Raise the Hammer

I think Jeff Mahoney's state of the city was better:

Sometimes you get the sausage
By Jeff Mahoney

You dream of NHL teams and velodromes, light rail transit and brand new stadiums with entertainment “peripheries,” valet parking, five-star steaks. And what do you get?

A sausage factory.

"Tube Steak is the new steel" - John Milton

Last night on the bus someone asked me if we had a GM plant in Hamilton, I replied "No ma'am, we haven't built cars here since the old Studebaker plant closed down. No, we're much more known for making steel, most people still think of Hamilton as the 'Steel Capital of Canada'."

Maybe I should have added "Best Place to Manufacture Bologna?"

Can't believe he squandered five minutes taking a swipe at the Spec during a state-of-the-city speech. More like state-of-his-ego. Sure, he didn't unilaterally kill the LRT file, that's crazy talk. Somebody should have stood up and asked him why Jill Stephen quit.

This article titled "Bratina making waves on waterfront" by Emma Reilly on thespec.com tonight indicates that Mayor Bratina wants to create a group to oversee the Waterfront Trust. Ms. Reilly notes that Bratina compared the Waterfront Trust with HECFI at his State of the City 2011 speech on October 25th. Current Waterfront Trust Board members Bob Charters and Tom Jackson quite rightly call him out on his assumption. http://www.thespec.com/news/local/articl...

Comment edited by RenaissanceWatcher on 2011-10-27 21:48:53

More government bureaucracy, that's the answer!

Me thinks there is something bigger at play here - re: west harbour lands. This is one slippery slide ride I do not want to go on!

NHL dreams to "save the city"? What a friggin joke anyone espousing this pure BS.

Here is the link to an Open File Hamilton article posted yesterday by John Kernaghan titled "Pan Am sacks city for a loss: Clark". Councillor Clark is spot on in his assessment of the situation. http://hamilton.openfile.ca/hamilton/tex...

By the way, a Canadian Soccer News article posted June 15, 2011 by Ben Rycroft titled “Ottawa NASL announcement coming Monday” notes:

“Hamilton, with the backing of the CFL Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ owner Bob Young, and was also believed to be joining the league in 2013, is no longer a certainty. League sources tell CSN a falling out has occurred between Young and the league and his plans to bring a D2 franchise to Hamilton have stalled.”
http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/conten...

Did any Hamilton media source pick up on this story in June, 2011? If so, does anyone have a link to the local articles?

Why did Young and the NASL have a falling out?

What is the current situation?

The Open File Hamilton article by John Kernaghan yesterday contains information from Hamilton & District Soccer Association President Al Carrafiello:

“He added that the Canadian Soccer Association has a task force looking at second and third tier pro teams for Canada, which could lead to a Hamilton team and an academy for developing soccer players.”

It is already highly probable that Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the owner of Toronto FC, will prevent any prospective owner from bringing a Major Soccer League franchise to the new 22,500 seat Hamilton stadium. Is a second tier NASL franchise now also in doubt for the new stadium? One hopes that the Hamilton media follows up on this situation.

Comment edited by RenaissanceWatcher on 2011-11-05 11:08:53

From Matthew Van Dongen on thespec.com tonight: "Surprise? Pan Am price tag climbing" http://www.thespec.com/news/local/articl...

Note: The article states that the City of Hamilton is spending $45 Million to construct the stadium. That figure was the original estimate of the city's share of the construction cost in 2009. The city's estimated share of the construction cost estimate on January 31, 2011 was approximately $60.5 Million. Can anyone confirm whether the figure in Matthew Van Dongen's article is correct? Has Hamilton's share of the cost recently been shaved down to the original figure of $45 Million?

Comment edited by RenaissanceWatcher on 2011-11-09 23:49:52

Thanks for the link to the Hamilton OpenFile website. I am getting ready to relocate my business to Hamilton this spring. I am trying to find the best movers Calgary has to offer. Any suggestions? Where could I find resources regarding the best locations in Hamilton for a technology based business? Some of the comments seem pretty negative towards life in Hamilton. We can't hope for an NHL team to save the city but encouraging more up and coming businesses like mine could make a big difference.

Hamilton has a ton of work to do, by the sounds of it this guy may be one some sort of track towards a better future for Hamilton. At this point I really don't trust a lot of political speech so I am still very much on the fence.

Julia WCG

Comment edited by thripper on 2012-03-02 18:07:32