Raise the Hammer
By Letter to the Editor
Published December 01, 2010
this blog entry has been updated
The openings and applications for citizen appointments to committees such as Accountability, Waterfront Trust, and Heritage appeared in the front section of the Spectator last Thursday. Also listed are the equally important all-volunteer committees such as the Historical Board and the Cycling Committee.
The postings are available deep within the city's website:
These posting were only briefly shown on Thursday under the "hot topics" section of the city website, and quickly disappeared by Friday.
Applications are due by December 13 in person at the clerk's office. Only written applications are accepted.
There will be an orientation session on Monday, December 6, 2010, 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM, in Committee Rooms 192/193 of City Hall.
There will also be an open house on Wednesday, December 8, 2010, 4:30 PM - 8:00 PM, in Committee Rooms 192/193 of City Hall.
This is an opportunity to find out more details about individual committees.
These are very important positions where everyday citizens can have considerable impact on city policy and services. Getting a core group of passionate, devoted, and engaged citizens on these committees is only one more step in raising the hammer.
Sincerely,
Dan Thompson, Hamilton
Update: this letter originally stated that the Citizen Committee Orientation Session would be held on December 8. There are actually two events: an orientation session on December 6 and an Open House on December 8. RTH regrets the error.
By mrjanitor (registered) | Posted December 01, 2010 at 10:27:07
The city web say that the orientation will be on Monday, December 6, 2010 from 4 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., at Hamilton City Hall, Rooms 192/193, 1st Floor.
By Dan T (anonymous) | Posted December 01, 2010 at 10:51:47
The volunteer committee orientation is on Dec 6th (4-8pm, same room), and the agencies on Dec 8th. My mistake, that should have been more clear.
By mrjanitor (registered) | Posted December 01, 2010 at 15:48:04
That is great guys, thank you very much for digging this up. I hope some folks here are interested.
By Sceptic (anonymous) | Posted December 02, 2010 at 19:08:26
I don't hold much hope that the citizens "appointed" to these committees will not be from the old boys network.
There is almost no chance that the appointments will reflect the diversity of this community.
Why even apply?
By mrjanitor (registered) | Posted December 03, 2010 at 10:59:53
That's a good question Sceptic, I'm going to check things out there to see how selection process works but who knows what the selection criteria is?
By Whistle Blower (anonymous) | Posted January 26, 2011 at 12:11:57
Most municipal advisory committee appointments are low-level partonage appointments given out by councillors as a "thank you" to frinds, campaign donors, and people who volunteered to get them elected. The whole committee advertising process is just a front so that the councillors can say that they publicly advertised for positions when in fact most, if not all of these positions are unoficially filled before they are advertised. There is a reason why advertisements are buried deep within municipal websites and/or buried deep within the small print of local newspaper classifieds. Councillors choose their nominees, then they set the selection criteria to ensure that all of their nominees meet the minimum criteria. If their nominees have no professional background relevent to the volunteer position, but do have lots of volunteer experience on various boards, commissions, etc... then you can be sure that the selection criteria will emphasize that applicants must have significant experience serving on boards, commissions, etc... Sorry folks, but this is just politics at work. Go ahead and send in your application, but don't hold your breath.
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