Town Halls Hamilton

Concerning engagement through Neighbourhood Associations...

2012-02-24T19:01:00.000-05:00

Over at My Stoney Creek, I've been playing around with maps.

Maps of proposed changes to ward boundaries.

But more seriously, maps of Lower City ward neighbourhoods.

Take a look here.

Something for us all to consider.

2012-02-20T16:52:00.002-05:00

In conclusion...

2012-02-12T11:25:00.000-05:00

The series of articles based on The 8-Ball and The Curve: Why Are We Always Behind One or The Other? has been brought to conclusion over at My Stoney Creek:

Fourth part of the series

Fifth part of the series

Please check 'em out and let me know what you think.

So much going on over at My Stoney Creek...

2012-02-10T13:08:00.000-05:00

Engagement.

As with 'communication' in all relationships, it's the key to everything. And I've certainly been voicing my opinions on it in this series:

Original Spec article, The 8-Ball and The Curve: Why Are We Always Behind One or The Other?

First part in the series

Second part in the series

Third part in the series

Meanwhile, over at My Stoney Creek...

2012-01-26T08:08:00.000-05:00

An article prompted by an issue that deserves its own town hall...or multiples...

A further call for engaging discourse

2012-01-23T13:46:00.003-05:00

Over at My Stoney Creek, I posted an article dealing with an area of discussion about our city that I feel is vital.

Beyond the issues themselves, the real question is: 'Who's going to shine a light on this stuff?'

I cannot imagine The Spec leading the way, because they've set their tone with the 'Code Red' series.

I also can't imagine The City leading the way, because there seems to be too much intertwining of effort for there with non-profits to be authentic discussion coming from them. (I could be wrong, I'd love to have it proved so.)

What are the odds that we'll get something pushed along by CHCH, CHML or Cable 14? Something that strips away the usual veneer that such subjects are usually coated with?

Moreover, do you suppose that councillors will put it all on the line and promote the kind of dialogue amongst their constituents that will question the current state of affairs in the areas I noted in the editorial? Who amongst them has a sufficient enough grasp of both the big picture and the nuances of Hamilton's social services profile, who's on Council who will take a stand, who will push the discussion forward, understanding that there are some uncomfortable moments certain to unfold?

It's my opinion that in the end, we're the only ones who can do the pushing. Online entities such as Raise the Hammer and The Hamiltonian as well as various social media can assist us, but we simply cannot look to agencies (both municipal and non-profit) nor to our conventional media to be the mainstays; the water is simply too muddy, and with people clamouring for 'transparency' and 'accountability', I hardly think we're going to find much of them through the murkiness that collaboration and comisseration brings about.

And yet we muzzle ourselves. Mostly because nobody cares to take the time to make important issues as mentioned in the MSC article the stuff of engagement, of interplay, of discourse.

Last auturmn, following our inaugural town hall with Ward 2 Councillor Jason Farr, I noted this:

"...you don’t dive into substantive, contentious issues in the hope that you can generate civic engagement. You generate civic engagement so that you’re better equipped to address substantive, contentious issues when they begin to unfold."

M Adrian Brassington

Community Activists Beware!

2012-01-19T07:08:00.001-05:00

Check out this article over at The Toronto Star.

'nuff said.

Why the change?

2012-01-18T16:06:00.000-05:00

When I began Town Halls Hamilton, the aim was to 'increase the relationship of engagement between residents and their councillors.' This resulted from a conversation I'd had during the 2010 municipal election campaign with Raise the Hammer Editor Ryan McGreal. He'd opined that what mattered most, regardless of who was elected, was this relationship. It felt right to me, so I ran with it.

Some months along, I've re-thought things.

Which is why if you look at the blurb beneath the logo, you'll see a slightly different emphasis being presented. How come?

I always suspected that there would be 'resistance' from councillors to the notion of organized, city-wide, town halls...that weren't controlled by them. I always suspected that there'd be 'turf protection' going on, especially after The Hamiltonian was so kind as to 'poll' Council on how they felt their engagement with their constituents was going. (The consensus was 'Just fine, thank-you. Grr...') I learned some very important lessons with our inaugural town hall in November, some directly, some indirectly.

Since then, in standing back and taking a good look at things going on in the city, I've discovered that a) I don't want to fight the fight of trying to convince councillors that they should consider having Town Halls Hamilton events, because b) there are actually far more important battles to be fought in Hamilton that make trying to win over 15 people seem... Well, absurd.

From my perspective, there's far too little dialogue going on in the city. I'm not talking about 'meetings'. Between city personnel, local agencies, even community groups. I'm talking about Hamiltonians talking about their city. The issues that affect them.

Those people who are talking have their own mandates. Their own priorities. I'm not talking about them. And I'm not talking about councillors. I'm talking about your neighbours. I'm talking about the people who read The Spec and listen to CHML and watch CHCH...and all the ones who don't, too.

I still believe that it's vital for residents to have strong engagement with their Council. But I think I've come to reframe this notion within the idea of people being more engaged with their city, period.

I've stated previously that I don't have any interest in 'politics'...even in understanding that just about everything that unfolds in a city has a political spin to it. Or maybe I am interested...but only where the residents are concerned. I guess my vision really is, as the blurb maintains, to 'change the landscape of local governance', only not from the inside...but from the out.

So while Town Halls Hamilton will absolutely be trying to work with neighbourhood associations to put on ward-centric events with their councillors, the greater emphasis will be to produce town halls where people increase their investment in the city, learn more about the issues that nobody is presenting as being 'important', and in essence, become more active stakeholders in how Life in Hamilton is lived.

M Adrian Brassington

Wow. Part Two

2012-01-14T07:40:00.002-05:00

Some of the links from my friend's email are –to me, anyway– just...inspirational. Take a look:

Creative Urban Project

City Builder Camp Communities

I especially loved this paragraph:

In December, we met with the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association, which is facing many development pressures. They told us that their main take-away from City Builder Camp was the focus on “how to get from NIMBY to YIMBY” and that this has affected their approach since September. They also deeply appreciated the opportunity to have such a positive and productive conversation with architects, planners, and developers as they shared their insights with CWNA at City Builder Camp. Thank you to our panel members for making this possible!

And this video about the St. James Town community.

uFORchange

Five Good Ideas
Including this event.

So; can you imagine this degree of engagement in Hamilton? I'm not asking this question out of naïveté, or dismissing what's in place right now. I am aware of many of the efforts underway, the various associations and umbrella organizations. But it sure seems to be that there's a more advanced form of 'proaction' extant with our neighbours around the lake, as opposed to the opinion proffered by someone in Hamilton recently that "The problem as I see is people here have gotten into a mode where they would much rather complain than do something about things that bother them..."

Surely we're better than that.

And we are, as the above commenter continues with an actual suggestion:

"It would be good to skip (this entire crowd) –way too much negative energy there– and approach the neighbourhood organizations and community groups directly to jump start a real solutions driven community engagement, which does not have any political axe to grind, and does not start or end with a premise of teaching politicians/staff a lesson for supposed lapses on their parts."

Can you imagine...?

M Adrian Brassington

Wow. Part One

2012-01-14T07:17:00.000-05:00

I tend to share a fair amount of 'stuff' with family and friends. No, not cute kitten photos or videos of dogs talking. Rather, stuff that I think the person might appreciate, continuations of conversations I've had with them, or articles that I feel might help illuminate something for them.

Yeah. Illumination.

That has enormous value in my life. Moments when things are illuminated. This makes sense; I began this Town Halls Hamilton effort to increase engagement, and illumination is certainly part-and-parcel of that process.

Late last night/early this morning, a dear friend sent me an email. And I'm still going through its links, appreciating the illumination it contains.

	CCE Update January 2012
JOIN OUR BOOK CLUB!	CITYECOLOGY.NET

City Builder Book Club

Starting February 1st

Welcome to the City Builder Book Club! Starting on Wednesday, February 1st, we will be reading The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs. We would love to have you join us! Check out the schedule on our website.
Staff of the Centre for City Ecology and Creative Urban Projectswill blog about the book each week. We will also have guest posts from urbanists, architects, town planners, designers, academics, and city builders of all kinds. On Fridays, members of the mailing list will receive a weekly wrap-up of the posts and discussions about that week's chapters, as well as a selection of related materials highlighted for us by the Toronto Public Library.
In this book, Jane Jacobs demonstrates the value of the experiences of people who live and work in cities. We welcome you to strengthen our discussion of this book by joining the conversation on our blog, on Facebook, and on Twitter. Your experience in your own city is a valuable part of this conversation about what makes a city welcoming and vibrant.
If you don't yet have a copy of The Death and Life of Great American Cities, you can:

We will be reading chapter by chapter rather than page by page, so you will be able to follow along no matter whether you have a crisp new copy of the recently released 50th Anniversary Edition or an older much-loved, creased and highlighted copy!

City Builder Camp

Visiting the Kodak lands in Mount Dennis
As many of you know, on 17 September 2011, 120 people met to hear about existing challenges in St James Town, Mount Dennis, and Yonge & Bloor. Community representatives presented about their neighbourhoods and heard advice and feedback from urban planners, community organizers, architects, and developers who had volunteered their time for the day.

CCE has been meeting with these communities again, to hear how City Builder Camp has affected their work and to see their neighbourhoods in person.

In our recent blog post, Catching up with our City Builder Camp communities, you can read about the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association’s community visions for their neighbourhood, our recent walking tour with Community Matters and U for Change showcasing the great strides being made in St James Town, and the Mount Dennis Community Association tour of the vacant Kodak lands and many natural and constructed barriers in their neighbourhood!

Park People & Jane's Walk hiring!

Park People is seeking an Outreach Coordinator. Learn more on their website.
Jane's Walk is seeking an Event Manager. Learn more on their website.

Visit us online at www.cityecology.net, follow us on twitter at @TOcityecology, or email us atinfo@cityecology.net. We’d love to hear from you.

CCE Promotes

More great events hosted by friends of CCE

Dave Meslin
Five Good Ideas: Campaigning for Social Change

TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 12-2PM
FREE!

Nonprofit organizations facilitate social change through education, outreach, advocacy and mobilizing. How do we engage more people in this process? How do we create effective messages that help shift public opinion and policy? What obstacles lie in our way, and what role does our aging democratic structure play? This session will address these and other questions as Dave Meslin shares his views and ideas about successful campaigning.

LEARN MORE & RSVP »

Overcoming The Green Premium - Building A Model Sustainable Community

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 7:30–9:30AM
$35–$45

Attend CUI’s very first breakfast roundtable of 2012 to hear from Gordon Harris, President and CEO of the SFU Community Trust about the UniverCity project at Simon Fraser University, an award-winning model sustainable community, followed by comments from an expert panel and audience discussion. With opening remarks from Steve Jacques, Manager, Market Analysis and Research, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

LEARN MORE & RSVP »

Toronto Society of Architects
AGM and Official Plan Review

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 6–7PM
FREE!

The City of Toronto Official Plan, which sets out the vision for where and how Toronto will grow to the year 2031, is going through a formal review process — the first since coming into force in 2006. The TSA is hosting a forum to discuss possible changes to the Official Plan and would like to hear your suggestions about what you think is working in the OP and what you think should be improved. Issues such as growth targets and how and where growth is being directed, transportation, the approach to employment lands, heritage, the environment and urban agriculture are just some of the topics that have been raised thus far. Paul Bain, responsible for coordinating the OP Review within the Planning Department, will provide a brief presentation on the state of the City in relation to the Official Plan, after which those in attendance will have an opportunity to raise questions, make suggestions and provide comments.

