My thanks to the Hamiltonian and its readers for the opportunity to have a positive discussion, in most cases, about the Office of the Mayor and City Council. It’s unfortunate that a few who commented, hiding behind pseudonyms, chose to debase the forum with insults and personal attacks.
“…..a vision must be forward looking and must speak to how we will be relevant in the future, capitalizing on our competitive edge….a vision that includes pumpkin patches, farm animals, horses and children is embarrassingly manipulative and simplistic. This isn't the vision of a leader in 2012, it's a Hallmark greeting card that got lost in the mail for the last 50 years and suddenly was found and delivered. I'll take strategy over sappy nostalgia any day from my Mayor….”
These comments are only meant to be insulting and in complete ignorance of green belt planning policies such as those I observed in Yorkshire and Manchester,U.K. The Campaign to Protect Rural England is an
excellent reference point for those wishing to have real understanding of our rural-agricultural assets. In our case, agriculture is a billion dollar a year industry, but is being imperiled to some extent by continuing losses of valuable farmland. The Airport Employment Growth District plan, which was supported by the former Mayor, was opposed by only two councilors, myself and Brian McHattie. What I presented was not about pumpkin patches, but about intelligent planning, based on Council and Staff direction.
HAMILTON AGRICULTURAL PROFILE 2008
An Update of the City of Hamilton Agricultural Economic Impact and Development Study (2003) 4.2 Actions – The Agricultural Action Plan – Economic Viability for the Long Term
The vision endorsed by Hamilton City Council states that:
Vision for Agriculture:
Agriculture is a vital component of the physical, environmental, economic, cultural and social structure of the City of Hamilton. The strength, diversity and potential of this industry is recognized by Council and the community it represents, and will be protected and promoted so it can continue to grow and evolve.
Goals
• Maintaining the agricultural land base and promoting financial sustainability for future
generations to continue farming;
• Preventing infiltration of conflicting uses that put the agricultural community at risk;
• Promoting an economic development program for agriculture;
• Raising the awareness of the quality of the agriculture sector in Hamilton;
• Establishing a higher profile for agriculture through informed media;
• Ensuring that agricultural interests are understood and factored into development of
infrastructure;
• Fostering co-operation between agriculture and government agencies to support the
industry through policies and programs;
• Adopting a broad definition of agriculture to allow flexibility in production and adaptation
to market fluctuations and other factors that may change over time;
• Protecting long term food security for Canadians with an emphasis on locally produced
food.
Bob Bratina,
MAYOR
City of Hamilton
Note: The Hamiltonian will not publish comments that are unprofessional, that include name calling or that are otherwise deemed to be inappropriate. Please be respectful to ensure your comments are included.
Thanks Mr. Mayor for clarifying your position and for responding to this comment. Although you may find some comments insulting and to be personal attacks, I urge you to look beyond that and sift out the message. Most people write in reaction mode and I agree at times can come accross a bit rough. Unfortunately, your position as Mayor leaves you volunerable, as you are the key representative for our city and for our council. If someone doesn't agree with something, you are going to hear about it. I wouldn't take it as personally as you do. My advice to you Mr. Mayor is to continue to be more open and available to the public as possible, even when it's difficult to do so.
ReplyDeleteDonna
First, kudos to the Mayor for further engaging here. There are other sites, and I won't name them, that carry a reckless bent ir who think it is cute to super impose the mayor's face on Sarah Palin's body, or who play on the 'dissedents" theme. Nit only are these juvenile, but they fail to further the discussion and give the Mayor a legitimate reason to dismiss them. Having a place for fair exchange if ideas is crucial. Teresa et al are showing good leadership here.
ReplyDeleteI encourage the Mayor to think of his vision as preliminary and evolutionary. He needs to incorporate more the high tech industry in Hamillton, the cutting edge breakthough research being done in health, and the thriving artists communities who are desperately looking for leadership to leverage their contribuution the the defacto undeniable culture attributed to them. My advice is to continue shaping the vision so that it is owned by Hamitonians. He should also recognize the limitations oif loyalty and seek advisors who are better equipped to provide strategic advice. Saving money in his staff buudget is admirable untiL it is a liability, which it is. Finally, I agree with the post by Donna
Sorce
Itotally agree with both Donna & Sorce! Mr Mayor I find it admirable that you are engaging through this forum & look forward to hearing much more from you in the future!
