Media Release: Ian Thompson Announces his Intentions to Run in Ward 11

Ian Thompson Announces His Intentions To Run In October 2018 For The Ward 11 City Council Seat

WINONA - September 12, 2017 – Over the past several months Ian Thompson has been approached by a number of people inquiring if he has ever thought about running for public office. After many conversations with his family, friends and neighbours, and considerable deliberations with community organizations, community leaders and residents, Ian has come to learn that there is a growing appetite for change with the representation at City Hall. Today, Ian Thompson is announcing that on May 1st he will register as a candidate to run in the October 2018 Municipal Election in Ward 11 (Winona, Rural Upper Stoney Creek, Binbrook, Mount Hope).

“Neighbourhoods throughout Ward 11 are and continue to be under-serviced. Increase in vehicle

Media Release: Concession Street BIA is wrapping its summer series of SIDEWALK SOUNDS

This Friday the Concession Street BIA is wrapping its summer series of SIDEWALK SOUNDS - this Friday September 15, 2017.

A 3rd Friday of the Month Music Series from May to September. LIVE MUSIC PERFORMERS set to start at 6pm to 9pm.

SIDEWALK SOUNDS 2nd annual music series is inspired by the James N. Art Crawl and Concession St.’s traditional Streetfest

The Concession Street BIA is working in partnership with the Hamilton Music Guild’s MUSIC IN THE CITY to provide a high caliber music crawl within our business district (Upper Wentworth to East 33rd)

There are 6 outdoor music stations that run from 6pm to 9pm. Sidewalk Sounds creates an atmosphere for the Hamilton community to enjoy the sounds of local Hamilton musicians while

Media Release: City of Hamilton sells Hamilton Technology Centre to Clearcable

City of Hamilton sells Hamilton Technology Centre to Clearcable in a win-win deal

HAMILTON, ON – The City of Hamilton announced today that it has reached an agreement with Clearcable to acquire the Hamilton Technology Centre (HTC). It’s a win-win business transaction for both the City of Hamilton and Clearcable.

HTC was established in 1993 as a small business incubator. Given the age of the building, the facility requires immediate capital improvements and has on-going operating costs. As the City invests and supports many small business programs, the property was declared surplus by Council on February 22, 2017.

“Clearcable will adopt the original vision of HTC by applying their own expertise contacts within this industry, and continue to foster the development of emerging technology companies such as theirs,” said Mayor Fred Eisenberger. “We see Clearcable as a business and community leader in supporting Hamilton’s technology sector.”

Clearcable is a Hamilton-based, specialized telecommunications technical consulting firm focused on the needs of broadband service providers and rural municipalities. In operation since 2004, they have been tenant at HTC since April 2016. The company is experiencing sizable growth in their operations since moving to the facility. The company was looking for opportunity to expand in the development and incubation process in the technology sector. This real estate purchase of HTC allows this to occur.

“This acquisition will help us realize our vision of a private technology innovation centre,” said Rob McCann, President and Founder of Clearcable. “As a business operator with close ties to Hamilton, both personally and professionally, I look forward to an opportunity to invest in Hamilton’s success.”

Clearcable Networks is a leader within the technology sector and is active with the Intelligent Communities Forum. McCann was named the Canadian Independent Telephone Association’s 2016 Supplier of the Year.

Ward 15 Councillor, Judi Partridge was pleased with the Clearcable acquisition as it will ensure the incubator concept to support new businesses in Flamborough will continue.

“This is an exceptional example of the way we leverage the private sector to support entrepreneurship. Our business community is the backbone of our city and we strive to support it through many different channels,” says Ward 15 Councillor, Judi Partridge.

Clearcable plans to make changes to accommodate a portion of space for co-working as well as accelerator spaces, where entrepreneurs can work individually or together.Capital improvements to the facility are in the plan and well as supporting the ongoing operating costs.

Eisenberger Vs. Trump Round 1

It is uncertain whether U.S. President Donald Trump will show up to this fight (he has shown that he will sometimes engage via twitter with American Mayors) but Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger seems to have thrown caution to the wind with the tweet shown to the left.

Rather than focus on the President's comments regarding NAFTA, Mayor Eisenberger takes a broad swipe at Trump's presidency. While there is no doubt that Mr. Trump and his presidency is rich in controversy, it is questionable whether the Mayor's swipe was a smart or appropriate thing to do.

What is your view? Do you think Mayor Eisenberger's comments were appropriate and called for?  Do you believe the tweet will be noticed and responded to by Mr. Trump?

With Clr. Whitehead - on LRT

Clr. Terry Whitehead

We checked in with Ward 8 Councillor and friend of The Hamiltonian, Terry Whitehead on LRT. Enjoy our chat with the Clr.

1. With the addition of Eastgate Square as a destination, how comfortable are you with LRT as it is currently being envisioned. Has the Eastgate addition and perhaps other adjustments made, moved you significantly from a place of extreme concern to a new perspective on the matter?

