The Spec Letter #1

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:

Followup to Councillor Farr's Evening, Part One

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

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

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.)

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

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

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."

Post-event, Part Two

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

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.