Raise the Hammer

I get that. But if you are engaging citizens in such a manner, you should accept the results. They wonder why only a few hundred fill these out and then they make a passive statement like that, basically saying to more or less ignore the results because we don't trust them. This decision simply needs to wait until a new term to broaden the discussion. They rushed this in one month but really this should be held off until all ARC reviews have been completed. We need as much representation as possible not less through these reviews and hopefully with how everyone has been following Trustee the past year or so, more people will be eager to either run themselves, or pay more attention to who they vote for.

As for Trustees value, I believe in it but not in it's full current context. I don't have the answer but one suggestion might be to lump Trustee wages on top of a councillor's budget. Those that hold these two positions should be working together because placement of new schools, school closures, partnerships, etc., are all part of the planning of our city and for council to have no control over this is absurd. Have less money from our taxes go to education and take that money and apply it to Trustee wages and have them paid by the City instead of the board.

We complain about councillors all the time and in some cases it's well justified, but at the end of the day they should be the one leader we turn to for everything involving our Wards. School issues could then be filtered to the Trustee to research and report back to the Councillor.

I have thought a lot about running for Trustee myself the past 6 months or so but I am not sure I would want to handle Ward 2 and Ward 3 together. A smaller focus I believe produces better results and Ward 3 is my home and I want to advocate and work to make it better.

I think about the role and as I see it, it's a position that could either be rewarding or stressful based on the relationships with other leaders and a very close working relationship with the Ward councillor and one that shares the same or very similar vision for the future of their Ward. Ideally I would be able to run on the premise that if the candidate for the councillor who I am pulling for, one whose values and vision are in line with my own, wins than it's a position (Trustee that is), I would love to fill.

I see it as just another thing I can relate to sport. Look at Ron Lancaster or now Kent Austin. Players and coaching personnel are eager to follow great leaders because they like working under them. They share the same vision of how to coach/how they liked to be coached/led. Both these coaches brought early results to Hamilton and they did so by bringing some coaches/players with them.

The problem I see with taking on a position voted on by the public, is that you don't know who your leader will be. I'd rather see as in the case with a head coach, a councillor follow the campaigns of the Trustees and upon being elected, hire who he/she feels will best assist them in representing the schools in their Ward. There are likely other positions Ward related that could be appointed by the Ward councillor(s) such as BIA heads perhaps?