With Ward 4 Councillor Tammy Hwang

Enjoy our chat with Ward 4 Councillor Tammy Hwang. Thank-you Clr. Hwang for engaging Hamiltonians in The Hamiltonian! 

1. Your family has deep roots in Ward 4, and you've been recognized for your community service. How do you ensure that all voices, especially those from marginalized communities, are heard and acted upon?

To be honest, I'm still working on this and trying a variety of different ways to engage. I spend time connecting with different community groups within the ward and our ward office aims to respond back to every email/phone call/social media request in a timely manner. I try to work with each resident that requests a meeting to meet them at their location or a location of their choice in order to listen and understand their concerns. I am also privileged to be a part of many boards and committees that serve different populations both in the ward and across the city. Again, it's all a learning process for me and I also recognize that I'm not able to be everywhere all at once so I also encourage community to reach out to me and connect. So to answer your question, I am working on hearing as many voices as possible and listening to understand their concerns. I couple that with work/initiatives that I know about also happening in the city and try to make those connections to help solve some of the challenges that I have heard. There are also concerns and opportunities that take some time to work through so it's trying to find a plan and work that plan to help get these challenges overcome and opportunities acted on.

2.You supported accelerating the city's cycling master plan, emphasizing fiscal responsibility. Given Hamilton's significant health disparities and climate vulnerabilities, how do you balance the need for improved cycling infrastructure with other pressing community needs?

Thanks for this question - I think that they are all related and we can do a lot with some thoughtful investments that benefit us today and into the future. Cycling infrastructure is one of them and as you've already pointed out, it is my fiscal responsibility to find solutions that will enable residents to get around in the city in way that gives people options, doesn't cost a lot of money, and has the added effects of being climate friendly and adaptive. It costs far less money to develop biking infrastructure than investing in a new roadway for heavy vehicles to travel on. I think mobility is a core component to how we build up Hamilton and I can argue that it is one of the pressing needs that we must invest in.

3 You voted to defer a motion banning encampments until new shelter spaces are available. How do we find strategic solutions to reduce homelessness, while ensuring the dignity of those struggling with homelessness ,is respected. Do you believe measures such as encampments and MiniCabins are consistent with the preservation of human dignity?

The answer to homelessness is housing. Full stop. Our challenge today is trying to build all types of housing to house everyone at every stage in their life. This includes residents that are young and looking for an opportunity to move out of their parents home, to young professionals that have chosen to work in Hamilton and looking for a place to live, to elderly residents that are on fixed incomes looking to downsize, to those that are struggling with paying the bills despite working a full time job, and those that are suffering and can't find steady employment. We need housing for everyone and I'm committed to finding solutions to help solve this. Encampments and mini cabins are just band-aid quick fixes for now but we all need to work together to build safe, dignified, affordable, maybe supportive (for those that need it) housing for all. I'm working with my fellow councillors and other elected officials across the province to find ways to fund, build, and support affordable housing initiatives so we can build housing for all.

4. Ward 4 is home to significant industrial activity, notably ArcelorMittal Dofasco. How do you balance economic development with environmental sustainability, particularly concerning air quality and public health? Are there meetings that you and/or The Mayor attend with industry leaders in Hamilton to discuss this issue? If so, what are the results of those discussions. 

I truly believe that you can be a big business and drive significant economic development in the city AND be a good business that practices social, economic, and environmental protocols that benefits everyone. I believe that businesses have a vested interest in the health and well-being of the community and their immediate neighbours. But in believing those two points, I also know and understand that businesses need to be held to account and reminded (vigorously and continuously) of their obligation as a good neighbour to be respectful of their business practices and how it impacts the community around them. Our Ward 4 team regularly attended Community Liaison Committee meetings held by some of the big businesses in the North End and we regularly share information and commentary with them from the residents perspective and will continue to connect with them about concerns that are in the community.

 The Ward 4 team is also in regular communication with the local Ministry of Environment, Conservation, and Parks teams about violations from industry and we work closely with advocacy groups like Environment Hamilton and Clean Air Hamilton to help drive change at the municipal level. Recently, the Ward 3 Councillor Nrinder Nann and I, wrote and presented a motion to ask Public Health to develop a feasibility plan to monitor and develop ideas to address the ongoing black sticky soot fallout that the North End of Hamilton routinely receives. As many of your readers know, black soot fallout is nothing new and has been a systemic and continuous problem for the last 30-40 years (at least) in Hamilton. Change is hard and it's slow, but we are working on a variety of fronts to keep industry accountable to their neighbours so we can live in a healthy and clean environment too.

5. How do you ensure transparency in your decision-making process, and how do you hold yourself accountable to your constituents?

