On Wednesday, March 8 at 6 pm the Hamiltonians Against High Hydro group will be holding a rally outside City Hall to "protest" the pay of the Mayor and Councilor Pearson.
We are asking that the money the Mayor and Councilor receive (from rate payers who are already struggling) be put in to a designated fund so that Hamilton residents can apply for help and receive a certain amount of money to put towards their hydro bill if they meet criteria that would be set by the city.
Thank you,
Sarah Warry Poljanski
http://www.hamiltonnews.com/news-story/7159778-hamilton-mountain-councillors-urge-politicians-to-donate-board-salaries-to-hydro-fund/
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/eisenberger-hydro-earnings-1.3996869
I read that Pearson was quoted as saying the idea was interesting" Really? That's all you got? Either you donate the money back or you don't.
ReplyDeleteKidroy
The simplest thing would be to decline compensation outright.
ReplyDeleteThat way the $47K can reduce costs to 960K households served by Alectra. By a nickel a year.
Or have hydro ratepayers, via a board intermediary, subsidize a City employee (or employees) to develop/administer/audit a municipal relief program as a corrective to provincial policy. Let's assume, charitably, that all the employees enlisted to this cause are working pro bono. Let's also assume that this will be a program whose benefits will be politicized by councillors, and divvied up accordingly. As such, $47K amounts to $260 per ward per month. As relief programs go, it will be like finding a golden ticket in your Wonka Bar.
Veruca Cruz
$35,000.00 to attend 4 meetings a year, catered, capped at a maximum length of 3 hours.
ReplyDelete"...this is good news for the ratepayers, good for the City of Hamilton, and good for our future revenue stream" Mayor Fred, the Spec. 1/16/17
I agree the rebate concept is unwieldy and ineffective, but dispute the sum is paltry. The honorarium provided would have funded 50% of the Naloxone project Fred is advocating for-which we couldn't afford-and demonstrate real leadership and the sincerity of his personal commitment. Another opportunity squandered.
I think it would be fair to cover the real costs of attending (mileage and parking). If Eisenberger and Pearson insist on compensation beyond that, then they are out of touch with the struggles people are having.
DeleteThe Captain
According to the 2016 Census, Hamilton contains 223K private dwellings, or just under a quarter of Alectra's total customer base. Assuming that the mayor's honorarium was funded exclusively through those households, $47K works out to each of those ratepayers chipping in 21 cents a year. (Probably lower once you factor in commercial, industrial and institutional ratepayers.)
DeleteUnder the proposed relief plan described above, those collective contributions would be collected city-wide and redistributed to assist an indeterminate number of economically marginalized locals. Everyone's monthly hydro bill would still include a small, invisible subsidy. SOme ratepayers would just have that subsidy mooted through the hydro rate relief program.
The $33K council uses to cover its collective lunch tab each year would also do good in the community.
Goose Gander
so Fred "earns" $3,000.00 per hour, while families on the fringe struggle to manage exorbitant price increases. Nice optics.
DeleteIf employed as an emergency relief fund, how many could Fred have prevented from losing service for an inability to pay?
He should be able to answer that question, yet he considers it offensive to even consider.
The Mayor's response that he will keep the honorarium, and Skelly and Whitehead should consider donating salary to charity is illuminating.
"Jack, keep your hands off of my stack"
elisha gray
Much ado about nothing. When you donate your salary, I'll listen. A lot of people out for blood on politicians. This isn't one of the battles worth fighting. As stated above, does 21 cents return sound like it's going to help anyone? Go after waste, go after corruption, go after things that have a legit return on investment.
DeleteAlternately, we could have nobody from the city on the board of the 2nd largest utility in North America, if that helps.
Mountain Man
Sign of the times when the council conservatives start in with the socialist populism. The truth is out there, I guess. Let's maybe hold all of council to twice the median individual wage and put the remainder into bettering our city, not just gratuitous selfies and free lunches.
DeleteDana Scully
I'd rather see them go eliminate the Integrity Commissioner position which has been ineffective and conflicted the whole way through. Replace it with a citizens panel who can hire an investigator if needed.
DeleteTerm Limits Now
As much as I believe this is telling about both Eisenberger and Pearson, it's not a fair request. Having said that, it also reflects very poorly on both of them.
ReplyDeleteSorce
an empty chair could prove just as effective. Bratina performed identical function for Horizon at $12K/yr. What value has Fred's presence afforded? Improved service? Lower rate? Any trade off value to anyone other than Fred? This is how the wheels are greased in Hamilton, it is waste defined.
ReplyDelete"According to the 2016 Census, Hamilton contains 223K private dwellings"
ReplyDeleteTrim council by two seats (merge wards 9/10, 14/15) and you could can probably cut the City's operational spending by $223,000 annually. That's almost five times the above benefit.
Prolix
How was attendance compared to the previous two rallies?
ReplyDeleteQuorum
http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/hamilton/nick-kouvalis-faces-break-enter-charges-1.4466144
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thespec.com/news-story/8027347-political-strategist-and-local-activist-charged-with-breaking-into-burlington-restaurant/
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