2022 Municipal Election

[Corktowner]

I was pleased with Kroetsch up until yesterday. Now I have more misgivings but I’m still willing to give him a chance. Dahab, however, is a ridiculous person—a middle-class grad student LARPing as some kind of outlaw revolutionary while showing no interest in the mundane issues that actually matter to most parents and teachers. I hope her political career is brief.

[StEC]

As a ward 2 resident who voted for Cameron I'm very pleased with his work so far. Stellar community engagement something we never got with Farr and his candidness with the on goings of city hall and the budget numbers keeping us all informed on stuff that was usually hidden from the public (unless you went digging through all the red tape) is a breath of fresh air.

[TheHonestMaple]

I do appreciate his transparency, I think he's been doing a great job with that.

He does need to tone down the activism stuff though. He's a councillor now, he represents all residents in the ward. He can't be going out to protests against the provincial government, threatening the provincial government. And just today calling another councilor a racist. It's poor behaviour and the residents deserve better.

Today's Incident: Councillor Jackson referred to his constituents today as 'everyday taxpayers'. It was a benign comment that had no negative connotation whatsoever. Councillor Kroetsch then somehow made a connection between 'everyday taxpayers' and 'old stock Canadians', implying that Councillor Jackson is a racist. Kroetsch was then asked to retract his remarks, refused and was subsequently ejected from the council chambers for unparliamentary language. Brad Clark also commented that Kroetsch language was disparaging and unacceptable in the council chamber. Kroetsch finds racism (or colonialsm whatever that means) in everything, it's getting old.

Despite me voting against him at the election, I actually had some high hopes for him. I thought he might have a good shot of at least making some positive change on the development and LRT front. However, after just a few short months he's making plenty of enemies at city hall. He's going to have a very hard time advancing his progressive agenda over the next few years, as I'm sure these early incidents are just the beginning. You can definitely tell that he's beginning to annoy his colleagues.

[atnor]

Kroetsch will never miss the opportunity to soapbox.

Kroestsch is an example of what people mean when they say certain members of the left are professional victims. No reasonable person would infer that Jackson’s comments are akin to discriminatory remarks. Then again, me saying “reasonable person” may drum up a lot of angst with a particular member of this forum.

[TheHonestMaple]

Agreed. His twitter rants are quite hilarious. Doesn't get his way in council and goes on a twitter tantrum telling us all how virtuous he is.

His recent rant was particularly annoying. Going on about how council needs to listen to "community", but at the same time ignoring constituents who are emailing him asking him to do something about cleaning up the needles and human feces in parks.

He needs to quit the virtue signaling and woke activism and focus on fixing our roads, parks and crime issues.

[Innsertnamehere]

https://x.com/Ward2Hamilton/status/1...705369629?s=20



This is a good example I think of why I think Cameron is a net improvement over his predecessor - he sometimes oversteps on issues but as a whole is likely going to be good for the City as a councilor.. Hamilton has huge issues with maintenance of the public realm which I honestly think is a big reason it has such a "rough" reputation visually.. It's not just the cracked asphalt, it's the day to day maintenance of public streets as well. The city is way behind other municipalities on litter collection, weed control, etc. One of the best examples is the maintenence of the downtown rail underpasses - which is hilariously poor. Good to see that changing, especially since so many visitors experience it as a result of the proximity to the GO Station.

[matt602]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

This is a good example I think of why I think Cameron is a net improvement over his predecessor - he sometimes oversteps on issues but as a whole is likely going to be good for the City as a councilor.. Hamilton has huge issues with maintenance of the public realm which I honestly think is a big reason it has such a "rough" reputation visually.. It's not just the cracked asphalt, it's the day to day maintenance of public streets as well. The city is way behind other municipalities on litter collection, weed control, etc. One of the best examples is the maintenence of the downtown rail underpasses - which is hilariously poor. Good to see that changing, especially since so many visitors experience it as a result of the proximity to the GO Station.

Totally agree. He's made a lot of missteps in his time as councilor and I haven't agreed with everything he has done or said but Farr was just a joke of a politician by comparison. Also agree that this is much needed, the TH&B underpasses are digusting. Its really embarassing how passengers leaving and entering the GO station at James and John have to walk under that pigeon shit infested, dark mess.

