Comments on The Hamiltonian: First By-Law Crawl Says it All

This bylaw is good....BUT....I have been harassed ...

2010-07-25T08:42:28.302-04:00

This bylaw is good....BUT....I have been harassed for the last TEN years. My neighbours have cost me tens of thousands of dollars. I do
construction I know the bylaws. If I write up my neighbours(four houses)bring the write-ups to the city with a witness. A couple weeks
go by ,go back to the city with the same witness ,the city tells me there are no write-ups.How about the manager of one of the deptments talks to my boss about the case.I currently have two bylaw officers on my house.One from each department.Any write-up I put in is disgrarded,including ones for childrens safety.Most of the bylaw officers are ex-cops.The mayor has his own private army. It is a good bylaw if used properly.....Go
after the bad buildings.(there is a solution to the Rosedale flooding.The city wont act on it.it means putting more water in the Red
Hill Creek.

Edited by The Hamiltonian Admin

Matt, great job. Thanks for doing this. Anonymou...

2010-02-17T13:40:39.628-05:00

Matt, great job. Thanks for doing this.

Anonymous and Tom, it may may have problems but it's not a dump. Your negativity does not help anything.

Good job Matt

2010-02-17T13:27:01.856-05:00

Good job Matt

Tom, you seemed to have a lot of concerns about th...

2010-02-17T11:23:39.257-05:00

Tom, you seemed to have a lot of concerns about the initiative- it's too bad you couldn't have made it out yesterday, I was looking forward to a good conversation with you about it. ;)

A quick update from yesterday's presentation t...

2010-02-17T08:39:53.791-05:00

A quick update from yesterday's presentation to Economic Development and Planning:

Brian McHattie made a motion to set up a meeting with Marty Hazell and staff to take my suggestions into consideration and start working on them, see what's possible.

My suggestions were: a) to set up a group of students (similar to what the city has done in property maintenance) to regularly check up on the exteriors of vacant buildings and report findings to by-law staff b) to order a review of the complaints process to ensure that complaints are received and the person who makes the complaint is responded to, and c) that the Vacant Building Protocol be revised to require inspections of vacant buildings on a monthly basis as opposed to every three months.

Brian is setting up a meeting to discuss these options. I'll send out an update when that meeting happens, and I'll let you know what comes out of it.

I'll also be developing some more suggestions through this process- these suggestions are just a starting point, to address immediate concerns and fundamental problems.

We don't have enough by-law inspectors and council is most likely opposed to hiring any new full time staff. The complaints process needs serious revision to ensure the department is responsive to residents. Vacant buildings need much more attention, and more eyes on them.

These suggestions are a starting point- I'm eager to hear what people think, and what else I should suggest. I'll keep everyone updated on the outcome of the next meeting.

The more you call it a dump, the more people will ...

2010-02-16T05:05:03.852-05:00

The more you call it a dump, the more people will treat it like a dump. Both of you: stop it.

Anonymous....I didn't need 99 other pair of ey...

2010-02-15T12:30:35.336-05:00

Anonymous....I didn't need 99 other pair of eyes to see for me that the core is a dump.

Does this Tom Robertson fellow live in Hamilton, B...

2010-02-14T22:52:50.393-05:00

Does this Tom Robertson fellow live in Hamilton, Bermuda by chance??
Open your eyes and give your head a shake man. This place is a dump full of slumlords and a city hall that cares only about one-way freeways and parking tickets.

WRCU2: Yes I do believe I stated further up the t...

2010-02-13T20:14:22.210-05:00

WRCU2: Yes I do believe I stated further up the totem pole so to speak that, no one should have to live squalor.

Some people do have mental illness, which can affect their judgement in regards to their surroundings. I think this says more about our society in general, their apathy, to ignore, to blame those who need help and guidance the most.

WCUR2...I didn't think the term "pain in ...

2010-02-13T15:14:53.013-05:00

WCUR2...I didn't think the term "pain in the ass" would be offensive to someone like you? My that was some "bass ackword" thinking on my part. I am sorry for using the term "pigeon shit". From now on I will follow your examples of political correctness and refer to it as pigeon excrement. I am sorry to have "pooped" on your parade and frustrated you. I must need my "backside" spanked.

I find the scrolling thing annoying as well. Parti...

2010-02-13T14:05:55.440-05:00

I find the scrolling thing annoying as well. Particularily when the comments are volumous. I looked into this long ago and again last week. There is no fix at present for the template I am using and I lack the technical know how to do it myself.

