Walmart and Winona

A good reporter follows the story. A good detective follows the evidence. I guess a good blog publisher should pick up on discussion patterns and host the topic.

The big box store syndrome keeps popping up throughout comments posted on this site. So, I thought we should discuss it. I'll write at greater length about my views on the matter, and in my role as Community Chair of the Stoney Creek Urban Expansion Committee CCAC, but for now I'll just say that I don't support putting a big box store in Winona. I think Councilors Maria Pearson and David Mitchell were very short sighted and are effectively selling out Winona by supporting such a move.

What do you think about a big box store in Winona, or big box stores in Hamilton? Too many? Good investment? Dead ends? Let's talk about it.

Start the Crusade?

I received this email from Yvonne Williams, President of Total Confidence Renovations, Training and Tool Rentals Company Website.  

Yvonne wrote to me in response to an opinion article that I wrote that appeared in the Hamiltion Spectator. The article was entitled "Who Are We Anyway?" It can be found here Who Are We Anyway?

Yvonne confirms what I suspect that many Hamiltonian's are feeling and what I expressed in the article. Let's examine her email.

Yvonne writes:

I loved your article and I would like to take this on the crusade to help rebrand Hamilton . I used to live in T.O and often get the "bad" look when I say that I am from Hamilton and people are amazed when I say that I moved back here ..

I am proud of this city . one of the ideas for rebranding could be " simple .. because we are nice" Torontonians are generally considered to be stuck up and I find that even though people here may be "rough around the edges compared to Toronto standards" that we are friendlier and we would help you out in a heartbeat.

or Hamilton, the real town (as people are very real here), we don't pretend to be someone else, nor do we strive to impress people with fancy things that we may not be able to afford, we accept people for who they are, not for what they may or may not have

Please let me know how I can get involved

I suggested to Yvonne that I feature her email as a topic on the blog and she kindly agreed.

What do you think of her comments and the need to rebrand Hamilton? Anyone in for a crusade?

(Thanks Yvonne for your contribution to The Hamiltonian)

Anonymous Bloggers

This blog/ezine allows for users to post comments using a number of different ways. One of these ways is to log in as “Anonymous”. I debated whether to permit such log ins, but, in the end, decided to. Sometimes people feel more comfortable stating their views if they are able to do so anonymously.

To the extent that such posts adhere to the blog policy, I believe they add value to the discussion. I don’t respect however, when people log in anonymously and attack others. Those posts will be assessed on a case by case basis, as to whether they will appear. This blog assumes no liability whatsoever for anyone’s posts.

As a practical matter, it makes it rather difficult to discern who said what, if everyone is logging in as “Anonymous”. If you wish to log in as “Anonymous” , you may want to establish a screen name, so that people can discern your comments from those of others.

Lastly, you may want to read this article which appeared in the Globe and Mail recently.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/the-virtual-end-of-online-anonymity/article1261746/

I encourage you to post as you feel most comfortable. Please keep it respectful and thank-you for being here!

Cal DiFalco

10 Tough Questions with Mark Alan Whittle

This edition of 10 Tough Questions features Mark Alan Whittle, a registered lobbyist and an engaged Hamiltonian. 10 Tough Questions actually involves 11 questions, 1 of which the featured guest can elect to pass on. In Mark's case, he elected to answer all 11 questions. Here are his answers verbatim.


1. You have stated that you are the only registered lobbyist in the City of
Hamilton. Do you think lobbyist should be required to register themselves? If so, what benefit would this bring to Hamilton?

I think all lobbyist plying their trade in Hamilton should be required to register, voluntary or otherwise. When I first started out there was no lobbyist registry at all and it was at my suggestion that the volunteer registry be started by city staff in the clerk's office. The perception out there that Councillors are being influenced is real, if someone hires you to represent them to council, by definition you are a lobbyist for that person or business. The public should know who is bending who's ear, just like the residents of Toronto are afforded through their Lobbyist Registry.

2. What is the nature of your lobbying activities?

My last clients family owns land near Flamborough Downs and Casino who wanted to open a driving range facility using an existing building on the property. Unfortunately the Green Belt legislation and Hamilton's rural land use policy is very restrictive in this area and I was unsuccessful after numerous meetings with city hall staff to find a way.

3. Do you believe Hamiltonians are getting value for their tax dollars.Why or why not?

No, since they have never went down as long as I've been living here, and the accumulated debt is past half a million dollars, the interest payments are obscene.

4. Do you believe that Hamilton is "business friendly" enough?

That depends on the business and how many jobs they create. Wal-Mart seems to be a favourite of late. At least they pay their property taxes and they pay their employees well above minimum wage and have some benefits included.

5. What is the best decision that you believe that city council has made over the course of this term, and what do you think was the worst decision made?

The best decision this term was the creation of the Integrity Commissioners office and the worst decision was appointing George Rust-D'Eye to the position. A gifted defence Lawyer like George is good at getting clients off, not holding them to account. My pick would be soon to be retired Hamilton Police Chief Brian J. Mullan.

6. If you were in charge of creating a marketing plan for our city, howwould you approach this? What would be your focus?