LEARN MORE & RSVP »

Nancy Smith Lea
Chris Selley
Chris Hardwicke
Yonge Street Speakers Series: Feet and wheels

THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 6PM
FREE!

Toronto's streets can sometimes feel like contested spaces, filled to capacity with cars, buses, streetcars, bicycles and pedestrians. Our headlines are dominated by debates about bike lanes, cyclist and pedestrian fatalities, pedestrian scrambles, street maintenance and the design quality of our streetscapes—not to mention the role of public transportation in getting us to where we need to go. For Yonge Street's third public event, we're looking for solutions to some of our transportation conundrums.

LEARN MORE & RSVP »

Opening Reception
Flavio Trevisan: Museum of the Represented City

THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 6–9PM
FREE!

For Museum of the Represented City, his first solo exhibition at a public gallery, Toronto artist Flavio Trevisan takes an entirely new approach to his creative practice, articulating a conceptual context for his main body of work. Staging an immersive environment, he creates an ephemeral “museum of the present” that reflects on the current state of the city. The resulting installation conveys a fragmented yet revealing cartography of Toronto’s built history, inviting the visitors to explore different ways of engaging with the cityscape.

LEARN MORE & RSVP »

David Miller
David Hulchanski
Richard M. Sommer
Toronto in Question – Whose City? Gentrification, Inequality and the Future of Toronto

TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 6:30–8:30PM
FREE! REGISTRATION REQUIRED.

Whose city is this? Who will be able to afford to live here? Will we have one Toronto or several? What will happen to our quality of life? Given the uncertainty of political support what is the likelihood of proposed strategies for enhanced public transportation, affordable housing, high-rise apartment revitalization and various community-building initiatives coming to fruition?

LEARN MORE & RSVP »

Re-imagining Hamilton: Can we play, please...?

2012-01-13T16:42:00.003-05:00

Uncharacteristically, I'm going to get right to the point: I believe that we as Hamiltonians have not taken ownership of our city.

I believe that, as per tradition, we pay our taxes, vote Council and a Mayor into office...and then see how the cookie crumbles.

'Politics' and 'development' have traditionally been areas of Life that almost all of us have seen peripherally...or when something sucks, with frustration and anger, jumping up and down in front of it...because...because that's just the way it's always been.

But the world has changed. We now have greater access to the most precious resource available –information– than ever before, in myriad ways, at all hours of the day. We are linked far more powerfully than we've ever been, if only via social media. The power at our fingertips and by way of our monitors and screens would make a civic activist from a half-century ago drool.

What used to be cloaked in mystery is gradually being revealed.

What used to be regarded as 'unfathomable', or 'unapproachable'...especially within the context of our public officials being 'the parents' and we citizens being 'the children'...is no longer.

To a staggering extent, if you want to access information pertaining to your city, to your governance, to the essence of the Quality of Life on your street, you can. Not everything, to be sure, but make no mistake about it: we've been empowered.

And yet we haven't taken actual ownership of these new abilities...and we have nobody else to blame but ourselves.

Once again, to the crux: I want Hamiltonians to be like children.

I want them to feel no inhibitions, no hesitation, no pre-emptive judgement-of-outcome so that they can play.

Specifically, to play at imagining what their city could look like.

We don't tend to do this. Except in rare cases. Such as with the John & Rebecca Streets park. (The process I'm inching towards here is not the commiseration involved in working out a secondary plan.) What happens is that as 'employers', we hand over the keys to the company to those we've elected to look after things, our 'employees' the Council and Mayor, and we get out of the way and let things unfold as others decide is appopropriate.

I believe we've not only squandered much along the way, but we've actually abrograted our resposibilities as citizens by accepting that we have no say. And when you fold in the realities of the relationship between developers and some at City Hall, then it's no wonder we have a tradition of 'rendering unto Caesar' and looking after our own yard instead.

I'd like to see a regular tradition unfold in Hamilton. I'm going to refer to it as a 'Charrette Tour'. It would be a non-binding (I'll get to this aspect of the discussion presently) exercise to not only foster more engagement between residents and City Staff, but also residents and developers, residents and each other...and probably most importantly, residents and their imaginations.

Their desires.

Their wishes.

Their dreams.

Currently, even just within the Downtown Secondary Plan boundaries, we have a staggering amount of development space sitting fallow. I'm not talking about situations where buildings need to be knocked down, or ones where some 'redevelopment' could be applied. I'm talking about acres and acres of asphalt.

We are rich with opportunity. Far richer than most cities, I'll bet. And yet by-and-large, we take no initiative to participate within the process. Better put, we place few demands on the process. This happens out of inertia. It happens out of apathy. Out of cynicism, out of nihilism...even out of our 'legacy malaise'.

But nowhere is it written that we aren't allowed to, or that we're unable to, or that we're incapable of participating in our own city's rejuvenation.

We've just generally never been invited. And hand-in-hand with this, we've thought it inappropriate to be involved. (If in fact we were motivated to in the first place.) Or we could gain access to the process. Or...we've just been too busy.

An ongoing 'Charrette Tour' would be an opportunity for people to talk about what they might imagine a location being like. Or a block. Or an entire neighbourhood.

It would provide a chance to showcase some of the vast untapped energy Hamiltonians possess, and for once direct it not into bitching and complaining about what this politician did or what that developer didn't do...but instead, into really taking ownership of the city by imagining what it could be.

The 'B-line Corridor Design Charrettes' (found here and featured on Raise the Hammer here) were wonderful examples of how various groups of people can get together, talk about possibilties, give their imaginations free reign...and play.

I'm not suggesting that everyone would participate. But the conventional paradigms (read that as 'power structure' if you like) do not need to stay in place. The world has changed, and I suspect that this is one area that lags behind. Much to a distinct deleterious effect for us.

I see a three-part process: firstly, a town hall for a particular section of the city. As I said, a street, a block, a neighbourhood. An open discussion about the history of the location in question, about its profile, about various possibilties, a brain-storming session. Secondly, workgroups organize themselves and get down to some active imagining over a set period of time. Finally, another town hall to present the results. In the mix: residents, neighbourhood associations, Councillors, City Staff, architecture and urban planning students, developers, the business community, etc.

You could have regular 'Charrette Festivals', celebrating some of the best ideas and examining to what extent they might become realities. You could identify the best contributors and celebrate them, too.

Some would immediately declare that this is a pointless exercise. That because we're not developers, we have no real power in what gets built here, there or anywhere. That it's actually naïve to believe that the development process could be influenced by so flighty a notion.

I prefer to believe otherwise.

Because I believe that these are the areas where we need to start essentially demanding a say in how our city develops, well past what the 'norm' has been since Hamilton was first being surveyed. Again, beyond consultation on the secondary plan level.

Think of it as a 'creative protest movement'.

Think of it as us 'taking back our city's future'.

Think of it as a variation on 'Occupy Hamilton'.

There are some wonderful aspects to this mindset. Of playing in the name of civic improvement. First off, it's liberating. Any time you can free yourself from the confines of 'How things are', or 'How things must be', that's a good thing. Secondly, it allows people to come together in a real sense of community. And finally, the opportunities to influence how your city will look are myriad. Who knows what developer might take inspiration from all this and actually put into action plans to build what people have taken the time to fashion on paper, or in a model, or on a screen by way of an application? At the very least, it would open up vistas that aren't dominated by the typical navel-gazing and limited thinking that clearly hasn't gotten us anywhere. Or at least anywhere we feel any satisfaction about.

To me, the best thing is that doing it requires no 'permission' from anyone. We can do it because we want to do it. We require no imprimatur from Council or any of its members. We require no nod from this developer or that power-broker.

All that's really required is that we use our collective imagination.

M Adrian Brassington

Regarding Redrawing Ward Boundaries

2012-01-12T15:00:00.000-05:00

The January issue of urbanicity has a piece by Graham Crawford, 'A Tale of Two Cities'. (At the time of this editorial being written, there was no direct link to the article. But here's a start.)

It's about the idea of 'rethinking ward boundaries'. Something that has captured my imagination a little lately...mostly because of how, as a Stoney Creeker previously, and currently a Dundas resident, I'm more aware than many of how amalgamation has skewed things.

I've known Graham a little while. I've always been a fan of his editorials, no matter where they've been featured, at urbanicity, at Raise the Hammer, or at The Spec.

But I while I agree with many of his background sentiments (read the article, it's well worth your time), ultimately Graham and I veer and take entirely different approaches when it comes not only the actual framing of the discussion, but also how to approach any redrawing of the boundaries.

But there's no surprise there: from long, personal talks with him, I know that his passion is the management of the city (specifically its current negative attributes), the political. Graham has a strong background in things-management, things-corporate, things-organizational, so it's certainly no surprise to me that his sentiments are thusly weighted.

But we're certainly not aligned in this regard.

At all.

Even the lead-in phrase 'Could rethinking ward boundaries help Councillors see Hamilton differently?' sets off alarms for me. How he stresses the framing of the discussion is entirely different from the way I would. Mostly because-

Well, as I say, Graham's favoured bias is the political. Mine's not. Mine's on the other part of 'The Great Governance Formula', the residents. The citizenry. The neighbourhoods. So the focus for me can't be Council. Because ward boundaries are about the people in the wards, not about the people representing said wards. The emaphasis to me should be about rectifying the out-of-balance representation that's currently going on in The Newfangled Amalgamated City of Hamilton. While also bringing into play to a much greater extent the astounding goldmine of resources that our residents represent...and that lay effectively untapped.

Graham suggests that all wards should run north-south and include pieces of the lower and upper city, including farmland. Honestly? If Councillors need to be artificially forced to play nice, to see every part of the city with the same degree of regard, then I think we're more fuckled than we want to admit.

Wards are accumulations of neighbourhoods. Of communities. Not wanting to get all sociological or wander recklessly down Margaret Mead Lane, this is all about identity. 'Kith and kin'. Pride of place. And while all boundary-lines are compromises, the fact remains that at the core, we're still talking about essential commonalities grouped together.

These commonalities are vital.

They're what help provide strong voices, they're what engender responsibility, ingenuity, competition, help foster the best manifestations of 'belonging'. And in a skewed, Internet-infused, pseudo-connection world, they should not only be acknowledged, but embraced.

Though I understand Graham's logic in his well-meaning proposal, it's woefully misguided. In a city where 'identity' is on the 'Must Address' list, I can't believe that removing (or at the very least, diluting) what's extant could end up be anything other than- Well, something akin to the Pan Am Games Stadium Site Selection Process, or the Gore Park Fiasco of last century, or countless other missteps.

In his piece, Graham muses about the benefits of 'giving Councillors challenging new ward boundaries' towards the accepted organizational philosophy of helping managers and executives develop new perspectives and skill sets by moving them around all the time.

And while I certainly can't take issue with the general idea as it applies to companies, a city is a different animal entirely.

And in Hamilton's case, we haven't maxxed-out our paradigm in its current state. (Not that there isn't a need to reassess and realign boundaries; more on that, presently.) So to me, the analogy Graham uses falls down almost immediately: the natural assumption within a company is that it has employees who are working capably, contributing to the cause at high levels. Hamilton's version of the 'employees', namely the residents and their neighbourhoods, aren't working anywhere near their capacity.

In fact, I believe I've gone on record to state that I don't think that Hamilton is currently utilizing more than about 30% of its potential when it comes to citizen engagement, involvement and participation. We simply can't be when our voter turnout rate sits barely over 40%.

