City of Hamilton General Discussion Thread

[atnor]

Originally Posted by TheRitsman

Employees of the city deserve a fair wage, and it's been mentioned here or elsewhere, but talent has been poached by nearby cities from Hamilton and we've lost great staff as a result. If we want talented people at the helm, we need to pay fairly, both in management and the lower ranked employees.

Hamilton has always paid well. The culture and management are another story. Trust me, a lot of politics. At least that’s what it was like in my field.

If we want to retain talent then we need the right people in the right position, not the biggest brown noser but the most talented leaders.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by atnor

The culture and management are another story. Trust me, a lot of politics. At least that’s what it was like in my field.

From people I've known who were city staff, certain councillors often meddled and some infamously belittled the public servants. There's supposed to be a level of separation between politicians and even the most senior of staff. That was quite "blurry" in Hamilton's case for many years.

And there was also a lot of internal politics and poor management at play. Good people are going to come and go especially as they seek advancement, but when so many leave because the culture and morale are bad, it's a big problem.

[TheHonestMaple]

I'm glad Kroetsch is making that line clear..... not. The guy thinks he's a councillor AND city manager.

[atnor]

Originally Posted by TheHonestMaple

I'm glad Kroetsch is making that line clear..... not. The guy thinks he's a councillor AND city manager.

Love when he hand waves controversial items with his unpacking threads.

Many staff I keep in touch with from different departments are not happy with current Council, especially Nann, Kroetsch, Wilson.

[matt602]

Yeah, I'm sure the old boys club isn't none too happy at all.

[atnor]

Originally Posted by matt602

Yeah, I'm sure the old boys club isn't none too happy at all.

If there ever was an old boys club it’s been replaced by a little girls club

[HamiltonBoyInToronto]

Originally Posted by atnor

If there ever was an old boys club it’s been replaced by a little girls club

And you are refering to them as a little girls club because ...... ?

I don't like the guy either but have some tact

[atnor]

Originally Posted by HamiltonBoyInToronto

And you are refering to them as a little girls club because ...... ?

I don't like the guy either but have some tact

Please. It was a jab at the notion of there being a “boys club.”

[Allroadsleadtoham]

There is such a magnifying glass over this city at a provincial level right now and it’s only going to keep getting closer as southern Ontario grows and develops around it. Our councillors are currently in a position to mold this city into something beautiful but that window is starting to close.

[TheRitsman]

Originally Posted by atnor

Love when he hand waves controversial items with his unpacking threads.

Many staff I keep in touch with from different departments are not happy with current Council, especially Nann, Kroetsch, Wilson.

I also know many staff, and haven't heard this. This is probably a good thing anyway. Our city has improved vastly in spite of our previous council, not because of it. A toxic, poisonous workplace is what I've heard regularly from ex-staff. I'd imagine the kind of staff that stuck around don't like the new more involved council looking to push new solutions on old problems that haven't seen much success with old solutions.

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by Allroadsleadtoham

There is such a magnifying glass over this city at a provincial level right now and it’s only going to keep getting closer as southern Ontario grows and develops around it. Our councillors are currently in a position to mold this city into something beautiful but that window is starting to close.

What does this mean?

[SFUVancouver]

Originally Posted by BCTed

What does this mean?

Well, as a (relatively) new Hamilton resident and homeowner, it's pretty darn clear that the city was mismanaged for generations with respect to maintaining infrastructure in a good state of repair (gestures expansively at the roads, repeated sewage discharges, Red Path Parkway scandal) and really any sort of planning for the future.

The state of large sections of the lower city also make it clear that successive generations of Council were generally unconcerned about the multi decades-long decline that was unfolding on their watch, all while the city happily collected lower city property taxes that pay for the lion's share of the budget.

Now that the chickens have come home to roost in the form of decrepit roads, large swaths of run-down storefronts and rampant illegal use of retail units for housing, and the simultaneous insufficiency and over-concentration of social services during worsening housing affordability and addiction crises, our taxes need to dramatically increase.

Moreover, the City needs to become an effective advocate for itself in provincial and federal politics to receive appropriate attention, funding, and strategic investment commensurate with its status as the third largest CMA in Ontario and ninth largest CMA in the country (virtually tied for eighth with Quebec City).

Coming from Metro Vancouver (with stints in Kelowna and Kamloops), the apparent mindset of our Mayor and Council here is just bizarre. They seem to act like they're managing a sleepy little town in terminal decline, not a steadily growing major city. There's no sense of urgency. No sense of responsibility. No sense of perspective. And definitely no sense of vision for what the city absolutely can aspire to become.

[TheRitsman]

Originally Posted by SFUVancouver

Well, as a (relatively) new Hamilton resident and homeowner, it's pretty darn clear that the city was mismanaged for generations with respect to maintaining infrastructure in a good state of repair (gestures expansively at the roads, repeated sewage discharges, Red Path Parkway scandal) and really any sort of planning for the future.

The state of large sections of the lower city also make it clear that successive generations of Council were generally unconcerned about the multi decades-long decline that was unfolding on their watch, all while the city happily collected lower city property taxes that pay for the lion's share of the budget.

Now that the chickens have come home to roost in the form of decrepit roads, large swaths of run-down storefronts and rampant illegal use of retail units for housing, and the simultaneous insufficiency and over-concentration of social services during worsening housing affordability and addiction crises, our taxes need to dramatically increase.

Moreover, the City needs to become an effective advocate for itself in provincial and federal politics to receive appropriate attention, funding, and strategic investment commensurate with its status as the third largest CMA in Ontario and ninth largest CMA in the country (virtually tied for eighth with Quebec City).

