is Doug?
Arrests.
If anyone is dumb enough to hunt deer in a public place which Iroquois Heights is, out of season no less they should be incarcerated not coddled. Of course we all know that will never happen until some biker, jogger or birdwatcher is wounded or killed by a crossbow and then it will be their fault. I would suggest that on behalf of the taxpayers of Hamilton the local Conservation Authority should make it their business to inform the public to swarm onto public lands endangered by callous native hunters. Lots of people with bells, whistles and horns working their way along trails and deer tracks should be enough to discourage hunters who as we have shown, have no right being there.

Doug Farraway

Sources; Wikipedia re Nanfan and the Great Treaty of Montreal
and
Historical Atlas of Canada, volume 1

Pan-Am patsies

2011-11-21T06:54:00.000-08:00

Our Pan American Games legacy can be described with one word, zilch.

For the first and only time I’m sure, I agree with a comment from Councilor Brad Clark who opined that only the Hamilton Tiger Cats had benefited from 18 months of debate and complete indecision on the City of Hamilton’s part. What exactly has Hamilton obtained through this process you might ask?

A new but smaller stadium on a tired and still divisive site in the middle of a residential neighborhood is the answer. Indeed you were supposed to get a renovated/rebuilt stadium at Ivor Wynne but arbitrarily along the way in someone’s back room a decision was made to tear down everything and start afresh. Can you tell me what the collateral benefits are for the neighborhood and the city as a whole by rebuilding at Ivor Wynne? I didn’t think so because there are none. No new businesses will be created because we are using the same old food print as before. Indeed fewer people will be attending Tiger Cats football games so even the people who park cars on their lawns and then complain about patrons urinating on their bushes will have fewer dollars in their collective pockets.

Bob Young is a beneficiary. By stamping his foot and threatening to move to anywhere but the West Harbour he got his way.

What did we the taxpayer get, or lose as it were?

We don’t get a brand new stadium in a West Harbour location that would have linked our needy downtown to our brilliant and green west harbor.

We don’t get industrial revolution lands cleared and cleaned.

We don’t receive any kind of ripple economic effect for the money to be spent by three levels of government.

We don’t get any urban renewal momentum.

And now that there is no velodrome project what sporting infrastructure and legacy will there be from the Pan Am games in Hamilton? Like I said before, zilch.

Oh wait there is one thing we’ve accrued after this testy and sometimes acrimonious debate and that is a reputation elsewhere in the county that we haven’t got a clue what we’re doing going forward. There was another way. Sadly that way has passed us by.

post number one; Doug Farraway.

P.S.

Going forward I will be writing on issues that impact my community, Hamilton. November 21st 2011