Graham and I have both been involved at a professional level (albeit in areas that while cross-overs can be identified, were certifiably different) in getting the most out of employees. And I'd be loath to inject such a huge variable into the mix management-wise when the 'employees' haven't even been utilized to anything approaching their full potential. In fact, that strikes me as pure folly.

Such a dramatic change as what Graham's suggested in his piece could only be considered when we've gotten to an entirely different place...and frankly, once we were there, what he's suggesting would be rendered moot.

How would we know we'd arrived there?

-Our voter turnout rate is about double what it is now. I'd settle -initially, anyway- for 75%.

-Every neighbourhood in Hamilton has an association. Currently some wards don't even have NAs. (Neighbourhood Associations.)

-We have a 'congress' of NAs in Hamilton, sharing information, pooling resources. (This end goal was bookmarked by this site.

-There are regular town halls across the city, ward-centric, neighbourhood-focused and issue-specific.

-There are salons and seminars providing opportunities for residents to get involved, become more aware, contribute to the ongoing process of not only resurrecting and reviatlizing Hamilton, but re-imagining it, too.

-We have attained a far higher penetration towards a bonafide 'open data city'.

All of the above would indicate that people are invested in their own governance, that the innate cynicism has been sloughed off, and that we're no longer burdened by our 'legacy malaise', but are engaged in our own reinvention.

What should be done regarding boundary line redrawing?

Well, the 2010 Census results will be made public next month. But until then, here are the facts and figures from 2006:

Now, my understanding is that there is a provincial mandate that the ratio between ward population be limited to at most a 2:1 ratio.

Take a look at Wards 7 and 14. That's almost a 4:1 ratio.

And really; does the 2:1 ratio really seem 'fair' to you when we're talking about 'equal representation'? Because to me, we absolutely, positively do not have 'equal representation' in Hamilton.

We should.

And we could.

Never mind that there are some common sense geographical changes that need to be made, some inequities that deserve proper attention at being reconciled. (More on the specifics in a future editorial.)

It would all take some effort. It would take some initiative, it would take no small amount of marshalled insight and collaboration and dialogue. But what an opportunity to 'reboot'. What a great way to relaunch ourselves.

However, it's important to state that when it comes to moving towards changes, nothing should be pushed forward unless it's initiated and mandated by the residents. (A reminder: all such rejigging of boundaries is something Queen's Park looks after...once they've been convinced that it's necessary and beneficial.)

So getting back to the lead-in phrase for Graham's article. Were I proposing ward bouncary changes, it would have read:

'Could rethinking ward boundaries help residents feel more confidence in their local governance?'

Because change must start with us.

Littering: Why? (How to address it...and what it has to do with 'community building'.) Part Three

2012-01-12T07:00:00.000-05:00

As I've admitted, I tend to see things differently than most. (For the record, not just regarding civic engagement or community issues. I recently expended a fair amount of energy trying to explain my perspective on Love to a friend...and I still don't think she 'gets' my beliefs.) Part of this can be attributed to the fact that I'm a writer. A storyteller. And therefore situations often appear differently for me, if only because I see the different threads of the tale, the contributing factors and how they hang together.

And I also fervently believe in the human spirit, the desire to 'do good'...as well as happy endings. Suitably, all of these are vital elements of making for a better Hamilton.

As part of the conversations I've had lately about littering and how to address it, I've been reminded of the cinematic tradition of 'transformation'. It's one of the oldest and consistent themes. In fact, it's present in almost all tales to one extent or another. So when I look at 'making things better' in a community, bringing about a different sort of engagement, I can't help but think in terms of how people are transformed, what makes them change, what makes them want to become something other than what they are, what they have been.

So two concepts came to mind. The first is from the 'If I Won The Lottery' jar. The second is of the 'A Stranger Comes to Town' ilk.

In the first one, someone pays for a special project in a neighbourhood in Hamilton. One that's lost its lustre. This person arranges for 'special treatment' for the place. They would fund, for six months, all the 'extras'. So all the streets' lines are painted. All cross-walks, too. All the street signs are replaced. New neighbourhood signs put up, showcasing the area. City maintenance crews cleaning up more regularly. They'd be nit-picking in their attention. They arrange for a co-op/make-work programme for fixups; a $500/house max, tying in the permit department at City Hall, various tradespeople, suppliers, etc. Landscaping and general 'beautification' efforts are set in motion; ground cover and flowers and hanging baskets. And maybe some street parties. Culminating in a neighbourhood festival.

The second one is a little less 'showy'; a stranger moves into a neighbourhood and makes a point of 'improving' their building. Really shining the place up. But they quickly run afoul of the bylaw officers and the situation grows out of all proportion and he ends up in jail. They're bailed out by the very neighbours who hadn't trusted them...after which the residents begin doing stuff, and the tone spreads and spreads and spreads...

Naturally, the results are the same: an increased pride-of-place, of self-esteem, of community connection.

Not surprisingly, more voters head out to the polls at election time.

And there's no litter.

: )

This isn't 'rocket science' stuff. It's a question of finding what's required to turn around someone's perception of themselves, of their community, of where they sit within the bigger picture.

It's about inspiration.

It's about motivation.

It's about empowerment.

It's about pride, respect, esteem, all the things that when in play, effectively make null and void so many negatives becoming predominant parts of lives.

In each community, the 'formula' is different. The makeup of the people is different, as are their needs, their challenges, so the solutions are different, too.

But I'm pretty convinced that regardless of the formula, residents must be the ones stirring the pot. We shouldn't need a government agency or a politician nudging us towards a better mindset. They're great if they appear and if they work...but in the end, these are our streets, they're our neighbourhoods, this is our city.

M Adrian Brassington

Littering: Why? (How to address it...and what it has to do with 'community building'.) Part Two

2012-01-12T06:51:00.001-05:00

To me, the key to eliminating this behaviour isn't having more bylaw enforcement. It's not more signage, more bus-media advertising. And as much as I applaud efforts such as 'Garbage Crawls', I don't believe that such efforts are the best way to approach the problem, no matter what degree of awareness and engagement they produce. (I'm rather reminded of the husband who's compelled to be loving and intimate with his wife every Valentine's Day or anniversary or birthday, being thoughtful and kind and making offerings and taking her out to dinner; is this really the best way to get him to see things differently, to steer him south-southwest three and a half degrees towards a more desirable intimacy default setting...?)

As with increased voter turnout, I don't view eradicating littering as a solitary end goal. Rather, if the notion of 'community engagement' is propagated in the correct way, then littering eventually disappears. But what you've actually accomplished in getting people more aware, more involved and more invested in their streets, their neighbourhoods, their communities goes well beyond keeping the place neat and tidy.

The great challenge here is that I'm not talking about a 'small victories' approach. (Again, however, I'm not dismissing community efforts to regularly clean up streets and parks, retail environments as well as open spaces.) I'm talking about something that ties into general behaviour, into motivations, into how people see the world...and their place in it.

I'm talking about lifestyle choices, I'm talking about value systems...about pride, about respect...about the very tenets of 'a life well-lived'.

No matter where I've lived since returning to Canada, I've picked up litter on a daily basis. In each situation, what was tossed to the ground has varied. So in each location, different culprits are at play. The most saddening situations are those where it's clearly children who are mindlessly littering. Others are easily identified as teenagers on the one hand, and adults on the other. I used to walk Battlefield Park, and would find detritus on the trails...even on the Bruce. I'll admit that I would often stand over an object and stare in disbelief, muttering 'You can't be serious...'

I've walked downtown streets in the past few months and made a point of being very 'aware' of litter. Making a point of 'seeing' it. Which actually requires some effort; we become inured to it, after a while 'tune it out', and otherwise ignore its effects. (And yet we can't. Subconsciously, its presence does impact us, poisoning our regard for where we are, little-by-little, instance-by-instance, until there's this 'malaise' going on, a negative program running in the background...) And there are times when I go through a process akin to Kübler-Ross's 'Five Stages of Grief': acknowledgement, disbelief, frustration, anger, resignation. And within that process, there's some kind of reconciliation with its existence, and in a confined mental space I enclose the circumstances and reasons for it being there.

'Surely the residents care,' I'll want to think. But then I have to remind myself of certain truths: that if as a visitor you're oblivious to your surroundings, surely if you're a resident, it's much worse. Over time you stop noticing and stop caring.

And of course, it's an endless cycle. You stop caring, the inner anger rises, you express your frustration by not caring (littering), you care less, you litter more...

Adding to this is the realiy that nobody wants to clean up after someone else. So few pedestrians make the effort to pick up the errant piece of litter. They effectively refuse to.

Somewhere along the line, the notion that 'We're all in this together' has been flushed.

To be continued...

Littering: Why? (How to address it...and what it has to do with 'community building'.) Part One

2012-01-12T06:11:00.001-05:00

Photo property of Tanya Day Ritchie,

Ward 3 Residents' Association, facebook

How do you feel when walking down sidewalks that are littered, through open spaces that have debris scattered, along streetscapes that seem little more than receptacles for castaway this and that?

How does it make you feel about the place?

What images does the experience bring to mind? What kinds of thoughts are connected by way of all the... All the crap?

Most people, if they take notice of it at all, probably shiver in disgust, sniff their judgement, register a negative vote.

Now, as to the converse: cleanliness, uncluttered, spotless...?

Chances are, not much registers at all. Save for a sense of rightness.

Just as surely as we define our environments, we're defined by them.

Lately, I've had conversations on different fronts, written emails and private blog entries focusing on how our streets look, how our neighbourhoods look, littering, the dumping of 'junk' en masse...what can be inferred from all this regarding respect, pride-of-place, community participation...as well as how our general societal construct has both informed and been informed by all of the above.

I've come to believe that I take a slightly different tack from some.

Because I don't see treating the symptom as being the best approach. Not even the wisest one. That the prevalence of littering is determined so strongly by our sense of community, and because I see 'community building' as being part of a much bigger, much broader, much more complicated effort, so is addressing littering.

Last autumn, I wrote a three-part editorial here regarding voter turnout. I took the stance that we shouldn't be asking 'Why don't people vote?', but rather 'Why do people vote?' And I think that as part of addressing litter, rubbish and trash, we need to take a similar approach. Because to me, the goal isn't to 'stop people littering', it's discovering and examining why so many people wouldn't in a kajillion years behave this way. But first, it still might help to examine why we have the 3-D version of graffiti.

People litter because they don't care. And it's become their habit to not care. They don't care to 'own' their litter and dispose of it properly. They don't care to carry it to the nearest bin. They litter because of anger and frustration at their lot, at their lives, and it's their way of (albeit, unconsciously) giving the finger to the world that's clearly so against them. They litter because they're not connected to their street, their neighbourhood, their community, their city. These seemingly have no meaning, no value in their lives...or at least insufficient amounts of meaning or value to get them to act differently. They litter because of a sense of entitlement, entitlement to do whateverthefucktheywant...even if it's in so small-minded and mealy-mouthed a way. They litter because it's an expression of power and control in lives where they feel powerless and not in control. It is, at its roots, a lazy approach to walking through the world as are bigotry and a general lack of humanity. It's about as evolved as pulling the wings off flies, setting ants on fire or shoving firecrackers into frogs. Yeah, it's societally juvenile...and it's delinquent of just about everything we believe in as Canadians.

So I guess that, going back to my paradigm about 'Why do people vote?', the question 'Why don't people litter?'

Now, beyond the obvious 'They know in their hearts that it's wrong', it's safe to say that they're possessed of more respect for the world they walk through, they're not needing to 'lash out' at Life by horking a big loogie, handtrash-wise, they care about where are and the impact they have...and they have better manners, because they know that to litter is rude.