Cal

Mr. Jelly, please post the time for Tuesday night&...

2010-02-13T11:23:37.113-05:00

Mr. Jelly, please post the time for Tuesday night's presentation.

Mr. Robertson, your intensified usage of mild swears suggests you are frustrated. I understand IT must take hours to troll, I mean scroll down to the bottom of this rather lengthy discourse. May you find the comfort and patience necessary to continue uninundated.

Michelle, low income advocate extraordinaire, poverty is not a license to live like pigs. Cleanliness is next to Godliness. An accumulation of garbage outside buildings is a sure way to attract rats, which I find way much more disgusting than pidgeons. Rats have been proven to spead diseases such as the plague. Blame IT on the city for allowing only one lonely bag!

Mr. Bob Innes and his best friend, I agree the job should not be a sinecure but rather a SIGNATURE in the CORE event. However, you are thinking bass ackwards putting the cart before the horse. Which is fine if you cannot stomach the movements of his backside but you still won't get anywhere. Every year new blood is elected and in every city the cores rot. IT is all that simple although I wish IT were not.

I get the sense that all responsible parties involved paid close attention to this phenomenon and will heed as they heel-toe to head the herd of By-Law Crawlers, a very small group of individuals strolling on the sidewalk scrolling with the pen and taking a photograph now then again. What harm have they done these concerned men and women? None save this one, they've warmed hearts with warning charts and put them under Tom's thumb.

They were not pooping on people perched in the park
They didn't throw rocks at any dog to dare them a bark
They weren't tearing off siding or busting down doors
They did not hop over fences or rip off porch floors

They were walking the talk they looked here or there
They did not hurl their excrement at neighborly stare
They were not using chaulk as they should have I'd say
They didn't sign on the sidewalk as boys and girls play

Mr. Tom Robertson, would IT be OK with your lean eagle I's take apart meant, to mark the By-Law Crawl pathways traveled by the teams with chaulk? This would allow others to follow the original footsteps and label key vantage points for media references in the march, I mean in March. Thank God they didn't call IT a march EH Tom? That sounds way too serious and (pardon my French) milli-taµnt, like they mean business. This should be looked upon as more or less a simple game innocent children play. A hopsketch art-fest if you will.

Let's try to think of ways to enhance the next crawl rather than complain about what got stuck on our shoes. Please kick them off at the gate and wipe them on the Matt, oops, sorry bout that! Which reminds me, Cal mentioned this week that I tracked some of my own spit into the Hamiltonian from the soiled steps of another blog. I am sorry I have offended the housekeepers, when I get a bad taste in my mouth I sometimes spit IT uncouthly out. Please accept my apology for this disgusting thing I've done in public and the marks I have left in the hall:-(

Great initiative, interesting comments but after d...

2010-02-13T01:14:53.462-05:00

Great initiative, interesting comments but after discussing with pooch on our walk, I concluded that while the intent is noble, the idea of making improvement by bludgeoning folks with the heavy hand of gummerment is not the right way, especially with the economy wobbling as it is. Why are so many properties in such a state to begin with? Absenteeism and enforcement cant explain everything. Voters should be asking incumbents what they have been doing to make Hamilton a good investment. When one looks around at other communities, it seems we are not getting our fair share despite some successes. So until the city's fortunes change, voters should continue to inject new blood into city hall - someone will eventually succeed. The job should not be a sinecure.

Ummmm.....we're almost at 100 posts for this t...

2010-02-12T20:45:04.152-05:00

Ummmm.....we're almost at 100 posts for this topic.

Michelle- I understand your concern. I'm think...

2010-02-12T17:36:45.434-05:00

Michelle- I understand your concern. I'm thinking a lot about this, and you know me well enough that I won't work against anyone in a very hard situation- I will only work towards helping these people, not imposing on them. I was one of those downtown Hamilton working poor kids myself at one time. So was my father, so was his father. I'm not an outsider with no familiarity with these issues. I take this all very much to heart.

To update, public health has been contacted and reminded about this case- and action should follow next week. I'm in contact with Michelle, and if she sees anything I need to know about she'll definitely let me know.

Once the city does what is necessary, and I work through the proper authorities, we're mobilizing a team to make this situation right. There's only so much I can say for now, but I'll give you a full update as things start to happen.