My role as a councillor is to ensure that we understand the risks, the consequences and mitigate those issues as much as practical when making decisions. The LRT system moving from McMaster to the Queenston traffic circle was the worst case scenario for a comprehensive transit system. With no North/South connectivity this plan was not consistent with the city endorsed plan and would have put taxpayers of this community at great financial risk. When we were dealing with the EA report at council I knew that the vote would be tight. In good conscience I could not allow the LRT plan in its incomplete design, pass or be supported. I chose to leverage the original plan to Eastgate which provided a greater level of connectivity in our transportation plan. It would increase possible success, but for sure would mitigate the higher risk plan that was in play. I still have misgivings. I believe the uplift argument is overinflated especially when the Canadian Urban Institute indicated that after all is said and done we’re still only looking at only a 1% assessment increase and this projection was made before the Scott Park lands became a non-tax generating revenue property. Ridership is sitting at 444 passengers at peak hour in peak direction. The growth projections for Hamilton have not been met for the last 10 years and I doubt they will be met for the next 10 years therefore these numbers should not be relied on for ridership projections on ridership, uplift, and the operating and maintenance costs. As a metaphor, I believe that this is a plan tantamount to us buying a size 10 shoe when we’re only a size 2; knowing that someday we will grow into it.

Unfortunately so many things can change in that time frame and the costs will still be borne by the

Food for Thought with Alex Bielak-Cooking from the heart – An Un-Recipe for Mushrooms on Toast

Cooking from the heart – An Un-Recipe for Mushrooms on Toast

My last piece called for institutions to do better in how they approach food service. Since that was published I have been engaged in some interesting conversations with a local food producer and the Chair of a Hospital, in advance of a kind of summit retreat I’ve learned is being organized on the topic.

There will be more to come on that later, but the piece also got me thinking about recipes and the way our mothers and grandmothers cooked. I don’t often publish recipes, the last a wonderful rhubarb dessert, appearing over two years ago. When I look back at it now, it was more about the feel of the dish rather than any real precision in how it was put together.

The wonderful Jacques Pepin recently spoke about the inherent contradictions between codified

Media Release:Hamilton and Niagara lead Major Trade & Investment Mission to Colombia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hamilton and Niagara lead Major Trade & Investment Mission to Colombia

HAMILTON, ON – The City of Hamilton, in partnership with the Region of Niagara, is leading a trade and investment mission to Colombia aimed at building business opportunities for local businesses. This will be Ontario’s only trade and investment mission to Colombia in 2017.

With a combined population of more than one million people, the two locations have complementary key industry strengths in advanced manufacturing, agriculture and food and beverage manufacturing, ICT/Digital and Goods Movement. The strategic location of the two includes Hamilton’s 24-hour cargo/passenger airport with a major seaport on the Great Lakes as well as Niagara’s several U.S. border crossings.

The Hamilton representatives on the trade and investment mission are Mayor Fred Eisenberger and Jennifer Patterson, Senior Business Development Consultant from the Economic Development Office.

“This is a mission to solidify new business connections, nurture investment leads, and ultimately create new jobs for this city," said Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger. "Since the Pan Am Games we have been working with the Colombian Government and this trade mission is a major step forward in this business relationship. I look forward to promoting Hamilton on an international stage."

As part of the mission to Colombia, there will be the signing of a "Memorandum of Understanding" aimed at strengthening ties for both countries and will formally establish a solid working relationship in order to move business initiatives forward.

The trade and investment mission will attend business meetings in Bogota, Barranquilla and Medellin, Colombia from September 2 – 9. The delegation includes local business owners as well as academic and government representatives from Hamilton and Niagara region. The Federal Trade Commissioners in the specific cities will act as liaisons to the delegation, facilitating and hosting meetings with a number of Colombian firms.

“Our entrepreneurial spirit is present from our smallest start-ups to our largest firms with a talent pool of highly educated, motivated and engaged citizens and business leaders. This is a good example of our local business owners making international connections to move our city forward,” says Jennifer Patterson, Senior Business Consultant in Economic Development Office.

Hamilton’s Economic Development Office is the central point of contact for business assistance. Its services are geared to serve new start-up companies, corporate relocations, and the expansion and retention of existing business. Its mission is to serve as the catalyst for continued economic growth, job creation, and revitalization in Hamilton.

Our Readers Write.....

Looking for Good Governance - is that a big "ask"?

The trend today is for the average voter to be turned off the electoral process because politicians are seen as promoting their own agendas rather the wishes of the electorate. In the US, people were attracted to Trump because he claimed he was an outsider who would rid government of the self serving. But this view by voters is the reason so few are voting anymore. People do not think voting matters.

Elected representatives need to remember that citizens are not making trouble for you; some of our elected leaders are doing this to themselves by ignoring citizens and playing games with the lives of others, serving their own self interest and that of their chosen friends and City Hall technocrats.

Citizens are taxpayers and voters and want their concerns heard by politicians.

For example, in Dundas, the desire of a significant number of citizens who opposed the sale of a well used public laneway to a numbered company were ignored. Similarly, the brouhaha over ward boundaries revealed elected officials looking after their own re-election self interests and ignoring the highly paid consultants. They wasted our tax money, in the process.

The mitigation of an undocumented safety risk to school children on Sydenham Road in Dundas resulted in putting up white posts to shield those on the sidewalk from cars. In the process, they made it less safe for bicyclists. This error then resulted in a new scheme to widen the sidewalk with a boulevard at a cost of about $105,000 awarded in sole source contract. This was all done with little consultation.

We face the reality that elected officials increasingly turn to private consultants for advice at considerable expense and then ignore the advice they get. Conversely, citizens offer free advice, if consulted at all. But the reality is that community consultation process appears to occur after the decisions have already been made and all that is needed to “sell” what is inevitable by chicanery or misdirection. For shame!

The 2018 municipal election is coming and changes need to happen.

Jordan Hill
Dundas, ON

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