[StEC]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

https://x.com/Ward2Hamilton/status/1...705369629?s=20



This is a good example I think of why I think Cameron is a net improvement over his predecessor - he sometimes oversteps on issues but as a whole is likely going to be good for the City as a councilor.. Hamilton has huge issues with maintenance of the public realm which I honestly think is a big reason it has such a "rough" reputation visually.. It's not just the cracked asphalt, it's the day to day maintenance of public streets as well. The city is way behind other municipalities on litter collection, weed control, etc. One of the best examples is the maintenence of the downtown rail underpasses - which is hilariously poor. Good to see that changing, especially since so many visitors experience it as a result of the proximity to the GO Station.

ABOUT DAMN TIME!!! I have emailed him twice complaining about this very issue and ranted to him on Instagram. I never got a personal reply but this is exactly what I wanted to see!

[TheHonestMaple]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

Hamilton has huge issues with maintenance of the public realm which I honestly think is a big reason it has such a "rough" reputation visually.. It's not just the cracked asphalt, it's the day to day maintenance of public streets as well. The city is way behind other municipalities on litter collection, weed control, etc. One of the best examples is the maintenence of the downtown rail underpasses - which is hilariously poor. Good to see that changing, especially since so many visitors experience it as a result of the proximity to the GO Station.

Should we expect this to improve with the increased tax revenue we will be getting with all these condo buildings? And will the money we save on infrastructure along KLing because of the LRT help at all?

You are right, downtown Hamilton looks so rundown because it's just not looked after. I don't think downtown Hamilton actually lacks wealth, it just appears to.

[TheHonestMaple]

Reading Cameron's tweet, it sounds more like he asked CN to pay for the clean up and they told him to get bent lol. I personally am glad to see this finally happening, but months is unnacepatable. There is zero reason why current staff can't go down there one afternoon and clean them all. Also, a fresh coat of black paint on the steel parts of the bridge would do wonders making it look nicer.

[TheRitsman]

Originally Posted by TheHonestMaple

Reading Cameron's tweet, it sounds more like he asked CN to pay for the clean up and they told him to get bent lol. I personally am glad to see this finally happening, but months is unnacepatable. There is zero reason why current staff can't go down there one afternoon and clean them all. Also, a fresh coat of black paint on the steel parts of the bridge would do wonders making it look nicer.

Anytime the city wants to touch something over or under a train line, or provincial road the city must consult with the rail owner or highway owner. In this case CN who are known to be difficult. My understanding is they had to ask if they can do anything or if it is the responsibility of CN. CN has essentially said they will not be doing work on the bridges, but the city has been given permission to fix them.

Having spoken to Cameron personally about this when we were out knocking on doors, I don't think he thought CN would pay for anything.

They have projects being worked on. Staff do not enjoy being directed by council members to drop their current work and do something else. There is planning that is involved in large organizations like this. I'm actually surprised they're doing it so quickly. Usually politicians wouldn't tell you about this until March when it's going to get fixed next week to make it look like they do stuff really fast, but that's not the reality of how these things work unfortunately.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by TheRitsman

Anytime the city wants to touch something over or under a train line, or provincial road the city must consult with the rail owner or highway owner. In this case CN who are known to be difficult. My understanding is they had to ask if they can do anything or if it is the responsibility of CN. CN has essentially said they will not be doing work on the bridges, but the city has been given permission to fix them.

Having spoken to Cameron personally about this when we were out knocking on doors, I don't think he thought CN would pay for anything.

They have projects being worked on. Staff do not enjoy being directed by council members to drop their current work and do something else. There is planning that is involved in large organizations like this. I'm actually surprised they're doing it so quickly. Usually politicians wouldn't tell you about this until March when it's going to get fixed next week to make it look like they do stuff really fast, but that's not the reality of how these things work unfortunately.