ReplyDeleteI'm not afraid to sign my real name to my opinions, but I am also not so star-struck by the dazzle of the Mayor's chain of office that I feel impelled give him a free ride.
ReplyDeleteDeferring to authority is, indeed, a noble act when the authority in question is trusted and benevolent, two marks of character that our Mayor has called into question in 2011.
I won't re-hash the critiques our Mayor has fairly earned this year, but I will remind the Hamiltonian and some of its more pious (and pseudonymous) commenters & readers that dissent and fair criticism should never be dismissed or discounted in a liberal democracy, especially when our leaders are consistently elected with less than 40% of voters supporting them.
I respectfully call upon the Hamiltonian community to remember this reality before you unwittingly become yet another "approved" (read: supportive) mouthpiece for the Mayor.
Respectful dialogue is a worthy mission, which I support, but it does not mean one should shy away from tough questions, or questioning official narratives.
Good journalism demands these challenging, sometimes uncomfortable exchanges.
@Borelli
ReplyDeleteI dont know what the issue is unless you are so hell bent against Bratina that you cant stsnd to see him being asked a question about his vision. its rick yo think The Hamiltonian is supporting or not supporting him. I suggest you read other articles here.
For the record... The mayor's seat was won in 2010 with less than 15% of the registered voter total.
ReplyDeleteLast I checked, he IS the mayor
ReplyDeleteNorth Ender
I would like to say that I find The Hamiltonian a very respectful and balanced media site. I have read many articles that criticised the Mayor, so I am not sure what Borelli is talking about. I also agree with Donna, Source and Gordon Harrop with encouraging Mayor Bratina to engage with the public. I also admire when someone can learn from mistakes. I believe the Mayor now understands the importance of community engagement and I would encourage him to continue. I would also like to know how the percentage of voters that got the mayor elected his fault? If you are not happy with our current mayor, why don't you spend your energy on getting people involved and out to vote instead of being critical.
ReplyDeleteLorna B.
With all due respect, Lorna B., being respectful and balanced (two words that describe The Hamiltonian well) is not enough.
ReplyDeleteBalance means giving equal airtime to both sides, even if one side is saying 2+2=5.
And respect for an office does not mean that one should shy away from asking the office-holder tough questions about their record.
What good would it be if a media outlet like the Spec or CHCH declined to challenge our elected officials, opting instead for smiley photo-ops, pats on the back, and soft-ball questions? How could we ever hold our officials accountable if local media were complicit in concealing their blemishes?
It's bad enough that CHML has decided to play it safe by offering up a soap box, but I would hate to see the Hamiltonian join that uncritical club due to fear of getting on a notoriously thin-skinned and vengeful politician's bad side.
Though your comments seem to suggest that being uncritical is somehow a virtue, real democracy cannot function without it. Being uncritical and deferring to power breeds corruption and is how you get an Iraq, a Venezuela, or a Haiti: democracies in name only.
I agree with you, though: it's not enough to just be critical, and I suggest other dissatisfied citizens get involved with the Hamilton Civic League, their local neighbourhood association, and other civic groups, as I have.
Whether you're the mayor of Hamilton or a comment roll regular, you can't simultaneously take the high road and lower yourself to the snarkiness of a comeback to someone you're trying to depict as beneath you. Mixed messages. Made more piquant by the fact that the relationship between these two gentlemen is famously fractious. I feel like I've been teleported back to January 2011.
ReplyDeleteI suspect DiIanni will be throwing hat into the ring AGAIN as well!!
ReplyDeleteDiAnni or Fred will never be mayor again. The Fred interview is pitiful. I can't believe they are still talking about the pen incident. I also think Fred and Larry should just get on with their lives and let it go. Save your money.
