A Call For Collaborators

Town Halls Hamilton is looking for some collaborators for an event in the not-too-distant-future: 

'Ward Boundaries: 

From There...to Here'

A presentation. 

A discussion. 

A seminar, an open-mic night...a chance to take a step back and look at ward boundaries from an historical perspective. 

A perspective-enlarger so that we can understand more thoroughly how we got to where we are, and how we might best move forward. 

It could also be an opportunity to discuss what ward-identity means in the 21st century, how much its relevance has changed, and how much value we should be placing on it, versus being a 'Hamiltonian'. 

The brunt of the collaboration would be research, tracking down documents and turning them into visual presentations, but promotion and production of the event would also be a part of the mix. 

So if this appeals, and you'd like to help produce the event, drop me a line at townhallshamilton@gmail.com

N.B. This is not part of the 'official process' that would be instituted by a successful result of the just-initiated petition campaign ('Hamiltonians for Ward Boundary Reform' on Facebook). This is an independent endeavour that quite frankly, would be proof-positive for the Province and the OMB that we're serious about making ward boundary re-drawing happen; more voices, more interest, more momentum.

M Adrian Brassington

Why the change?

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. 

Followup to Councillor Farr's Evening, Part Two

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

Post-event, Part One

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...

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

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

Altogether now...

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.) 

The second in a series...

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.

The first in a series...

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.

Great News!

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. 

Press Release

           

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/

# # #

From over at Raise The Hammer...

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

          

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/

May we have your attention, please...?

Town Halls Hamilton is proud to announce:

Ward 2 Town Hall: An Evening with 

Councillor Jason Farr

Thursday, November 10th. 7-9:00 pm. 

City Hall

(Doors open at 6:30)

Every little bit helps...

The Spec has this article within its Editorial pages today.

Welcome to 'Town Halls Hamilton'

This blogsite is the temporary home for www.townhallshamilton.ca

It's only appropriate that I start things off by posting what was sent out to a massive number of recipients almost two weeks ago now:

It was a proposal for a concerted, across-the-city, ongoing series of 'town hall meetings'.

It was an invitation to make something happen, something very doable, something that has the potential to create 'real change' in Hamilton on some very basic levels, addressing aspects of life in the city that to me, are in dire need of addressing.

Here is the email in its entirety:

A Proposal: Out of Necessity, Bolstering Our Future

Hello, All;

Leadership. 

Vision. 

Transparency. 

Accountability.

There's always a fair amount of talk about these notions in media, both in the main-stream and alternative arenas. I believe that part of this has to do with the'legacy-malaise' that seems to come with all the other fun stuff that being a Hamiltonian gifts us with, part of it has to do with what seemto some to be serial frustrations in the progress of the city towards a better future, and part of this is what I see as an endemic desire to be ledto that better place...and constantly being disappointed when this leadership fails to present itself. 

But as anyone who has read my material on my site 'My Stoney Creek' as well as my regular comments on sites such as Raise the Hammer and The Hamiltonian` will know, though I fervently believe in visionary leadership (and the fact that *all* communities deserve it) and accountability and transparency, it's the other half of the equation that most concerns and interests me.

The half that has to do with the residents of Hamilton. Its citizens...its voters.

I'm wary of producing a treatise here, so bear with me while I break it all down to something easily digestible: I believe that we need a wholesale shift in how we see our places in local governance. I'm not one who believes in our longstanding construct, the political equivalent of 'handing the new employees the keys to the business, leaving them alone, only to be checked in on every four years.'

I believe in the notion of 'increasing the relationship of engagement between residents and their Councillors and their mayor'.

And so I believe we need to begin a shift in how local governance is executed in Hamilton so that there is more consistent dialogue between Hamiltonians and City Hall. (And not just in times of crisis.)

That we need to begin re-framing what we expect from our Councillors as we re-frame what we expect from ourselves. (Oh yes, I'm talking changes.)

And that we need to begin to construct a new paradigm wherein we don't have a 40% voter turnout rate, where 60% of these votes cast according to 'name recognition', where so many seem to feel that voting is the only responsibility they have as citizens...while quickly reverting to a default of an abundance of cynicism and a dearth of faith and confidence in the very people they've voted into office.

In order to really effect change, I believe we need to wholly reconsider where participation and involvement in determining aspects of our quality of Life are concerned. Otherwise, it's fairly safe to say that aside from getting lucky with this brilliant candidate or that set of circumstances, we're going to be stuck in this endless loop...which of course begs the question 'How's that working out for you...?'

To this end, my proposal:

'Town Halls Hamilton'

An integrated, co-ordinated, ongoing series of 'open meetings' across the city.

Where each ward would have regular town halls meetings. 

Where town halls featuring the Mayor would be presented across the city. Regularly.


Naturally, the main thrust would be for the residents of each ward to have a chance to engage with their Councillor or with the Mayor.


But a town hall could also be an information session where a particular issue is examined and discussed, sometimes with a special guest, an expert,
etc.


Or it could have a 'seminar' spin to it.


Or it could be a general 'get it off your chest' affair.


The town halls would be promoted and presented by a series of sponsor-organizers the likes of:


-Neighbourhood associations

-Chambers of Commerce

-BIAs

-Raise the Hammer

-The Hamiltonian

-Urbanicity

-CATCH

-HPD

-SkyscraperPage

-Hamilton Civic League

-Open Hamilton

-The Spec

-CHML

-CHCH

Naturally, there would be a website where all of this would be initiated: www.townhallshamilton.ca (Already secured.)

As we live in a social-media age, it only makes sense that we consider the possibility of streaming these events online as well as subsequently posting them as YouTube-type videos. With the addition of message boards and chat-rooms, creating a groundswell of both interest and participation seems like an obtainable goal. Never mind the concomitant news coverage and presence on the sites of the associated organizations and individuals. 

Town halls are only part of what I believe needs to unfold for us to see a substantive, sustained type of change, but they may just be the most critical development.

Canada has a rich history of civic activism and engagement. Establishing new traditions in our own neighbourhoods and communities seems a reasonable way to begin providing what's required from our half of the equation.

In the end, let me put it this way: we have long been mired in a system where special interests and lobby groups have managed to push forward their agenda, despite the fact that our elected officials work for *us*. Referencing Mayor Bratina's trepidation towards 'advocacy groups', I think it's clear we need to become our own lobby effort in order to secure better leverage in our own futures. After all, we are, in the end, the city's biggest stakeholders. I can assure you that were this town hall effort to unfold as I envision it, the critical mass achieved would allow for something far better than what we currently see before us.

Your feedback is of course, greatly encouraged.

Looking forward to hearing from you,


Adrian/