To be continued...

As the old year fizzles out...

2012-01-01T07:48:00.001-05:00

...and the new one arrives quietly, its the time for reflection and forecast.

I can't stand 'Top Ten' lists or anything of the sort, and crystal ball junk-casting just seems so...so indulgent.

So instead, some yammering-on inspired by this book:

Now, despite the cover photo of George Washington, it's not about America. It's actually about all of us. It's got a global focus, because the merde we're about to be inundated by is global merde. Of our own creation...even if most of the book points to the contributing factors of the 2008 financial meltdown and the subsequent –and current– unfolding of the next phase in this process. I say 'most' because at the end, Mr. Lewis deals with a couple of situations that while focusing on California, are actually quite emblematic of stuff unfolding right here in our own universe, The New, Amalgamated, City of Greater Hamilton. Additionally, a theory is presented as to what the background reason is that we've gotten to where we are right now.

I'm fascinated by why governance in general, and local governance specifically, is mired in what it's currently mired in. Which is, to me, a sustained level of cynicism, of distrust, of lack of faith, in disinterest, in obliviousness, in apathy, in anger, in frustration...and most pointedly, in a dearth of vision, of muscular imaginings, of vitalizing, restorative, rejuvenating energy.

(Two provisos/sidebars: The first is the acknowlegement that, as explained in this post, great local governance has two main factors contributing to it, so I'm not just referring to our local politicians when I reference the notion. The second has to do with 'apathy'; once again I'm going to post the Dave Meslin TED talk that deals with it:

OK.

With those out of the way, I'll return to this riff on how the financial-meets-societal-meets-governance-meets-engagement.

In the book, Mr. Lewis relates a long conversation he has with former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger, as well as the situations in San Jose and Vallejo, two cities in the state.

They're all inextricably connected...and not just because of their geographic location. And they have lessons to teach us all, even if the particulars might seem to limit the extent to which they can be applied universally. (They don't.)

In Governor Scharzenegger's case, it's explained how (and I'm doing a great disservice here to the full explanation) that great, rational intent met entitlement-based, partisan-fueled resistance. Summed up in my own personal observation that 'People want what they want.' Talk all you will about Greece and the rest of the crumbling European house-of-financial-cards, but California is on the brink...and all those Neros are fiddling away.

In San Jose, at the time of the book's writing, almost half of the city's budget was going to retired workers' pensions and benefits, about $245 million. In three years, it's estimated that this could rise to about $650 million. Because the city is legally obligated to honour these payments, other areas of governance must be trimmed. Which is why the library branches are closed three days a week. And a brand-new, fully completed community center can't be opened. Which is why the term 'service-level insolvency' has been coined by San Jose's mayor.

"I think we've suffered from a series of mass delusions," he's said. "That we're all going to be rich. That we're all going to get what we want. That we're going to live forever. And all the forces are lined up to preserve the status quo. To preseve the mass delusion. And here...in local governance...is where the reality hits."

And in the case of Vallejo...

sigh

In August of 2011, after applying for the status three years earlier, the city was declared bankrupt. Why?

Mostly because of its obligations to city staff. Pension and benefit obligations, at the core. Nothing new here, we've been reading about such situations the world over. But in Vallejo's case, the tipping-point was reached, and the worst possible outcome occurred. They are now living a bare-bones existence.

You'd think some kind of disaster had struck.

As for that 'background reason'...

Dr. Peter Whybrow is a neuroscientist at UCLA. He has a theory about the dysfunction prevalent in modern life. (His focus is on 'American life', but I believe what he says certainly holds for Canada and most probably the entire western world.) He believes that it's a by-product of modern success.

He argues, in the main, that human beings are neurologically ill-suited to be in the situation we're in, to be living the lives that we live. That we evolved time in an environment of scarcity. That the human brain wasn't designed to funtion in an environment of extreme abundance.

He continues, proposing that brain-wise, we've each got the core of the average lizard. And around this, is a mammalian layer, associated with maternal concern and social interaction. Around this is wrapped a third layer enabling feats of memory and the capacity for abstract thought. But our passions are still driven by the 'lizard' core. We're set up to acquire as much as we can of the things we perceive as being scarce...such as sex, safety and food.

As the richest civilization the world has ever known, we've grown richer by devising better and better ways to give us what we want. But the effect on the brain of lots of instant gratification is minimizing the non-lizard parts of the brain. Creating physiological dysfunction. So we've lost the ability to self-regulate at all levels of society. Meaning?

Meaning, as Mr. Lewis points out, that if you were to overlay the colour-coded map that illustrates the pandemic rise of obesity rates across the US since 1985 with one of personal indebtedness, they're pretty much line up. Ditto for the spread of legalized gambling, the boom in trading activity in personal stock portfolios, the rise of drug and alcohol addiction. (These truths are inarguably not peculiar to our neighbours to the south.)

And what happens when a society loses its ability to self-regulate and insists on sacrificing its long-term self-interest for short-term rewards?

Well, one possibility is for us to 'get eaten by the fox'. (Sorry; you'll have to read the book for an expansion on this.)

The other is for us to 'hit bottom'. To realize what's happened to us, if only because we have no other choice. "If we refuse to regulate ourselves," Whybrow says, "the only regulators are our environment. And the way it deprives us." So for meaningful change to occur, we need the environment to administer the necessary level of pain.

This town halls effort of mine was born out of the hope that community can be the basis of changing things. By 'community', I'm referring not so much to the idea of an association. I'm thinking more along the lines that we used to think: according to kin, clan, of home, of street, of neighbourhood, of a heartfelt sense of belonging that sprung from 'where we're from'...of community. Before we became materialistic, acquisitional lizards. (Relax; I was going to say 'bastards'.)

Pride of place.

Respect of connection.

Awareness, support...making use of those notions of 'maternal concern and social interaction' as well as 'the capacity for abstract thought'.

In 2012, some pressing concerns will be elevated to a status approaching that of 'Warning, warning! Danger, Hamilton, danger!'. In other instances, authentically innovative thinking will be required, thinking that goes beyond 'last-gasp grasps' prevalent in desperate or even merely frustrating times. Even beyond these, empathy as it connects to 'the big picture' will be sorely needed in order for us to retain the notion of a 'humane society'.

Some of what's required may come from City Staff. Some may come from Council and the Mayor.

My wish for 2012 is that the heretofore untapped potential of the residents of Hamilton has a chance to contribute its share to all of the above.

'Be the change you wish to see in the world.'

M Adrian Brassington

Universal Truths About the Citizen's Role in Great Governance: The Importance of Reason

2011-12-11T14:52:00.001-05:00

I didn't go into reading this book expecting to get out of it what I did. And there's more to it than just valuable stuff about civic engagement. (For the record, it's a badly-edited effort lacking in focus...and too often an unseemly and overwrought polemic against President George W. Bush.)

But as I was reading it, I came across some powerful bits, and I want to share them with you, because what Town Halls Hamilton is all about is very much what this stuff is all about.

So herein are some choice excerpts...with some comments from me, as suitable.

(Fair warning: In most instances, I've paraphrased Mr. Gore's words. As little as possible, retaining the intent and the flavour of the material, but mostly excising American references. The propositions' value certainly take up a space well above and beyond the borders of the US, so I've taken the liberty to revise as necessary.)

"...when the people are not informed, they cannot hold government accountable when it's incompetent, corrupt, or both."

And when cynicism and resignation are at play, then people tend not to be 'informed'.

"The intricate clockwork mechanism of great governance has always depended on a 'ghost in the machine'. The ghost animating the machinery is not holy; it is us, all of us, the proverbial 'well-informed citizenry'. We may be endowed with individual rights by our Creator, but we act to protect those rights and govern ourselves with the instruments of reason."

I'm not so sure that the notion of a 'well-informed citizenry' is apparent to most in Hamilton. Therefore, there's probably insufficient animation going on.

"The derivation of just power from the consent of the governed depends on the integrity of the reasoning process through which that consent is given. If the reasoning process is corrupted, then the consent of the governed is based on false premises, and any power thus derived is inherently counterfeit and unjust. If the consent of the governed is extorted through the manipulation of mass fears, or embezzled with claims of divine guidance, democracy is impoverished. If the suspension of reason causes a significant portion of the citizenry to lose confidence in the integrity of the process, democracy can be bankrupted. If citizens no longer participate, those among them who notice signs of corruption or illogic have no way to voice their concerns and summon the attention of others who, upon examining the same evidence, might share the same dismay. No critical mass of opposition can form among individuals who are isolate from one another, looking through one-way mirrors and soundproof rooms, shouting if they wish, but still unheard. If enough citizens cease to participate in its process, democracy dies."

Given that we have only 40% of eligible voters casting ballots, and almost two-thirds of these voting by way of 'name recognition', I'm not so sure we've got a very high level of 'integrity of the reasoning process' going on. Do you...?

"As long as individual citizens are not able to use logic and reason as the instruments with which they can dissect and meticulously examine ideas, opinions, policies and laws, corrupt forces will shape those policies and laws instead. It is the public's lack of participation that empowers its abusers. It is the public's enforced lack of participation that prevents people from joining with others in a collective effort to once again wield reason to mediate between wealth and power."

"When the public merely watches and listens and does not have a speaking part, the entire exercise is fraudulent."

"Most feel that government is unresponsive and that no one in positions of power listens to or cares what they think. They feel disconnected from democracy. They feel that one vote makes no difference, and that they, as individuals, now have no practical means of participating in self-governance."

'Nuff said.

"I believe that the viability of democracy depends upon the openness, reliability, appropriateness, responsiveness and two-way nature of the communication environment. After all, democracy depends upon the regular sending and receiving of signals. Not only between the people and those who aspire to be their elected representatives, but also among the people themselves. It is the connection of each individual to the conversation that is the key. I believe that the citizens of any democracy learn, over time, to adopt a basic posture towards the possibilities of self-government.

If democracy seems to work, and if people receive a consistent, reliable and meaningful response from others when they communicate their opinions and feelings about shared experiences, they begin to assume that self-expression in democracy matters. When they can communicate with others regularly, in ways that produce meaningful changes, they learn that democracy matters.

If they receive responses that seem to be substantive but actually are not, citizens begin to feel as if they're being manipulated. If the message they receive from the media feed this growing cynicism, the decline of democracy can be accelerated.

Moreover, if citizens express their opinions and feelings over an extended period of time without evoking a meaningful response, then they naturally begin to feel angry. If the flow of communication provides little opportunity for citizens to express themselves meaningfully, they naturally begin to reel frustration and powerlessness."

In the book, Mr. Gore finds a way to connect (and explain) the above with developmental psychology's 'attachment theory'. Basically, people respond in kind. They respond in ways that can be linked to how they've been treated. If they're encouraged to participate, if they're responded to in the same spirit by which they engage, then a functional democracy can result. If not...then you get cynicism, apathy and low turnout rates.

It's a dance, people...

"The remedy for what ails democracy is not simply better education (as important as that is), or civic education (as important as that can be), but the re-establishment of a genuine democratic discourse in which individuals can participate in a meaningful way, in a conversation of democracy in which meritorious ideas and opinions from individuals do, in fact, evoke a meaningful response."

A 'conversation of democracy'. I like it.

Or as they say over at the Hamilton Civic League,

'Transforming democracy inaction to democracy in action.'

Nice.

M Adrian Brassington

Something for us all to think about.