Thanks to everyone who has engaged with me on this- I'm going to keep at it until the right thing happens. All you can do is take me on my word on that. I understand how complex some of these issues are, and how much concern there is about these issues. I take everyone's views seriously, and I'm listening. I'll need all of your help in this regard. Help me do the right thing.

Next week, I'll be presenting to Economic Development and Planning about the By-Law Crawl and the next steps. If you can, please join me this Tuesday at the Albion Room at Hamilton Convention Centre. It should be a very good discussion. I'll also answer any questions people have about what we're doing, and what progress has been made so far. I'm all yours.

Have a good Family Day weekend, everyone, and please remember to support Hamilton's original "crawl" tonight- ART CRAWL! James St. North.

Come down and see what real community redevelopment looks like.

Matt: While the gist of the crawl is to identify ...

2010-02-12T11:42:07.850-05:00

Matt: While the gist of the crawl is to identify empty commercial buildings, I would suggest that if you are dealing with a residential problems, that one does have to take into consideration what could happen, if it is a family of low income, especially if chldren are involved.

While your goal is to make the neighbourhoods safer, social servies may other issues and that family where there are children involved will come under the scrutiny of CAS.

To give an example, a family, who one would consider as the working poor, were behind in utility payments, in social housing. The worker had lost their job and was struggling on EI to maintain shelter and home. A group within the city was trying to work with the family when the call came for the top echelons of Social Services to have the children taken away. It seems that social servies, deems families who have lost their jobs and struggling to keep house and home, as bad parents. Of course, the real problem is the fact the EI is not enough and either is Ontaro Works to sustain people and the lack of jobs. But the what the hay, it is so much easier to demonize the parents, then to have the actual social and CAS workers to actually develop the balls to speak out against the system, as it is their jobs and their funding.

Even though the people may be only renting, the problem lies with the landlord, it will be those the renters that could very well possibly pay the highest cost.

2010-02-12T01:43:26.597-05:00

This comment has been removed by the author.

Matt...Did you have legal advice that as organizer...

2010-02-11T23:45:13.413-05:00

Matt...Did you have legal advice that as organizer and lead bull that you were absolved from all actions taking place within the herd. Was it explained to you that you have to exercise some due diligence in keeping things under control. I would suggest that you have each member of the crawl sign an individual form that they have read and understand the laws against trespass, photographic laws and have been advised by you what behavior you expect from the participants and that the participant will be held entirely responsible for any action they take place in that are outside of your guide lines. Also they should sign a separate waiver absolving you from any claims of injury due to their participation in a crawl. These forms should then be kept on file because it could be years before a claim is being made against you. It's a cover your ass world out their my friend. Being the lead dog in the pack is not quite as simple as you think it is. Maybe as a practice run on your next crawl you could tackle the pigeon shit issue as the birds would not have a legal leg or wing to stand on.
Off of this topic I think the Hamiltonian should change the comment format so that the new comments appear first. Its a pain in the ass having to scroll through 80 comments to get to the new ones.

Mr. Roberson, I´d heed when someone clucks, better...

2010-02-11T21:45:42.425-05:00

Mr. Roberson, I´d heed when someone clucks, better duck!!!

This is the just ducky kind of techno rocking Blue´s Bird I´m talking about.

Your eyes can have IT all alarm fours????

Feels like a rallying tune so I felt like sharing my thanks in this way, Good Luck. I love IT!

Mr. Jelly. I support what you're doing 100%. M...

2010-02-11T21:44:02.888-05:00

Mr. Jelly. I support what you're doing 100%. Mr. Difalco, you have a great blog. Thanks to you too.

Gayle

Your funny Tom, I recall sitting waiting for the b...

2010-02-11T20:45:13.247-05:00

Your funny Tom, I recall sitting waiting for the bus at Gore Park and was crapped on by a bird, probably a Pidgeon.

I didn't realize it at the time, until I caught on to those other people around me snickering at my plight.

I got on the bus and rode home and took a shower thinking I was the lucky one being crapped on by a Bluebird of happiness, given how things worked out for me later in life.

Won a huge lawsuit for my disabled son Logan and retired so I could look after him while my wife worked. Logan passed away a few years ago, unfortunately.

Bluebird Avenue rocks!

We broke up into teams- and I know who in that gro...

2010-02-11T20:37:18.512-05:00

We broke up into teams- and I know who in that group is responsible, understands the intent, and has the capacity to lead a team.