CP are the difficult ones when it comes to the former TH&B tracks into the GO Centre. I had thought some of the rail crossings and their undersides were fixed up when GO service was introduced, but that was a while ago and the conditions on the streets beneath them is horrid today. Not just the bird poop, but garbage, drug paraphernalia, inadequate lighting... I walked to that station when I lived off Locke and quickly changed my route to avoid the underpass on James, not that I had much to fear personally, but it was just gross.

CP is also the entity that demanded an LRT underpass for their track east of Gage that's used maybe 2-3 times per day by trains. That has to be a very costly part of the project!

Are there still issues with the road bridges crossing the CN line around West Harbour? Many have been replaced, haven't they? (I think James is the only one that hasn't, but it seems to be in good shape at least when driving across). The level crossings in the city are generally really bad, especially at the spurs but even the ones that intersect the main line can be an adventure (Woodward, Ottawa, Gage, and Sherman, for example). I think a few have been improved in the past year or so but I imagine it was a teeth-pulling experience to have that done. CP has some iffy ones too east of downtown.

[Innsertnamehere]

Hamilton has started to install stronger level-crossing protections lately which should help with the level of maintenance on them. They use a concrete base which should stand up better to traffic.

Victoria was done a year or two ago:

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.2634...8192?entry=ttu

They also just did Wellington a few weeks ago.

they also did it for the spur crossing of Victoria few blocks north close to Burlington St, but this one has a bunch of grade issues with the tracks not matching the road grade which causes it to become basically a massive speed hump:

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.2680...8192?entry=ttu

[Innsertnamehere]

https://globalnews.ca/news/10116918/...d-olivia-chow/

The province is going to upload the DVP and Gardiner in Toronto - I wonder if this could have implications for Hamilton with the RHVP and Linc.

If Horwath had half a brain she should be pushing the province to upload the highways like in Toronto. Honestly, they function more as provincial facilities than the DVP and Gardiner do anyway as they provide the most direct connection from Niagara to SW Ontario. Lots of traffic on them is not destined for Hamilton (or even Canada, with many drivers coming from the US East Coast and going to Michigan cutting through Canada along the highway), while the Gardiner / DVP almost exclusively serve trips too and from Toronto.

Lets hope she can reverse what has generally been a pretty disappointing first year of her mayorality.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

If Horwath had half a brain she should be pushing the province to upload the highways like in Toronto. Honestly, they function more as provincial facilities than the DVP and Gardiner do anyway as they provide the most direct connection from Niagara to SW Ontario. Lots of traffic on them is not destined for Hamilton (or even Canada, with many drivers coming from the US East Coast and going to Michigan cutting through Canada along the highway), while the Gardiner / DVP almost exclusively serve trips too and from Toronto.

+1

[PaperSun]

Looks like Ontario Place was part of the deal for the province to take DVP and Gardiner

[matt602]

Highly doubt it'd ever happen. The RHVP and Linc are nowhere near as important to the province as the DVP and Gardiner. Hell, Hamilton itself is nowhere near as important as Toronto and as weird as it sounds, I'd dare say Ford and Chow have a far better working relationship than Ford and Horwath.

[ScreamingViking]

The politics will be fierce, and the province will point to the LRT investment and forthcoming widening of Hwy 6 South as Hamilton's "gets"... but at least lay the ground work.

Adding a lane each way to both parkways will require provincial money anyway. And the time for that is coming soon.

Linc/RHVP directly support the "trade corridors" argument that was a large basis for the Herb Gray Parkway and Gordie Howe bridge in Windsor. I think that messaging is soon going to swing around again as a key reasoning for future highway investments... and this government loves to talk about how many jobs it creates.

[TheRitsman]

The city could just threaten tolls. That would provide a push to Ford.

[StuffedPouch]

Originally Posted by TheRitsman

The city could just threaten tolls. That would provide a push to Ford.

The City doesn’t have authority to do that. The Provincial Liberals blocked it, and our current Mayor + NDP caucus referred to any tolling scheme as “Lexus Lanes” whenever the last two Premiers even hinted at the idea.

Given that most of the part-time left leaning Councillors couldn’t even bother to show up for the Vacant Home Tax, I doubt it could ever advance even if it was legal.