Raise the Hammer

"Council is about keeping the job, not doing the job". I too sometimes feel this way. For the most part however, I don't think this is true. God help us if it is.

Hey, confederate Cam, will you be soon taking down your huge cooked pig eyesore sign on Upper James where you noisily said you are NOT doing business any more? Take it down, Cammy.

On this blog, an irrelavent and insulting comment gets the up votes. Enough said.

Nice try, troll.

I don't own that building and I am sure that the Toronto based landlord will not spend the money to take it down. I was "noisy" about it because 10 people lost their living wage job - 2 now on welfare, 2 homeless, 6 remain unemployed.

As far im concern Cameron Bratina is lossing his seat in 2014 thats why he don`t give a rats ass about LRT

Cameron Bailey wrote, "Right or wrong, the citizens have said NO to the expense of the LRT"

With all due respect, how is it you represent "the citizens" view on this?

And on what information is that assertion based?

Could be wrong, but... if a majority of the citizens support the LRT, knowing full well how much it will cost (e.g. the so-called "investment tools"), then there is every incentive for municipal politicians to jump on the LRT bandwagon. The fact that Hamilton needs a "political champion" on the LRT kind of speak for the opinions of the general public on the matter.

Movements don't just happen by themselves. They need leaders to organize, motivate, encourage and attract supporters. Even good ideas need someone to take the lead and stop the idea from being starved and pecked to death by naysayers, squelchers and trols.

I am not claiming to represent the citizens - but as the owner of a busy downtown restaurant I hear quite a few opinions everyday. Overwhelmingly, the people that I hear from are against the expense.

My point is simple: if people are telling me that are not in favour, imagine what they are saying to their councillor

You own a downtown restaurant that is draped in Confederate flags, so the only opinions you hear are the opinions of people who don't have a problem eating in restaurants draped in Confederate flags. I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that is not a very representative sample.

But how representative is that?

I hear the opposite.

I hear a clamour.

Right or wrong, the citizens have said NO to the expense of the LRT.

Says who? A few angry letters in the paper from people who couldn't be bothered to do any reasearch before spewing off? They hardly represent broad public opinion.

To me, five letters of the same theme within a week is not "a few". Plus, what makes you think that the people who wrote the letters "couldn't be bothered to do any research before spewing off"?

Because read the letters. They ask questions that have already been answered a bunch of times and repeat myths that have already been dispelled. They're obviously written by people that don't know much about LRT, they just know they don't like it.

"They ask questions that have already been answered a bunch of times and repeat myths that have already been dispelled."

By whom? I suppose you are referring to Hamilton Light Rail, a pro-LRT lobby group, or Metrolinx, a politically-influenced agency?

While a limited number are becoming vocally aroused against the LRT (often based on incorrect assumptions and histories), I don't believe "the citizens have said NO" by any means. Most understand that if the foundation of your house needs repair, you make the INVESTMENT. Nicholas' point that nobody at City Hall seems to making this case is sadly true (and the result is inevitably for the worse).

The actual opinion surveys done by the City during the public consultation process, which included thousands of responses, showed very strong support for LRT.

There have also been lots of supportive letters in the Spec for LRT, just not recently.

And LRT is precisely about building a strong foundation for future growth and prosperity for the city. That is why we need to make the investment now, and that is why competitor cities like Toronto, Mississauga and K-W are doing precisely this. Toronto was just lucky enough to get the first wave of its project directly paid from existing general revenue (i.e. partially subsidized by the residents of Hamilton).

How many other great initiatives have suffered a similar fate in Hamilton over the years?
Vision 20/20 (originally from 1992);
Shifting Gears (originally from 1999);
etc., etc., etc... (feel free to add to the list)
The astronomers at Mac don't need telescopes. There's a black hole right downtown, spuriously called the Council Chamber.

If you beat the war drum long enough, it gradually becomes background noise. This is the case on both the pro and anti LRT crowd. The important part is council has said they are behind a B line LRT, so long as the province covers 100% of the startup costs. It's the right posistion to take, it's the more cost efficient posistion to take and we can only wait upon our elected officials and thier painful bureaucracy to make the choice at this point.

They and the news have also made a public spectacle of the mayor for trying to undermine that posistion, so I'm not really sure what more you can really expect, given that the spec has published numerous pro LRT articles, many from this very website, and I'm to understand has published pro-LRT letters in the past.

Comment edited by -Hammer- on 2013-05-07 17:39:29

I'm not really sure what more you can really expect

To answer questions about LRT. To have a Rapid Transit Office that talks to the public more often than once in a year and a half. To keep public engagement going so that people don't forget what they got excited about.

Is it just me or they don`t know yet , as far im iv herd i maybe wrong but were going to pay for this tax anyway so why not push for an LRT for Hamilton ,were going to pay for it last i herd Hamilton is in the Golden Horse Shoe

Boy, some headline editor at the Spec is really phoning them in. 3 "Forget LRT, X" headlines in a row!

Lets put bike rack on the front of the LRT. bikes rule the council as it should be.

A lot of people who spoke out of turn.

Sadly, Waterloo Region, one of Hamilton's direct economic competitors, has already got a shovel in the ground on its LRT while Hamilton dithers and asks for a free ride from the Province. LRT is one of the municipal "expenses", like parks and entertainment facilities, that actually pays dividends by attracting businesses and the jobs that come with them. When the Province decides to shell out money you can bet it will go to municipalities that have foresight and are prepared to share the load.

the only way we'll get Hamilton council to see LRT as an economic development driver (besides all the reports and studies we've commissioned that clearly state this) is to tell them it's really a highway, and will be lined with drive-thru's and big box stores.

Then the money will start to roll.

This is a common phenomenon that has and always will exist where many grassroots initiatives lose steam by attrition, stonewalling and roadblocks at the hands of those who are being paid to serve the public, or by the private sector with their own profit-driven agenda.
It is a result of "volunteer burnout" which can result from frustration, harassment or time constraints. These activists and groups rely on donations of time and/or resources to be allowed the opportunity to maintain their initiatives.
Can you imagine how much could be accomplished if there was a budget to cover the costs of employment of community representatives, staff, offices and facilities , with perhaps the occasional hiring of a consultant here and there to fill in knowledge gaps? This city would be awesome!

But wait a minute .... we already have that in the form of a City Council et. al. and look where we are.

I suggest that the City of Hamilton supply some funding that could support the efforts of a watchdog/citizen's ombudsman type body that would monitor the activities of City Council. I believe that it would be money well spent and would help ensure the accountability and transparency claims of City Council and Staff.

LRT is not bad in fact it is pretty neat. The problem is that it is incredibly expensive. The B line proposed in Hamilton will end up costing well over a billion dollars. Taxpayers have had enough. All the recent talk about how to fund all the grandiose plans has scared the bejeebers out of many citizens. Toronto may need LRT and/or subways to reduce traffic problems and commute times but Hamilton does not. Nobody wants another tax on gas, nobody wants another toll to use our roads, nobody wants another tax on parking and on and on it goes. There is only one pocket that can be tapped for all those billions to pay for this unnecessary transit and the owner of the pocket, the taxpayer has had enough and is saying NO.

That is what has sparked a barrage a letters to the editor against the building of an unneeded billion dollar project. Rightfully so.

Let the downvoting begin.