So next time, here's what I'm going to do: I'll be loosely assigning the teams, so that each team who goes out has a point person who is intimately familiar with what we're doing and how to go about it. If a property owner should wonder what's up, and want to ask questions, this point person will be responsible for communicating with anyone who has questions, and explain what we're doing. If a confrontation should happen even with this mechanism in place, I'll be in walkie-talkie contact with each team, so we can resolve any potential conflicts.

We will have a team next time leading this effort- responsible people guiding the crawl, and I can almost guarantee you this will cut down on any potential problems that could arise.

If we do have any of these problems, the buck stops with me. I will take responsibility and address any problems that come up. I will not shy away from my responsibilities.

Tom, if you have any more questions or concerns, I'm all ears. Thank you for this productive discourse.

Tom, I really hope you can see that I'm trying...

2010-02-11T20:36:57.028-05:00

Tom, I really hope you can see that I'm trying to thoroughly address your concerns as best I can, and use your criticisms to improve our process. Believe it or not, you are helping this cause in your own disgruntled way.

Everyone will be advised of their responsibilities, thoroughly. Within the context of the crawl, I cannot be held legally responsible for the potential actions of people who show up to this event and decide to ignore my advice to them about what is acceptable, and do something I am not advising them to do. That's just the reality.

That said- I do not wave off the responsibilities of leading this event and ensuring everyone is clear on what the intent is and what our responsibilities are.

The fact is, the first crawl was successful, and responsible. The people who participated understood the instructions and I'm very happy to report we had no problems in how we went about looking for infractions and reporting them. One issue arose, and it was dealt with- someone did go a little overboard, and the individual has been notified of how not to conduct himself. There were no serious problems to report.

Matt regarding the bird's also sing downtown t...

2010-02-11T20:17:41.877-05:00

Matt regarding the bird's also sing downtown the problem is that they are all pigeons. If you intend to continue your crawl why not dedicate a day to photograph all the pigeon shit on the ground and hanging from buildings in the core. The number of pigeons in Gore Park is greater than the number of people in the park. I am sure you are aware that pigeon shit is a very toxic substance and could pose a health hazard to people who work in the core and exposed to it every day. You mention being bombarded by panhandlers downtown. I have never had this problem on the numerous times I have been downtown. Maybe I look scary to them. I have been bombarded on a few occasions by pigeons. Pigeons make no distinction of who they choose to bombard and I am sure this happens more than once a day.I have contacted the Mayors office and some Councillors regarding this and have never been given a response. I think they are afraid they will get a pie in the face from PETA if they take any action to rid the core of this infestation.

Matt, an axe wouldn´t be ground if IT were already...

2010-02-11T20:01:17.273-05:00

Matt, an axe wouldn´t be ground if IT were already sharp enough. You have carried yourself very well in this discussion and what you´ve done is exceptional. Many thanks to the 50-100 eager participants of this premier wake-up event. The crawl became a stampede to the best two sites in town. By my estimation through the art of IT, since Sunday, these local interactive social media sites have received the following number of page views:

The Hamiltonian - 2600
Have Your Say - 2167
Raise the Hammer - 1533
Hall Marks - 400

The By-Law Crawl event received a total of 4133 page views with the Hamiltonian and RTH combined coverage (3 stories). The Hamilton Spectator's sponsored sites received a total of 2567 page views (6 stories). Congratulations concerned citizens of Hamilton, you have been seen and herd, or is that heard? Sometimes I get confused in my old age, EH?

Speaking of old age MAW, I know you've got Bluebirds on your street, or is that you're on Bluebird Street? I forget easily. All I know is you're in the seventh and your gardens are wonderful. I recall when they were being built and I'll bet they're even nicer now. I am happy to be around folks who appreciate the songs of birds in their neighborhoods. They truly are a pleasure to hear especially in the dead of winter. That's when you know for sure you are in a special part of town that is full of life.

Also Maw and Mr. Sean Scott as well or anyone repulsed by our city's destitute, the next time you're at a place where someone begs for pocket change, ask them for something in return. Ask to take their picture for a toonie and answer a question or two for a buck. Then come back here and share the story of your Good Luck. Use some of Cal's canned questions as examples. For instance you could ask, "If you had the undivided attention of everyone in Hamilton for 15 seconds, what would you say to them?" Be creative and be respectful. Mr. Larry Strung did IT. Mr. Gary Santucci did IT.

Coax them little birds into songs call, the melody should belong to us all.
Isn't IT Amazing what action inspired to fall?