2011-12-02T11:17:00.001-05:00

Followup to Councillor Farr's Evening, Part Two

2011-11-29T16:53:00.001-05:00

While I don't yet have the long-promised answers to all the questions that weren't gotten to at 'An Evening With Ward 2 Councillor Jason Farr', the councillor has posted links to the 'rough notes' for his responses that night:

General, Ward-Wide Questions

Traffic, Police, Ward, and Neighbourhood Development Questions

The Spec Letter #2

2011-11-29T07:08:00.001-05:00

CHML's Scott Thompson has an op-ed piece in today's Spec. Entitled 'Does Canada need to be Occupied?', it raises some interesting questions.

Here's what I sent off to Mr. Thompson:

Scott;

Great editorial.

Putting aside the entire discussion of 'At what point does the Occupy movement reach critical mass and become inarguably effective?', I'll instead address the notion of getting more people to the polls.

This is one of the main thrusts of one of our community engagement partners, the Hamilton Civic League. As well, Town Halls Hamilton is actively involved in efforts to generate more awareness, more involvement, more participation on the parts of neighbourhood associations...which to my mind, is the Great Untapped Resource Towards the Betterment of Hamilton.

So in a nutshell, the endeavours we're talking about here are the non-protest cousins of what the Occupy movement has been broadcasting to citizens everywhere.

Through our events, which will be of both ward-specific and issue-centric natures, THH is hoping to raise the general level of engagement. (If we're successful, I can guarantee you that the 2014 municipal election will be an entirely different beast than what we've previously seen.) The end result should be greater voter turnout. But more importantly, the ballots cast should be less a result of 'name recognition' than cogent consideration. Because more voters voting isn't a worthy goal. More voters voting with informed, qualified opinions is.

Looking forward to further discussion, I remain

Yours truly,

Adrian/

Once again, it's heartening to see that more substantive issues are being tabled on all fronts.

The Spec Letter #1

2011-11-29T06:55:00.001-05:00

The main editorial in today's Spec by Robert Howard, 'Is Hamilton a hard place to do business?' prompted me to write a letter to him:

Mr. Howard;

I read with great interest your editorial.

Mostly because my list of 'issue-centric' town halls for 2012 contains 'Is Hamilton Really Open for Business?'

My notes include having a panel (consisting of the business community, City Hall staff, a councillor or two), some video commentary from those who have had negative experiences similar to those you've articulated, as well as a riff on what will be a regular format througout our efforts, 'Speakers' Corner, Squared', which is less an opportunity to ask questions of councillors and the like and more a chance to voice an opinion.

Naturally, this is one of the evenings I'd tagged at being best hosted at The Spec auditorium.

As I've long blogged that Hamilton seems to have an entrenched 'culture of obstructionism', it's definitely, positively time that we had better opportunities for dialogue, discourse and debate. That's why Town Halls Hamilton is endeavouring to do what it's doing.

Regards,

Adrian/

As Town Halls Hamilton's ultimate goal is to effect positive, restorative change in the city, it's heartening to see signs that expanded dialogue is desired on many fronts.

Followup to Councillor Farr's Evening, Part One

2011-11-22T06:25:00.001-05:00

In ancipation of the answers forthcoming from Ward 2 Councillor Jason Farr, here is the list of questions compiled from the six neighbourhood associations.

General, Ward-wide

1) Hamilton's major east-west one-way streets seem nothing less than inner-city highways. The message they convey is clear: downtown Hamilton residents and businesses don't matter. When is this insulting and destructive arrangement going to be fixed?

2) Why aren’t cyclists licensed, insured and regulated (in respect to the rules of the road)?

3) Given that crime is an important Hamilton issue, could you comment as to more effort being placed against the roots of crime, chief among these, poverty?

4) Given the costs associated with the onerous requirements placed on building owners by the City, necessitating specialized workmanship, are there Heritage Tax Relief or further grants in the offing?

5) Is it my imagination, or are downtown house and condo property taxes too high?

6) As you seem not to regularly issue notices of meetings, crime, closures, when will you start?

7) Could we possibly have a town hall, meeting or workshop with a guest speaker focusing on tax reform, or how to best utilize the system?

8) Is there any chance of an ‘Executive Committee’ or ‘Board of Control’ returning to City Hall?

9) How would you use tax policy and bylaws to force the removal of derelict buildings? (For example, the building across from the LCBO on Dundurn?)

10) Please comment on panhandlers. Especially as seen in Hess Village.

11) How do we balance the goal of higher-end commercial businesses with not wanting our streets to turn into thoroughfares? And is this where LRT enters into the equation?

12) With the amount of rubbish that’s being dumped in alleyways, is there a program that could be instituted regarding how people can more conveniently dispose of such items? Can we hope for more encompassing pickups by the City?

13) Do you have any comment regarding the notion of the sustainable greening of the city?

14) Is there anything to be done about the discrepancy of property taxes paid by apartment-dwellers versus homeowners?

15) Do you agree that police budget secrecy is unreasonable? And if so, should any future requests for funds be refused until books are opened somewhat?

16) Why is the City Hall sign blocking the CF Hall of Fame sign?

17) Why are we still adding flouride to our water?

18) Wouldn’t Ward 2 benefit enormously from 24-hour transit?

19) Would you advocate for changes in HSR rates for families and fixed-income residents?

20) As creative-sector employment has grown by 42% in the past year, does the City have a firm strategy...not one-off projects...to support this sector?

Beasley Neighbourhood Association:

1) How can the community work with you to look at ways to calm Cannon St. and make it safer for pedestrians, especially children?

2) How can we work toward installing traffic lights/stop signs/push button crossings at the following problem intersections: Robert and John, Mary and Wilson, Mary and Cannon?

3) Garbage has been dumped in Beasley park and in the alleyways for the past few months. This garbage has been full of needles provided by Public Health and strewn all over the park, in front of the school. Can you please outline the strategies you have been working on to address the issue and how the BNA can help? And can we schedule another Town Hall with Beasley residents, Public Health and the Police to raise awareness and work toward solving this issue?

4) What can we do to improve the terrible state and security of the alleyways in Beasley?

Central Neighbourhood Association:

1) Since Hamilton City Hall has shown skill and commitment with respect to wrecking buildings and creating parking lots, are there any plans for the overdue demolition or re-purposing of Jackson Square?

2) The improving economic health of James St North corridor is encouraging. A Go Transit terminal on James N is a probability. However, this will inevitably lead to interest by developers in adjacent areas. Does the city plan to preserve and protect the character of these neighbourhoods? If so, how? If not, will developers be given free reign to tear down century houses and build high-rise residential buildings?

3) In light of the plywood-covered storefronts on James Street North, does the City have by-laws addressing land use and appearance of downtown commercial buildings?

4) There are seven halfway homes in Ward 2. As this adds to the perception that the downtown core should be avoided, that people generally do not feel safe downtown, what is your plan to bring businesses and people back?

5) The quality of Christmas in Gore Park has been steadily declining over the years and because of that, it has been attracting fewer and fewer families. Can you please tell us what you've done in regards to the 2011 Gore Park Christmas event to make it an enjoyable experience like it once was.

Corktown Neighbourhood Association:

1) Is there any progress being made for the installation of a pedestrian crossing at the intersection of Augusta and John?

2) What is happening with the Linwood/Charlton residence application?

3) Does the city have a plan to help alleviate the southbound traffic jams during rush hour on John St. south?

4) Is there anything the city can do about the derelict abandoned building on the corner of Augusta and Walnut Streets?

5) 253 Charlton Avenue East. (From Wayne.)

Durand Neighbourhood Association:

1) a-What’s the status of St. Mark’s Church? b-What can be done to preserve it? c-Is it possible to maintain the historical facade while community use is being housed?

2) What can be done to make the intersection of Caroline and Herkimer safer and more user-friendly for all?

3) Is there merit to there being a James Street South BIA?

4) Is Durand destined to be the home of more lodging homes?

5) Moreover, what is being done to improve the quality of life of those residing in domicilliary hostels in Durand?

6) Regarding the Board of Education building: a-Can its demolition be stopped, and b-What are you doing to keep the 400 jobs downtown?

7) With 165 Queen South firmly in mind, is better enforcement of ‘No garbage at curbside before 7pm the evening prior to pick-up’ possible?

8) Do you have any thoughts or visions about improving walkability and general pedestrian comfort on James Street South?

9) Can we get a 30Km/h school zone at Bay and Hunter, around Central Public School?

North End Neighbours:

1) How can NAs better communicate with the City and receive information proactively?

2) Is there any way we can adaptively re-use the buildings on the Barton-Tiffany lands, especially the Rheem building? Ideas floated included re-using it as a food-depot for farmers...

3) Can we please see a dog-park in the neighbourhood?

4) Why are the traffic signals on Bay Street North being re-timed currently?

5) Is the City wanting to change the Parks classification for Eastwood Park?

Stinson Community Association:

1) The walk home through the underpasses from Queen Victoria School is a little concerning for children's safety and general comfort. What is being done to address these areas?

2) Residents and non-residents receive their methadone at Rexall Pharmacy versus an actual methadone clinic. These are the most vulnerable of methadone patients who are yet to earn their carryouts to take home. They should be in a supportive environment not experiencing health related issues with absolutely no concern for their privacy or the concerns of parents who now be explaining inappropriate overheard conversations to a small child. What can you, as our city Councillor do to ensure their needs are respected while also making the safety of the community a priority?

3) It seems as if the city has completely overlooked our area for the gold box recycling program. Some Stinson homes have been on the list for as long as several years now and religiously recycle every week without fail, yet friends and family from all over the city have received gold boxes without even signing up for the program or barely recycle. Recently a resident participated in a parenting conference held at Cathedral High School. There was a rep from the city's waste management department. When asked her about this area and the gold box program she responded with "That area has a lot of renters, right?" and that summed it up for her. The resident was confused; do renters not recycle? Are there no home owners living in this area that recycle? Can you comment and investigate?

4) Can we get more lighting for Bishop Park?

5) There a many beautiful homes in the Stinson Neighbourhood, and many that could be once again beautiful, however it is a costly endeavour. Are there any City Grant programs that would help in the ‘renovation’ of the community?

6) Graffiti is an ongoing concern in our community, but the removal is hit and miss. Some areas cleaned immediately, others untouched for months. What is the procedure and how does it apply to public vs private property?

7) As Ward 2 Councillor, and hopefully knowing something about our community, what is the one thing you would like the residents of the Stinson area to remember you for that benefited our neighbourhood?

Meanwhile, over at the F.U.N...

2011-11-16T08:23:00.001-05:00

Earlier this autumn, I made contact with one of the most extraordinary people I've had the pleasure of meeting since taking this 'town halls' notion out of my head and pushing it out into the real world.

Her name is Janice Brown, and she looks after Communications at the Federation of Urban Neighbourhoods. But she's also on the Durand Neighbourhood Association's Board of Directors.

From the start of our correspondence, through our coffee face-to-face, the lead-up to our inaugural town hall and post-event, Janice was helpful and encouraging. I'm so glad synchronicity was at play throughout. And I'm glad there are Janice Browns out there helping to steward the needs of our community and neighbourhood associations.

Here's a guest article I contributed to their newsletter. (A special shout-out to my brother, who gave some editorial input when I was faffing about.)

With a View to a New Sense of Duty
During the last century’s two World Wars, it was common to be encouraged to ‘do your patriotic duty, your country needs you’. Well, it’s my belief that we need to be considering something similar: ‘do your civic duty, your community needs you’.

Town Halls Hamilton is an initiative meant to help facilitate this, providing a forum for civic duty, helping to promote doing what we all can do to ensure that the Quality of Life where we live most resembles what we most crave, Town Halls Hamilton is attempting to change the landscape on the citizenry side of local governance. We’re looking to establish new traditions, to change mindsets, to provide some gentle nudges to get people to see their roles in the process a little differently. To redefine ‘civic duty’.