I'm also learning how to do this better every day as I think it's hard and it's not intuitive for a first time politician to ensure transparency in decision making. I am consistent in my decision making where I try to balance the needs of the ward, the needs of Hamiltonians beyond Ward 4, gender equity, climate resiliency, fiscal responsibility, and root it all in asking for and receiving the most amount of information possible in order to make a decision. I read all of the emails and correspondence that residents send to me expressing their approval, concerns, or disapproval for my decisions - and that does factor into how I make decisions. I am also quick to ask for a meeting with a resident if I'm trying to understand perspectives and points of view that are outside of my own. I do also try to put out a quick social media vlog after a hard or controversial decision to explain my understanding and perspectives for why I chose to vote the way that I did. Again, this is still a continuous learning process for me and I'm always open to receiving feedback on this.

6. Looking ahead, what is your long-term vision for Ward 4, and how do you plan to achieve it? What are the key challenges you anticipate, and how do you intend to address them?

For Ward 4, I hope to build up some more commercial vibrancy on Kenilworth and Barton Street. They were thriving commercial corridors back in the day and I can see so much potential there. My hope is to find opportunities for residents to feel proud to be in Ward 4 and feel a sense of safety and belonging. 

I'm still thinking through how to achieve this as there are currently municipal incentives to drive interest into investing in Kenilworth, but I think we need to do a variety of things in addition to the municipal incentives. We need to ensure continued partnership with the Hamilton Police Service to help keep the area feeling safe, we need to develop zoning and business processes that enable a more vibrant neighborhood and support small businesses, and lastly, we need to enable more housing to be built in the neighbourhood. I think having a mix of different incomes and residents that live and work in the neighbourhood is crucial to how we enable vibrant and thriving neighbourhoods. This will include developing strategies on attracting and retaining talent to the ward as well as small interventions like beautification projects to facilitate pride in community. This isn't a linear process where we establish and complete step one before moving on to step two; we need to do all of these in tandem.

7. Reflecting on your tenure as Councillor, what have been your most significant challenges, and how have they shaped your approach to leadership? What lessons have you learned that will influence your future decisions?

I think my biggest challenge is relaying the vast amount of information that I receive on a weekly basis and trying to communicate that in a timely and coherent manner to the community. I'm still struggling with this as each week feels like we've been downloaded an entire encyclopedia's worth of knowledge and it's not usually formatted in a way where I can just directly copy and paste it into a newsletter or a social media post. I've had to re-think how to communicate and package up information in smaller and digestible pieces where I hope it makes sense to the community. In terms of lessons, I've also come to conclusion that I can not please everyone and each decision that I make will benefit the majority of community but will also anger others. There is no decision where everyone will be uniformly happy because it will come at the cost of convenience, service level degradation, or cost - this has been my most sobering lesson as a politician.

8. You’ve faced public scrutiny over certain votes, including your stance on the cycling budget and encampment issues. How do you respond to criticism, and do you believe you've made any decisions you would now reconsider?

Again, I have come to understand that my decision/vote will not please everyone. I have to stay true and authentic to myself and trust that I have done the research, asked questions, consulted with different people in the community with different perspectives than mine, and make a decision that I have to stand up for. Every decision has the opportunity for reconsideration and I am self-aware enough to change my mind if I am given the information that will help me make an informed decision. I am open to having my mind be changed but I need to ensure that the information that is presented to me is rooted in data, facts, and relevant to the topic at hand.

9. Hamilton’s LRT and transit plans remain hot topics. What’s your stance on the city’s current public transit strategy, and how do you ensure it serves the needs of low-income residents, seniors, and people with disabilities in your ward?

Ward 4 has a diverse demographic of people and I believe that the new Re-Envision HSR Strategy is thorough, thoughtful, and considerate of the needs of Ward 4 residents in all the corners of the ward. It works well with the LRT plans and makes sense to leverage and use the LRT as the backbone of this strategy. I am still a strong proponent of continuous consultation with community including those groups you've listed in the question. I do believe that we need to listen closely to those with lived experiences as they are the current and future transit riders that will be utilizing the system the most. If we build our system to serve the community with the most needs, this system will inevitably serve all of us well.

10. Do you see yourself continuing in municipal politics long-term, or do you have aspirations beyond city council? How does your current work prepare you for future leadership roles, whether in government or advocacy

I get asked this question all the time! I am happy and feel privileged to serve Ward 4 today and if given the opportunity, I would proudly serve again. If in the next election cycle I am not elected in, I believe this experience has really prepared me to be a better communicator, advocate, policy analysis, and economic developer. No matter what the outcome in the next election, you can still count on me to be Hamilton's biggest cheerleader and someone who will roll up my sleeves to help build a better Hamilton for the future.