If I was in charge of Marketing this city I would be working closely with Hamilton Philanthropist Chris Ecklund who has been promoting Hamilton as the city of waterfalls, something we have more of than any other community in the world. Not a penny of taxpayers' money was used.

7. What would you say is Hamilton's greatest strength and what would be our greatest weakness?

Our greatest strength is the residents and how we help each other get along and our weakness is a dysfunctional council, which I feel is due for a shake-up at the ballot box. Too much dead wood.

8. Who would you say is the most effective councillor and why?

I would say ward seven councillor Scott Duvall who personally delivered a new blue bin to my house after municipal garbage collection staff broke it by flinging it onto my cement driveway during the winter. He also responds to constituents in a timely fashion. He reminds me of past ward seven alderman Henry Merling, a real constituency man.

9. If you could provide one piece of advice to council and/or the Mayor, what would that be?

Spend more time challenging the assertions of staff and cut through the bafflegab by doing the spade work on research and past decisions. I've read so many reports that run for pages, yet have little to say.

10. Do you believe Hamilton has its financial house in order. If not, how would you suggest we proceed?

To get our house in order staff should be directed to adopt zero-based budgeting and have to account for every cent they spend, just like the rest of us trying to survive have to do. Having department start off with an automatic 2 or 3 percent increase will only encourage staff to waste more than they save.

11. Do you support the need for a full time Integrity Commissioner?

I fully support an Integrity Commissioner that is on call for whenever his services are needed. Hopefully council will appoint someone soon, now that they have about 50 applicants on file.

Thanks for allowing me to have a say.

Special thanks to Mark Alan for his contribution to "The Hamiltonian" and for his interest in our city.

Blog Policy Note: Bad language, name calling or other inappropriate posts will not be tolerated. Posts of this nature will not be edited. Rather, they will not be posted. Please keep your comments respectful

Pan Am Funding

As reported in today's Spectator, the Freedom Party of Ontario has launched an Internet-based campaign to derail the southern Ontario bid to host the 2015 Pan Am Games.

The No Tax for Pan Am campaign launched yesterday with a website, notaxforpanam.com, as well as a Facebook group and a presence on Twitter.

Their goal is to get the three levels of government to withdraw all funding commitments for the Games.

Mayor Eisenberger stated "I don't see any reason to step back, although I'm fully aware that there might be some who might be opposed and might align themselves with this,"

An excerpt from the Freedom Party of Ontario's site reads as follows:

The Toronto bid proposes that the lion's share of the $1.7 billion hosting costs be charged to all Canadian taxpayers: the taxpayers in all provinces, territories, and cities. That's over $50 for every man woman and child: $200 for a family of four. Worse: because the governments of Canada, Ontario, and Toronto are all running deficits, that additional money would have to be borrowed. Even worse: the interest on that money would cost taxpayers additional hundreds of millions of dollars, or more, in the coming years. To add insult to injury: only the tiniest fraction of all Canadians will ever be permitted to attend the Games (even if they are held in Toronto).

What's your take. Should tax money be used for this purpose?

Payback?

With the cost of the Eisenberger/Clark investigations nipping  taxpayers to the tune of $128,000.00, there is talk of whether the taxpayers of Hamilton should be reimbursed for the costs of the investigative process. The argument being, that the investigations would not have been necessary had the code of conduct been respected.

Do you think the taxpayers should be reimbursed the cost?

What if this applied to a citizen initiated complaint that was made in bad faith?  Under those circumstances, should a citizen also be required to reimburse taxpayers for the cost of an investigation?

Should there be a higher standard that is applicable to those elected?

Should payback be required at all, or is this the cost of doing business and making corrections?

A Very Encouraging Start

“The Hamiltonian” blog/ezine has had a very good start. Since the site launched, a mere week or so ago, we’ve had over 2000 hits. The site was inspired by the good work of the Hamilton Spectator, and more specifically, Nicole MacIntyre with her Hallmarks blog, which provided an opportunity for engaged citizens and councilors to exchange ideas on topical issues.

The Hamiltonian will continue to evolve. At present, it provides a similar forum that Hallmarks provided. Additionally, it doubles as my personal blog, which, from time to time, may feature my views on issues. The blog has featured “10 Tough Questions” and has featured past and present politicians. Its intent however, is also to capture the views of Hamiltonians and in the future, it will feature citizens also responding to questions.

The blog is moderated and I have a dedicated support person to post new topics, clear posts,  and have them appear in a timely fashion. I believe in respectful discourse so I invite constructive criticism and even pointed criticism, as long as it is in good taste.

What can you do to help ensure this blog remains vibrant and active?

1. Tell all your friends about it. Send out an email to your network encouraging folks to visit.
2. Post your views
3. Send suggestions on how to make the blog better to thehamiltonian@cogeco.ca
4. Post a link to your website and encourage others to do so as well.
5. Send suggestions for new topics you'd like to see explored to  thehamiltonian@cogeco.ca.

Hamilton has always thought of itself as being on “the verge of greatness”. I believe we can get over this hump and I believe it starts with citizen engagement. Please use this blog to voice your concerns, ideas and aspirations for our great city. People are listening.

Sincerely,

Cal DiFalco