Hopefully in the end, in reshaping the topography, they’ll go through a similar transformation. We want residents of Hamilton to find it a more natural thing to participate and be more involved in and to eventually ‘own’ their governance in ways that go beyond voting every four years. (At least the meagre 40% of eliegible voters currently casting ballots.)

“I’m inclined to think elections are overrated. If you vote for a candidate once every four years but don’t get involved in the meantime, it doesn’t really matter much who you vote for. It’s so important for citizens to: a) elect councillors who will allow themselves to be engaged, and keep up their end of that engagement between elections.”

This portion of an email exchange with Hamilton’s foremost civic activism blogger –Ryan McGreal of ‘Raise the Hammer’– was the second epiphanal moment for me regarding town halls and their potential to effect change. (The first was the unfolding of the health-care debate in the US during the summer of 2009, the broadcast of town halls featuring truly impassioned exchanges.)

The result was the founding of ‘Town Halls Hamilton‘, Hence my conviction about getting people together in a room, setting a particular tone, and talking.

And so on November 10th, Hamiltonians will be taking part in Town Halls Hamilton’s inaugural effort: ‘An Evening With Ward 2 Councillor Jason Farr’.

While town halls are nothing new –we’ve never claimed to be reinventing the wheel– we believe that the approach we’re intending to take, one that’s moderated, one that’s civil and well-mannered, as well as being grounded in a modern, social- media mode provides an abundance of possibilities to gradually ‘increase the relationship of engagement between residents and their Councillors’.

And from there, the sky’s the limit. Which will make that shifting landscape all the more interesting to view.

Because obviously, it's not just about town halls...

2011-11-13T10:12:00.001-05:00

The Morning After The Night Before: Post-inaugural Town Hall Blues

2011-11-11T20:07:00.001-05:00

Preface/disclaimer: The opinions and viewpoints that follow are mine and mine alone. Were you to speak to anyone connected to 'An Evening With Ward 2 Councillor Jason Farr', or more importantly, those at the event who proffered opinions, the consensus would be something quite different. In the words of THH stalwart -and RTH contributor- Mike Borrelli, '107 people went out for coffee during Intermission. 102 came back. That is astounding.' More importantly, none of my 'disappointments' have anything to do with what any of the volunteers contributed. They rocked, and I am especially grateful for the time and efforts they provided.

To have a 'vision' –and I'm referring to an ambition or a goal, though the other meaning of the word surely has some connection here– is to be possessed of some singular expectations. And while these expectations might seem quite reasonable to the person having them, when these expectations don't get met, they may not get classified as 'failures' to others. I can't take issue with this. But then the Town Halls Hamilton endeavour has been my vision from the start, so I'm allowed to be disgruntled about how things turned out last night.

As the Robert Burns quote goes, "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley."

I learned a lot last night.

I learned how easy it is to miscalculate, and how sizeable the knock-on effects can be.

I learned how important it is to stick to your instincts, that if you believe in what you're doing, that if the task's not merely an indulgence but something that you're compelled to do out of something far greater than ego or ambition, that it's vital to stay as close as possible to your gut feelings, because they're tied to the entire store of abilities and blessings that make it all possible in the first place.

And I learned how searing it can be to feel someone else's frustrations at not getting what they were expecting...and how this connection can in fact reinforce your commitment to attempting what you're attempting.

I'd intentionally designed 'An Evening With Ward 2 Councillor Jason Farr' with simplicity in mind. Barely beyond 'getting people in a room and talking', it was a 'game of two halves', one in which the first half was comprised of an 'interview' between our moderator Stephanie Seagram and Councillor Farr, mining some biographical content, general questions concerning the entire ward and then rotating through questions specific to the six individual neighbourhood associations. Then an intermission, then back for about three-quarters of an hour of audience-asked questions. Ending things off, a teeny-tiny set of closing comments from yours-truly.

Well, considering that the expected 'stage setup' I'd planned had the kybosh put to it even before the show had begun, I guess it should have come as no surprise that we were going to encounter other challenges as the evening unfolded.

The first glitch was the fact that we began a few minutes late, mostly because we weren't utterly insistent on getting underway at the appointed time.

Lesson Learned #1.

The second stumble was a result of a 'mock-up interview run-through' never having been done; my intent to provide some biographical glue wasn't entirely well-founded, because in the end, what people are at a town hall such as this for are solid answers to solid questions. Not getting all warm-and-fuzzy with their elected official. The building up of the relationship between Councillor and residents should mostly happen as a result of how he or she responds to the questions, with the biographical glue to be provided less as a result of pointed investigation than by ongoing narrative revelations.

Lesson Learned #2.

The third was the pace.

Put another way, ensuring from the start that everyone understand that to get through several cycles of a six neighbourhood associations' questions, there is no time for 'expansion' or meandering or anything like that. Pithiness from the Councillor is paramount.

Lesson Learned #3.

So the off-pace progress had a knock-on effect on the number of questions that could be gotten to...which meant that the effectiveness of the first half –keeping in mind that this was mostly an internally-marketed event, promoted from within the six neighbourhood associations– wasn't just deeply hampered, it was rendered impotent: we didn't even get to the neighbourhood association-specific questions before it was clear we had to take a break.

And I believe that in light of the above, I think I would have to list Lesson Learned #4 and #5: both have to do with the general effort of coralling questions from the neighbourhood associations. The first is recognizing that to have the question-focus spread over six NAs is going to severely limit what can be addressed within 45-60 miinutes, period. (I need to say here that I'm not sure I ever imagined an entire ward's NAs being hosts of a THH event, that I'd always seen it being one or two.) So depending on what's going on in the focus area, the number of questions that can possibly answered has a ceiling. Secondly, there needs to be more ownership of the questions by the NAs. So that they should be submitted 'ranked' according to their importance, so there's no question which get priority. After all, these are their questions. Their issues. About their neighbourhoods. If for whatever reasons we can't get to the full complement, then we need something arbitrary in place to guide us.

Now, because we had made it clear that for the second half of the evening people could submit questions or step up to the podium and do the asking themselves, a compromised situation was made all the more complicated. So when we got back into it post-Intermission, I laid it all on the line to the audience, confessing the mistakes that had been made, begging for both forgiveness and indulgence, admitting that what we'd be able to get to would be teeny-tiny in comparison to what people may have come to the event (reasonably) expecting. We decided to rotate the questions: one from the floor, one from the stack. Floor...stack, etc. I felt the best interludes were those where questions came from the audience...which was Lesson Learned #6: the very basis of a 'town hall' is the audience. As in 'not just listening, but asking questions, live-and-in-person.' So the time spent with people asking their questions directly of the Councillor deserves to predominate.

(As throwaway Lessons Learned, #7: Water...and #8: for events at City Hall, nobody should have to worry about feeding the parking meters. This is just plain wrong.)

I don't think I'm at all camouflaging at all my disappointment with last night's event in Council Chambers.

But then, I'm Virgo-rising.

Which means I need for things to be just-so.

And the Piscean in me, the creative fish that had a particular vision of 'An Evening With Ward 2 Councillor Jason Farr' is still pulling a face.

But that'll fade and with this exercise in debriefing myself here; I'm more and more confidant things will be much different next time.

Which brings me to the final portion of this article: What is next for Town Halls Hamilton?

Because the approaching holiday season is pretty much a write-off in terms of 'putting bums in seats' for community engagement efforts, THH will be assessing our inaugural event, incubating until the new year's arrival, and then looking at going at it full-force in 2012. By this time next year, I'd like to have seen a full slate of ward-centric town halls as well as issue-specific ones, too.

I'm also hoping that coupled with these will be an effort to enhance the situation in Hamilton with respect to the neighbourhood and community associations...but I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, so I'll leave the reference at that.

I have to keep reminding myself of common sense sayings regarding disappointment.

'You don't ask, you don't get.'

'Nothing ventured, nothing gained.'

Or my favourite, courtesy of my brother: 'If you go about trying to do those things you'd like to look back on having accomplished, you'll never suffer from regret...only fatigue.'

M Adrian Brassington

Post-event, Part Two

2011-11-11T09:48:00.001-05:00

Because things didn't play out as planned (!!!), because we ran out of time, because I'd already felt I'd compromised the evening's effectiveness, I didn't force my closing comments on everyone last night. Here then, is what I'd intended on saying:

“You don’t play sports to get in shape. You get in shape to play sports.

That piece of sage advice was provided by a family doctor and family friend ages ago. And its wisdom is just as solid now as it was then, four decades in the past.

I believe the same can be said for effecting change within your neighbourhood, your community, your city: you don’t dive into substantive, contentious issues in the hope that you can generate civic engagement. You generate civic engagement so that you’re better equipped to address substantive, contentious issues when they begin to unfold.

About 15 months ago, I was having an email correspondence with Ryan McGreal, the editor of ‘Raise The Hammer’.

We had been discussing the upcoming municipal election and I’d asked the question ‘What do you think voters should be looking for in new candidates this autumn?’

Ryan’s answer was thorough, but what struck me was a particular portion:

“...it's so important for citizens to: a) elect councillors who will allow themselves to be engaged, and b) keep up their end of that engagement between elections.”

It’s a sentiment I certainly hadn’t seen pushed in media, and it resonated with me.

To the extent that all this time later, we’ve gathered here in this room for a town hall meeting.

Soon after this exchange with Ryan, a notion coalesced that has pretty much remained intact. It’s the core of what Town Halls Hamilton is attempting to achieve:

“To increase the relationship of engagement between residents and their Councillors.”

It’s important that the direction of this sentiment is appreciated: the focus is on the relationship between residents and their Councillors. Not the other way around. This may seem to be quibbling, but as they say, ‘God is in the details.’

I’d hoped that what might result from tonight’s town hall meeting is a burbling sense of possibility. So that’s my wish for you all post-event: possibility.

I believe that 2012 is going to be an exciting year in Hamilton. For the residents of Hamilton, for the citizens of this city. And Town Halls Hamilton will be attempting to play its part; we’re planning to produce a full slate of events, a mix of both ward-specific town halls as well as issue-specific ones. Here’s a short sampling of potential topics for that latter category:

-Local Governance: What Do We Owe Each Other?

-Walkability/Rideability Hamilton

-Poverty

-Aerotropolis

-Dream a Little Dream; What Downtown Could Be

-Speakers’ Corner, Squared

-Is Hamilton Really Open for Business?

A quick thanks to Mahesh Butani for providing consistent encouragement along the way, sustained thanks to Mike Borelli for his impassioned input throughout the run-up to tonight, grateful thanks to our energetic and effervescent moderator, Stephanie Seagram...and respectful thanks to our special guest, Ward 2 Councillor Farr who had faith in our abilities to craft the kind of interlude that respects all those involved, as well as honouring the process of local governance.

Most of all, thanks to you for joining us for this inaugural Town Halls Hamilton event.

Good night, everyone.

Post-event, Part One

2011-11-11T08:54:00.001-05:00

My gratitude to those who attended last night's 'An Evening With Ward 2 Councillor Farr', numbering over a hundred.

And my apologies to the same for not delivering what I had intended...and promised. Mea culpa, lessons learned and all that. (To say I've felt vexed or humbled would be an understatement.)

As for the wealth of questions-asked that were not presented (never mind answered), I should have news on the fulfillment of this commitment soon.

Tonight's the night...

2011-11-10T07:14:00.001-05:00

As 'An Evening With Ward 2 Councillor Jason Farr' approaches...

