[thistleclub]

City of Hamilton Will Not Proceed With Stallholder Suspension - Issues Warning

Hamilton ON – June 2, 2011 -- At today's General Issues Committee meeting, City of Hamilton staff updated members of Council on an issue involving a Hamilton Farmers' Market stallholder. The following motion was approved pertaining to that issue:

a) That the current complaint under the Zero Tolerance for Violence Policy in the Hamilton Farmers' Market be terminated;

b) That the stallholder be issued a written warning regarding future compliance under the Zero Tolerance for Violence Policy;

c) That a review be conducted of the process for enforcement of the Market By-law, the appeal process, the Stallholder Contract and the Zero Tolerance for Violence Policy with a report back to the Hamilton Farmers' Market Transition Sub-Committee.

"I want to emphasize that there is nothing wrong with our current Zero Tolerance Policy and its intent. However, there is a public perception that there may be procedural issues with enforcement," says Joe-Anne Priel, General Manager of Community Services. "We want to ensure that the public has confidence in our process, so we will be reviewing our current By-law, appeal mechanism and enforcement strategy."

"We are going to undertake this review, though I do want to express my confidence in the way city staff has complied with the current policy," added Priel.