ReplyDeleteBorrelli:
ReplyDeleteDeferring to authority when you are an integral part of the problem is what I consider being noble.
There is nothing respectful or balanced in your engagement to date - at least from what I have observed to date here and on RTH, just as there is nothing 'evidence-based' in what Ryan virulently proscribes in his legendary diatribes against the mayor.
Somehow, "reactionaries" like you, Ryan and Graham have managed to seize a public forum like RTH which was once full of potential for public good and reduced it to the lowest common denominator of public discourse.
In doing this, you'll have created the biggest dumbing-down forum of 'groupies' - who with their unbridled sycophancy have empowered you'll to believe in your own superiority in thinking and morals.
On the best days at RTH a discussion spirals down quickly to virulent anonymous groupies - throwing flaming bags of bad logic, insults and pure venom and then quickly fleeing - and you proudly call that balanced public engagement!
All logical questions that challenge the illogical and downright devious positions on urban issues and politics which are repeatedly thrust onto the public by Ryan and his followers like you, is bombarded and obliterated by your groupies with lame comebacks and even the lamer down-voting -- which in my opinion should get the highest international honors in the "worst web-design widget ever invented" category.
That you'll continue to use this most autocratic and regressive form of censure to control free public discussions, stands public testimony to your collective arrogance, conceit and gross ignorance of urban issues, and journalism itself and everything that it stands for in a free world.
So your posturing and preaching here as the -enlightened alternate, a moral and ethical superior, is not only deeply offensive, but it calls for the strongest public censure possible.
You simply cannot get away with your ignorant public behaviour any longer.
Your sustained attacks on the sitting mayor of a city of this size and diversity lacks logic and gravitas and that comes from your lack of knowing how to go about raising public awareness around issues that impact all - not just you or your groupies.
You come across as person who will continue to throw stones no matter what the conditions are -that is who you choose to be.
Even if your collective grief with the mayor are justified by any stretch of imagination - you'll do seem to be the beneficiary of some education, surely that must have taught you'll a better way to engage around public issues.
I am the 'people' and you'll simply do not speak for me.
I look back and feel sad having seen you wear the black t-shirt with "TownHalls Hamilton" written across it. Do you really know or even care to know anything about towns and what makes up a true townhalls?
The truth is you'll will continue to defend your untenable positions and come back with more lame positions and feigned affront based on your so called 'evidence-based' thinking - instead of calling a meeting of your groupies and its 'reactionary' leader and doing some overdue visioning for the future of RTH and it next cause.
Odds are it will not be about you'll changing your ways - but it will be to strategies more devious ways to attack the mayor and his office.
As I have said before and which I still maintain - this is the true legacy of the immediate past mayor of the City of Hamilton - whose ghost will continue to empower people like you for a long time to come, and cause more discord across the city.
A revolutionary you are not. At best you are a misguided reactionary who brings more disrepute to this city than it deserves. Change will come to Hamilton when people like you wake up and change your retrograde public behaviour.
Mahesh P. Butani
ALong the lines of what MPB said, whatever happened to CHML"s Green Berets?
ReplyDeletehttp://raisethehammer.org/article/20/green_berets_2004_annual_report_on_the_city_of_hamilton
Thank you to the Hamiltonian for attempting to raise the level of discourse. The Mayor's comments speak for themselves and I think, fairly indicate the extent of his ability to address the challenges that lie ahead for our city. My opinion is that he should be able to accept criticism in a more respectful way and be better able to tolerate other viewpoints.
ReplyDeleteThe previous post by Mr. Butani appears to violate the commenting protocol of this site. I am surprised that the administrator has not excluded it as"unprofessional" or "name calling"- Conduct such as Mr. B's does nothing to advance the debate and instead, denigrates us all.
Respectfully,
Michael Clarke
Please direct any comments about Raise the Hammer, to Mr. McGreal.
ReplyDeleteThis thread is about the Mayor's reply to comments posted here. Let's stick to that discussion.
Hamiltonian Admin