Raise the Hammer

I'm sorry, but the last thing I want is a leader who is simply led around by the nose by the wishes of the various NIMBY groups who bother to show up at meetings or send emails.

Brian McHattie has shown great leadership in Ward 1 on a few different fronts - supporting bike lanes on Dundurn even when some business owners complained. He sees the bigger picture and understands what is for the common good.

Rolly Rockets on King at Locke was met with the usual NIMBYism by a few neighbours who would rather see the building remain empty forever instead of a new restaurant to serve the community. McHattie suggested a community and the folks at Rolly Rockets have never looked back after gathering massive support from the community and Brian himself.

He supports the 7 storey mega skyscraper at Aberdeen and Dundurn (right next door to a 5 storey, by the way) despite strong opposition from people who don't even live near that intersection and are simply part of that Hamilton 'do nothing' cohort.

There are several more examples, but from what I can tell, he is the only one on council willing to operate based on principle, and at the same time will facilitate discussion and compromise among various groups - ie - adding in more parking spots along Dundurn under a revised plan etc......

The last thing I want is your average Hamiltonian calling the shots. I know that sounds bad, but the fact is, we have suffered from decades of pure misinformation from our elected leaders, business leaders and media about what it takes to be a successful city. Perhaps in a community with a better understanding of urban places I'd be fine with the people running the show, but Hamilton would run the risk of turing into one massive drive thru Tims/Lakeport outlet if the people were left in charge.

I still like the idea of having the province kick out our council and having them run the show for 4 or 5 years. They might not do any better, but they surely wouldn't do any worse.