2011-11-08T17:19:00.000-05:00

'Town halls aim to battle cynicism' is the latest offering from The Spec. We invite you to take a look.

Regarding Neighbourhood Associations...

2011-11-08T13:14:00.001-05:00

As I'd had an unusual number of conversations of late about NAs, specifically asking the question 'How are they recognized by the City?', while I was at City Hall this morning, getting things prepped for the event on Thursday night, I asked some questions.

Basically, it's up to the ward Councillor to vet the group. Once that's been done, once it's clear to their satisfaction that the group represents the people in the area, which might include a petition, or a meeting, then the recommendation is passed-on to the Planning Department. Then it gets added to the afore-linked 'Neighbourhood Association Directory'.

Easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy.

Altogether now...

2011-11-07T11:51:00.002-05:00

Everything about Town Halls Hamilton is about engagement.

And to me, when there's broad-based engagement, there's synergy, there's confluence, there's the possibility of reaching some pretty astounding critical mass...often resulting in stuff that might never have been imagined previously.

I've met Joey Coleman, the man behind much of this 'open' movement in Hamilton, and I'm proud to say that he supports our efforts, just as we do his.

To that end, check out this post.

(Thanks to Larry Pattison for passing along this update.)

Because the 'Occupy' movement too, is all about engagement

2011-11-06T10:51:00.001-05:00

Guest Editorial

2011-11-05T19:53:00.001-04:00

Recently I received a very nice email from Joshua Weresch. It was one of the more pleasant elements of congruence, serendipity and synchronicity I've experienced of late.

We got together last week before a meeting of the Central Neighbourhood Association, had a long conversation over coffee. After which Joshua stuck around for the meeting, even though he doesn't live in the Central area. Or Ward 2, for that matter. Or even in Hamilton; he lives on The Mountain. (I'm allowed this age-old joke.)

Charmed by his enthusiasm, I asked him if he wanted to write a guest piece for Town Halls Hamilton. Here then, is Joshua's article.

Adrian asked me to write about my incipient community engagement journey. So, as I've found stories of engagement to be encouraging to me, I hope you find this tale to be worth its reading, a reminder that engagement is not a journey to be walked alone.

I'm a life-long Hamiltonian. I grew up on the west Mountain, on the corner of Upper Paradise Road and Scenic Drive, next door to the former Beckers convenience store. Growing up, our neighbours were folks we saw out and about occasionally: next door, a Lithuanian family; across the street, a Dutch family; and a few houses down, school-teachers of my brother and me. It was a quiet neighbourhood, punctuated now and again, by the screams of children in swimming-pools and the rattle of lawn-mowers starting up, and fiercely sub-urban. There were in me, few civic or political noises to make: I sometimes voted, sometimes didn't, but, especially in local politics, when I did, it was a thoughtless process at best.

How did I get- Better, how am I getting, because I'm certainly not there just yet, from 'thoughtless' to 'thoughtful', from an inconsiderate life to a considerate one? Where is this drive for civic engagement coming from?

I think that it began a few years ago with a couple of incidents and has continued to press on me since then. Two or three years ago, my wife and I moved into the neighbourhood of Centremount. I put out the garbage one night, and with it, a couple of cases of empties. The next morning, I saw an old, bearded man on a bicycle, with blue recycling bags balanced on the handles, going from bin to bin and taking out the empties for the ten-cent refund from The Beer Store. I thought to myself, “What the heck is he doing in the suburbs?” That was the first incident, a pricking of conscience, uneasiness.

The second incident came when my wife and I saw older men and women, who used to visit at Mountain Plaza Mall, try to get across Fennell Avenue with their walkers and bags as traffic dodged and weaved around them. My wife said to me, “Why isn't there a cross-walk for pedestrians there? They're going to get killed.” Poverty in the suburbs and the difficulties of older people started up the rattling motor.

Now I have a daughter almost one year old and I wonder what kind of world she'll inherit. I wonder what kind of world any of our family will have. Will it even be 'kind'? Is it going to be a world where people don't care or know about one another? Is it going to be a world that requires of her courage to get outside, know, and help another person, to have meaningful relationships? At the ripe age of thirty years, I'm beginning to see the importance of relationships in the place in which we live. If we're going to live here, if we're going to call this place home, work and play with my daughter and family in this city, then why shouldn't I want to make this place the best that I can?

Now I'm taking steps toward getting a neighbourhood association together for Centremount. It'll mean knocking on plenty of doors, as there are, according to Statistics Canada, 1,730 private dwellings in the neighbourhood and a minimum of 3,883 people to meet. The Ward 7 neighbourhoods of Eleanor, Eastmount, and Allison Park already have community councils and other neighbourhoods in this ward have had councils that have come and gone, too. I think it's a good start: instead of complaining about the neighbourhood, it'd be good, I think, to have a place, a bunch of good people, to bring those complaints to; also, it'd be good to be able to talk and get to know one another, just so we don't feel so isolated from one another. We'll have a way of making changes in our neighbourhood, so people can safely cross a street, so all ages are cared for and respected, not reduced.

The distance between fear and love is, I think, the distance from my front porch to an old man –whose name I don't even know –who's collecting empties from my recycling bin.

The second in a series...

2011-11-04T11:36:00.001-04:00

Over at Raise the Hammer, we have an ongoing series of neighbourhood profiles leading up to next week's 'An Evening With Ward 2 Councillor Jason Farr' in Council Chambers at City Hall.

Second up is North End Neighbours.

Check out the article here.

...but then, they're not supposed to be the same animal...

2011-11-03T21:55:00.001-04:00

Tonight I spent an hour at Ward 4 Councillor Sam Merulla's community meeting at Pat Quinn Arena. The room was packed; I'd guess there were about twenty-five people, not including a trio of City Hall staff (Landscape Architect Cynthia Graham was especially effective during her Cown Point East Neighbourhood Plan presentation. Well done, Ms Graham!) and three (?) law enforcement officers of various genres, as well as at least a couple of other people there to provide input and information.

A 'community meeting' isn't a 'town hall', but then as the title of this post insists, they're not supposed to be. The structure of tonight's get-together was an item-by-item presentation with questions allowed at appropriate times. (The itinerary can be found here.)

It was nicely choreographed by Councillor Merulla, allowing for just enough discussion, moving things along when it was clear there was a likelihood that things might get mired, suggesting how an issue might be expedited, providing appropriate context and perspective...

As I said, I was only able to stay for an hour, but my reaction was simple: it was heartening to see democracy in action, to see involvement and participation by the residents, to have people in the same room talking things through. (Well, for the most part 'talking things through'...)

Hats off to Councillor Merulla for this effective community meeting. Here's to hoping he'll consider working with us in the new year.

The first in a series...

2011-11-02T11:09:00.001-04:00

Over at Raise the Hammer, we have an ongoing series of neighbourhood profiles leading up to next week's 'An Evening With Ward 2 Councillor Jason Farr' in Council Chambers at City Hall.

First up is the Beasley Neighbourhood Association.

Check out the article here.

If you're from Ward 2...

2011-11-01T17:25:00.001-04:00

...and even if you're not...

The agenda for the November 10th event at City Hall Council Chambers 'An Evening With Ward 2 Councillor Jason Farr' will be almost exclusively determined by questions and issues submitted by residents of the six neighbourhood associations and/or attendees that night.

Additionally, if there's something you'd like to see addressed, a contentious issue, or even one that's benign, please consider sending it to townhallshamilton@gmail.com

Two non-Town Hall Offerings

2011-10-30T17:23:00.001-04:00

This site is about town halls in Hamilton. However, seeing as the underlying theme is 'engagement', it's occasionally going to make sense for there to be links and features that might not specifically connect to the notion of town halls...but are certainly important factors and influences and notions to consider.

On this occasion, I have two things to offer, and both feature Toronto 'community choreographer' Dave Meslin, co-editor of the book 'Local Motion: The Art of Civic Engagement in Toronto'.

The first is from the launch event for '3 Things for Calgary', the kind of initiative that's indicative of genuine visionary leadership. (I'll have more to say about this anon, this idea that not all the emphasis for authentic forward movement should come from City Hall, that inspiration must be a two-way street, with each portion of the previously-mentioned 'great governance formula' –residents and Councillors– possessed of both transmitters and receivers, an endless –and endlessly-empowering– loop)

The second is a TED talk given by Mr. Meslin. The title of his presentation? 'The Antidote to Apathy'.

M Adrian Brassington

Observations En Route

2011-10-29T16:12:00.000-04:00

"Most people arrive at tortured conclusions via blind and painful routes. They don't like it when someone shows up in a balloon. You can't expect anyone to trust revelation if they haven't experienced it themselves. Those who haven't, only know reason. And since revelation is a thing apart, and cannot be accounted for reasonably, they will never believe you. This is the great division of the world, and always has been. Now, when reason and revelation run together, why, then you have something, a great age. But in this city, now, reason is predominant. To argue from any other point of view or by any other means, is subversive."

Great News!

2011-10-27T19:15:00.001-04:00

Our November 10th event, 'An Evening With Ward 2 Councillor Jason Farr' will be streamed live online...with the chat feature.

I guess that now means we have a potential audience...

...of billions.

The Great Governance Formula

2011-10-27T12:03:00.001-04:00

Click image to enlarge

Previously, I've referred to the ida of a 'formula' involving residents and their elected officials. I'd been thinking about it recently and realized that I hadn't really nailed the concept very well. Because I'm not a mathematics-type person, I'd unconsciously had the two elements on either side of the '=' sign. But that's not the case at all. They're both on one side, with 'Governance' on the other.

What's all the more important, and I threw this out for consideration at last night's Hamilton Civic League meeting is this:

At any given time, the 'Councillors' portion is delivering an average of about 75% of potential. There are always some stinky incidents and there are sometimes some interludes of excellence.

But where the citizenry are concerned...

Wearing my 'Chapeau de Cynisme', I'd say that Hamilton's down on the low end of the 'Potential' scale. Maybe around 20, 25%? (I know that Those Who Are Active will undoubtedly rail at me for this suggestion. But I calls 'em as I sees 'em.)

Do I find this depressing?

Nope.

I take enormous solace in considering how much potential we have at our fingertips.

M Adrian Brassington

Press Release

2011-10-27T09:02:00.000-04:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: M Adrian Brassington

Organization: Town Halls Hamilton

Email Address: townhallshamilton@gmail.com

Web site: http://townhallshamilton.blogspot.com/

Hamilton, ON, October 27th, 2011 —Town Halls Hamilton (THH) in partnership with the Hamilton Civic League (HCL) is pleased to announce its moderator for the November 10th event at City Hall in Council Chambers, ‘An Evening With Ward 2 Councillor Jason Farr’, Stephanie Seagram.

(Photo credit: Lee Hillman/Hillman Media)

Ms Seagram is Program Director for the Cossart Exchange, a local business incubator for the creative industry and an aspect of the Imperial Cotton Centre for the Arts. As well, Stephanie has been working with people in education and development for over 15 years, has BA in Visual Arts, a Master's of Science in Education and is a member of the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT). Combined with her background are her talents as contributor to Cable 14’s For the Record.

Town Halls Hamilton Founder M Adrian Brassington said of Ms Seagram’s joining the THH team: “Stephanie brings to the effort the poise, intelligence and spirit required to make our town halls distinct experiences for guests on both sides of the stage, the Councillors and the audience. I believe she’ll prove to be the right person at the right time, the perfect addition to our endeavours.”

