Raise the Hammer

It would be unfortunate if RTH readers did not appreciate the massive efforts that RTH and other activists are making, and have made, in trying to get some of these good ideas and partnerships off the ground. The simple fact is that so many good ideas, public/private partnerships and the like, have been created and driven by 'regular citizens' and have gone nowhere. Why? Because they have been stymied by City Hall. City Hall - specifically a select group of influential politicians - does not have the political will or where-with-all to support these initiatives, and thus they have gone by the wayside. Am I making this up? Nope. Here's a few examples of initiatives driven by the public that have come to nothing thanks to political ignorance: - Downtown 2-way streets committee. Founded circa 1992. Presented research and options for making King St 2-way. Ideas were ignored. Committee was dismantled. - 2004 Charette - competing bids came up with different ideas for how they wanted Hamilton to look in the future. Where are these ideas now? - Artists in Residence - proposal by local resident to create an Artist village in the core. Lobby efforts and citizen input resulted in no action. The list could go on and on. I could talk about my efforts to arrange for meetings between the Mayor and various citizens groups which involved over 2 months of schedule trading e-mails and vmails with the result of only one successful appointment. We could talk about so called public input into Aerotropolis which was basically ignored. We could talk about my request to a councilor that the public be invited into the Lister discussions, before the announcement was made. And the councilors 'no thanks' reply indicating that 'some people have different agendas'... We could talk about the general intelligence and attitude of many councilors who appear to show little more than disgust at the very idea that a citizen should take their own initiative instead of doing as they are told. Despite all this the citizens of Hamilton continue to put forth their ideas and try to work with our council the best they can but the fundmental truth is that we are stuck with a bad bunch of boys and girls who simply cannot - or will not - grasp the complexities of the issues, and the overwhelming evidence that their direction has not worked, and will not work. RTH is not closeminded, and it is not in the business of simply laying blame. However, if you think their critisism of City Hall is intense just remember - there is a reason. Cheers Ben Bull RTH