Raise the Hammer

Here's a cross post on those comments and the fare increase debate that I also posted on Hallmarks... sorry Ryan for using the step forward, backwards analogy as well :)

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I was very, very pleased with Councillor Clark's comments which shed light on the not-so-subtle hypocracy in Council's referral of the homebuilder request. Mayor Eisenberger's explanation of that decision was troubling.

While the final decision was discouraging - Councillors Clark and Duval indicated that they received hundreds of emails yesterday - and voted against the fare increase. They had indeed listened to the concerns of their community members and did not take the easy way out.

I'd like to commend the efforts of all the individuals and organizations who took action yesterday. They included- raisethehammer.org, the Income Security Working Group, the Transit Users Group, CATCH, the Campaign for Adequate Welfare as well as the Hamilton Civic Coalition and the Hamilton and District Labour Council. Many people worked the phones and pounded their keyboards in letters to Councillors. Also kudos to MP Chris Charlton, for keeping her ear to the ground on local issues and making calls to Mountain Councillors to express concerns about the increase on behalf of her constituents.

While the fifteen cent increase went through, Hamilton does have for the first time an affordable transit pass that will assist around 800 riders (a small percentage of those who use transit, but still a significant development).

Perhaps most troubling was the block voting that took place on the fare increase issue. With the exception of Councillor Clark, all suburban councillors refused to entertain freezing fares despite the fact that with area rating most suburban property taxpayers would have seen an increase of less than $5 on their annual tax bill if those costs had been passed on to the general levy.

I think frustration around the way we fund transit and other services is percolating very close to the surface. Demands around ending area rating, demands for equal representation on City Council for inner city residents - based on population - will start be heard louder.

Council and the Mayor had the opportunity to invest in transit and invest in people by recognizing the challenges of those living on low incomes. Yesterday's decision was one step forward, and an even bigger jump backwards.