The Hamilton Civic League is a broad-based, non-partisan association formed in 2009 to encourage citizen engagement and involvement in the political process. Town Halls Hamilton is a nascent, grassroots endeavour to create concerted, city-wide opportunities for increased engagement between residents and their Councillors. Both organizations believe in the importance of residents being in a position of greater ownership of their local governance.

For additional information, contact M Adrian Brassington at townhallshamilton@gmail.com or visit http://townhallshamilton.blogspot.com/

# # #

Speaking of engagement...

2011-10-19T06:23:00.000-04:00

In today's Spec, there's a great letter, 'If people are engaged, then they'll vote'. In it, the writer presents some meaty material, stuff that's worth considering...if contentious. You can click the link, but I'm also publishing it here (with emphasis being mine):

Voter turnout

I have read with interest the discussion that followed the provincial election regarding the low level of voter participation. One theme has been the general distaste with the lack of choice, and this feeling also often crops up in class discussion at McMaster University where I am a student in political science.

I have to ask how many of the people who feel this way are members of a political party, where anyone can have a significant effect on the candidates and policies that are put forward? How many regularly write letters to the editor, or contact their MPs and the various cabinet ministers, and so make their views known? And how many have more than the superficial understanding of the issues that simply following the headlines and TV news provides? From discussions on the street and from polls, it is evident that many or most people don’t.

I do not support any limitations on the right to vote, but until people are willing to fulfil their democratic responsibility to understand the issues, perhaps it isn’t necessarily desirable that they do vote. Our political culture will not change until our civic culture does, with people becoming more engaged. Until then, politicians will continue to pander to populist feelings with misleading rhetoric.

Liam Helder, Hamilton

If Wishing Made It So...

2011-10-18T09:02:00.002-04:00

Under different circumstances, I'd love to have rolled out Town Halls Hamilton events by now. Here then, is my Top Six Topics list for issue-specific town halls we'd have presented over the past few months...'if wishing made it so':

6 The PanAm Games Velodrome Débacle

How lovely it would have been to have had genuine public discussion when all of this went south so quickly.

5 CETA

With the potential impacts of this free-trade agreement understood by so few, a town hall effort would a natural to bring the issue to the forefront.

4 Aerotropolis

Few local issues are as loaded as this one is...and considering the ramifications of its implementation, the need for public debate is paramount.

3 LRT

With so much of the energy expended since 'The Murray Email' having been either ill-advised or downright counter-productive, how marvellous it would have been to have had a non-Council, non-media forum for both dissemination and discussion.

2 The 'Occupy' Initiative

Now is the time that we should be seeing town halls acting as complementary vehicles for the discourse that is required concerning this world-wide effort.

1 What Makes for Good Local Governance?

While initiatives in Council towards better cohesion and consistent decision-making are to be lauded (yes, I'm being kind here, referencing the recent attempt at 'mayoral behaviour modification'), this core truth needs to be understood by all: Nobody exists in isolation.

M Adrian Brassington

Back to Where it All Began

2011-10-17T16:18:00.002-04:00

The impetus behind Town Halls Hamilton began on my 'original' community activism blog, My Stoney Creek.

In July of 2010, as we approached the Municipal Election, I posted this editorial. So in a very real sense, what you see here, began there.

Shortly after this was published, I felt compelled to really dig into the subject of 'engagement', and wrote a five-part series taking a thorough (some would say 'exhaustive', others might prefer 'exhausting') look at the notion. Here then, are links to the My Stoney Creek essays 'The Great Political 'Engagement' Conundrum:

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

M Adrian Brassington

Variations on a Theme

2011-10-16T09:46:00.002-04:00

A question I consistently get asked about how Town Halls Hamilton intends to pursue its goals is "What are the town halls going to be about?'

My primary answer is 'Whatever the organizing neighbourhood association decides in collaboration with their Councillor.'

My secondary answer has to do with non ward-specific town halls.

There are myriad topics that go beyond the immediate concerns of any particular neighbourhood association or ward. Concerns that transcend all 'borders' or community constructs. We're planning on promoting these events just as heartily as the ward-specific town halls, even though they'll undoubtedly consist of more than just our Moderator and a guest on stage.

Here's an ongoing list of potential topics for such events:

-The History of Hamilton

-The Basics of Urban Design; How We Got Here

-Green Hamilton: What Can We Do?

-Local Governance: What Do We Owe Each Other?

-Walkability/Rideability Hamilton

-Countdown To Election 2014

-Poverty

-Aerotropolis

-Dream a Little Dream; What Downtown Could Be

-Gentrification

-Speakers’ Corner

-Is Hamilton Really Open for Business?

-Why Community is Key

M Adrian Brassington

From over at Raise The Hammer...

2011-10-14T11:46:00.000-04:00

Please take a look at this article, tying in with yesterday's press release of the partnership between the Hamilton Civic League and Town Halls Hamilton.

Press Release

2011-10-13T06:34:00.000-04:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: Larry Pomerantz

Organization: Hamilton Civic League

Telephone Number: (905) 545-5577

Email Address: HamiltonCivicLeague@gmail.com

Web site: http://WeVote.ca/

Hamilton, ON, October 13th, 2011 —The Hamilton Civic League (HCL) is pleased to

announce a working partnership with Town Halls Hamilton (THH) to organize and

facilitate a series of citizen-led Town Halls. Beginning with an inaugural Town Hall on

November 10th in Council Chambers at Hamilton City Hall, HCL and THH are planning

to hold similar events around the city over 2011 and 2012 to forge stronger links

between citizens and their elected representatives. With an agenda driven by local

neighbourhood associations, the Town Halls Hamilton initiative aims to bring together

civically-minded residents in a friendly, positive and constructive environment.

The Hamilton Civic League is a broad-based, non-partisan association formed in 2009

to encourage citizen engagement and involvement in the political process. Town Halls

Hamilton is a nascent, grassroots endeavour to create concerted, city-wide

opportunities for increased engagement between residents and their Councillors. Both

organizations believe in the importance of residents being in a position of greater

ownership of their local governance, and this alignment is seen as one way of building

energy and momentum towards this goal.

HCL Chair, Larry Pomerantz states “We have recently seen an increase in the number

of new organizations that share our goal to heighten civic engagement. We encourage

individuals to join and organizations to partner with HCL to forge collaborative

community building opportunities such as with Town Halls Hamilton.”

The Hamilton Civic League will be actively involved in making the Town Halls Hamilton

events successes, and the organization invites all Hamiltonians to become involved in

the initiative over the following year.

For additional information, contact Larry Pomerantz at

HamiltonCivicLeague@gmail.com or visit http://townhallshamilton.blogspot.com/

Voter Turnout, Part Three: Effecting Groundswell Changes

2011-10-10T04:33:00.001-04:00

While there is no magic wand (or formula, for that matter), I'm willing to bet that if we're looking for ways to replicate the inclinations of consistent voters, the expression 'Live with a pirate long enough and you learn how to curse,' provides an invaluable clue.

So here are some offhand suggestions as to what basic situations might provide for the inculcation of a higher sense of civic duty, of service, of obligation related to the end-examples proffered previously, how a value system that honours community engagement might be promoted:

-Households where a strong sense of responsibility outside-of-self is propagated, where neighbourhood cleanups, community projects and volunteering aren't seen as esoteric activities foster the mindset associated with civic duty.

-Education systems where 'civics' isn't dealt with in a lip-service way, but rather support long-term awareness and the potential for participation. Where politicians visit classrooms to reinforce what's being taught, where students finish their education with a full understanding of how each level of government work, and can discuss the practicals with as much aptitude as they might be able to rhyme off their favourite professional sports team's stats or the minutiae of the latest social fad.

-Parents who show by example that 'politics' and 'politicians' don't have to be addressed from a default of negativity or cynicism or dismissiveness, who take their children along to debates and candidates' nights and to actually watch them vote.

-Perhaps most of all, families, neighbourhoods and communities where respect is valued at all levels. Because when the idea of respect is planted and fostered, when an individual is respected and feels respect for themselves, this 'default setting' carries over into all aspects of Life. While it doesn't guarantee 'perfect people', it certainly makes for more situations that resemble what we all in our hearts want our families, our neighbourhoods, our communtities to resemble.

M Adrian Brassington

Town Halls Hamilton

Concerning engagement through Neighbourhood Associations...

Something for us all to consider.

In conclusion...

So much going on over at My Stoney Creek...

Meanwhile, over at My Stoney Creek...

A further call for engaging discourse

Community Activists Beware!

Why the change?

Wow. Part Two

Wow. Part One

City Builder Book Club

Starting February 1st

City Builder Camp

Park People & Jane's Walk hiring!

CCE Promotes

Dave MeslinFive Good Ideas: Campaigning for Social Change

TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 12-2PMFREE!

LEARN MORE & RSVP »

Overcoming The Green Premium - Building A Model Sustainable Community

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 7:30–9:30AM$35–$45

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Toronto Society of ArchitectsAGM and Official Plan Review

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 6–7PMFREE!

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Nancy Smith LeaChris SelleyChris HardwickeYonge Street Speakers Series: Feet and wheels

THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 6PMFREE!

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Opening ReceptionFlavio Trevisan: Museum of the Represented City

THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 6–9PMFREE!

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David MillerDavid HulchanskiRichard M. SommerToronto in Question – Whose City? Gentrification, Inequality and the Future of Toronto

TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 6:30–8:30PMFREE! REGISTRATION REQUIRED.

LEARN MORE & RSVP »

Re-imagining Hamilton: Can we play, please...?

Regarding Redrawing Ward Boundaries

Littering: Why? (How to address it...and what it has to do with 'community building'.) Part Three

Littering: Why? (How to address it...and what it has to do with 'community building'.) Part Two

Littering: Why? (How to address it...and what it has to do with 'community building'.) Part One

As the old year fizzles out...

Universal Truths About the Citizen's Role in Great Governance: The Importance of Reason

Something for us all to think about.

Followup to Councillor Farr's Evening, Part Two

The Spec Letter #2

The Spec Letter #1

Followup to Councillor Farr's Evening, Part One

Meanwhile, over at the F.U.N...

Because obviously, it's not just about town halls...

The Morning After The Night Before: Post-inaugural Town Hall Blues

Post-event, Part Two

Post-event, Part One

Tonight's the night...

As 'An Evening With Ward 2 Councillor Jason Farr' approaches...

Regarding Neighbourhood Associations...

Altogether now...

Because the 'Occupy' movement too, is all about engagement

Guest Editorial

The second in a series...

...but then, they're not supposed to be the same animal...

The first in a series...

If you're from Ward 2...

Two non-Town Hall Offerings

Observations En Route

Great News!

The Great Governance Formula

Press Release

Speaking of engagement...

If Wishing Made It So...

Back to Where it All Began

Variations on a Theme

From over at Raise The Hammer...

Press Release

Voter Turnout, Part Three: Effecting Groundswell Changes

Dave Meslin
Five Good Ideas: Campaigning for Social Change

TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 12-2PM
FREE!

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 7:30–9:30AM
$35–$45

Toronto Society of Architects
AGM and Official Plan Review

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 6–7PM
FREE!

Nancy Smith Lea
Chris Selley
Chris Hardwicke
Yonge Street Speakers Series: Feet and wheels

THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 6PM
FREE!

Opening Reception
Flavio Trevisan: Museum of the Represented City

THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 6–9PM
FREE!

David Miller
David Hulchanski
Richard M. Sommer
Toronto in Question – Whose City? Gentrification, Inequality and the Future of Toronto

TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 6:30–8:30PM
FREE! REGISTRATION REQUIRED.