Coming from Metro Vancouver (with stints in Kelowna and Kamloops), the apparent mindset of our Mayor and Council here is just bizarre. They seem to act like they're managing a sleepy little town in terminal decline, not a steadily growing major city. There's no sense of urgency. No sense of responsibility. No sense of perspective. And definitely no sense of vision for what the city absolutely can aspire to become.

I'm not embarrassed to say I voted for and wish Loomis won. He had real fight in him and is a far bigger advocate for the city than Horwath. I like Horwath generally. She seems like a kind and caring person, but her voting record is ironically not that different than what I would see Loomis voting for, and she doesn't have the same bite.

We kind of went from Sleepy Fred to Sleepy Horwath and I'm incredibly disappointed. Her voice is quiet as Ted Mcmeekin. Hamilton is a growing, youthful city that is growing in popularity, and our mayor is like my mom trying to figure out how to do a tweet.

[ScreamingViking]

You're not wrong, though I think the issue is a bit more complex. For years -- decades probably -- city counsellors have tended to look after their own wards with less (if any) focus on what's best for the city as a whole. Getting re-elected seemed to have been the most important thing for many of them, and that idealistic 2% "cap" on tax increases was part of that mentality though it's done the city no good over the long term.

But layered onto the infrastructure problem is the economic transition that has been taking place. Hamilton used to have property tax revenue that was much more balanced between residential and industrial/commercial assessments. As major industries shut down or shrank, that share of tax revenues withered, so now we're left with homeowners being forced to shoulder a huge portion of the costs of running and maintaining the city.

There's also the fallout from the amalgamation that was forced on the city more than 22 years ago; it's taken two decades for that to cool, and it still simmers among some people. Whether it was the right decision or not is a matter of opinion, but in many ways it deepened the divisions between the "old city" and its suburbs. They used to be separate municipalities with an upper tier regional government that managed things common to all, but when brought under a single city government there was (and still is) a view among many that the growing suburbs have been subsidizing the stagnant city. I don't subscribe to that, but it's affected Hamilton politics ever since, including the visions of what the city can become.

Originally Posted by SFUVancouver

Well, as a (relatively) new Hamilton resident and homeowner, it's pretty darn clear that the city was mismanaged for generations with respect to maintaining infrastructure in a good state of repair (gestures expansively at the roads, repeated sewage discharges, Red Path Parkway scandal) and really any sort of planning for the future.

The state of large sections of the lower city also make it clear that successive generations of Council were generally unconcerned about the multi decades-long decline that was unfolding on their watch, all while the city happily collected lower city property taxes that pay for the lion's share of the budget.

Now that the chickens have come home to roost in the form of decrepit roads, large swaths of run-down storefronts and rampant illegal use of retail units for housing, and the simultaneous insufficiency and over-concentration of social services during worsening housing affordability and addiction crises, our taxes need to dramatically increase.

Moreover, the City needs to become an effective advocate for itself in provincial and federal politics to receive appropriate attention, funding, and strategic investment commensurate with its status as the third largest CMA in Ontario and ninth largest CMA in the country (virtually tied for eighth with Quebec City).

Coming from Metro Vancouver (with stints in Kelowna and Kamloops), the apparent mindset of our Mayor and Council here is just bizarre. They seem to act like they're managing a sleepy little town in terminal decline, not a steadily growing major city. There's no sense of urgency. No sense of responsibility. No sense of perspective. And definitely no sense of vision for what the city absolutely can aspire to become.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by TheRitsman

I'm not embarrassed to say I voted for and wish Loomis won. He had real fight in him and is a far bigger advocate for the city than Horwath. I like Horwath generally. She seems like a kind and caring person, but her voting record is ironically not that different than what I would see Loomis voting for, and she doesn't have the same bite.

We kind of went from Sleepy Fred to Sleepy Horwath and I'm incredibly disappointed. Her voice is quiet as Ted Mcmeekin. Hamilton is a growing, youthful city that is growing in popularity, and our mayor is like my mom trying to figure out how to do a tweet.

It feels like Horwath has been "taking a breather" after her long tenure as leader of the NDP. She's been way too quiet. She seems to have had more to say lately, but nearing a year into the post I'm quite disappointed in her leadership.

I too would have preferred Loomis.

[BCTed]

The WSIB just announced that it is moving from Toronto to London...

[Chronamut]

found this picture of what the stretch along king st in the east end of downtown used to look like - I had only ever seen a side view of it and not front on many of these pediments have fallen off of been forcibly removed which is sad - I would love to see them all restored.

Those leaflets on the bottoms would look awesome tipped with gold.

Here's some postcards of the same area in the past:







(the exact same area today)

What it looks like now:



that building on the left in the postcard behind white rotary sewing machines is what the Denningers building front looked like before like so many others it was tragically gutted and paneled over. I have no idea why hamilton went through this craze of fancy exterior remodeling with far less superior finishes. The building in red behind it no longer exists. Also if I am not mistaken I think one of the theatres was to the left of the building in the image above.

[matt602]

I didn't realize that Book Villa was actually there until kinda recently, before Out of the Past moved into that spot in 2008 or so (they used to be farther East a block where Gameopolis was)

[NortheastWind]

Originally Posted by BCTed

The WSIB just announced that it is moving from Toronto to London...

That was announced in early 2022.

[SteelTown]

Which is surrounded by green space, suburban housing, an airport and of course a major highway. It'll actually have a net negative benefit because 400 or so workers from downtown London will be forced to the suburban location in addition to all the new workers. Meh, thanks, but no thanks.