Ward 2 Newsletter - Issue 15
May 28, 2024
Town Halls a Focus in the Coming Months
The feedback I received from residents during last year’s town halls, community councils, and other public meetings was that holding meetings from April through November was the way to go - folks told me they just don’t want to be out as much at meetings in some of the coldest months of the year.
That being said, I recognize, especially in the coming warmer months, this means competing with weekend sunshine, precious summer nights, and time with family and friends.
So far in 2024, I’ve held regular meetings of our Tenant Council, Heritage Council, and Neighbourhood Association Council. I was also out in the North End in early March to visit folks, mostly seniors on that specific occasion, who attend the Welcome Inn Community Centre’s lunch program. I spoke to them about the plans the City is making that will impact them, answered their questions, and addressed their concerns.
The goal of this deep engagement is to connect with residents, in every corner of Ward 2, to hear from them about what they think is working, where they think the City can improve, and what they want to see me do to advocate for them.
While last year’s town halls were held in each of the neighbourhoods in Ward 2, which was very successful, I thought it was important to approach things differently this year. For the rest of this year I will hold town halls on the major issues residents have said are most important to them and will focus on listening to residents who have not traditionally felt represented at City Hall.
To that end, I’ve held meetings with residents to discuss Housing and Development in late March, issues faced by CityHousing Hamilton residents this past Saturday, and the Ward 2 Team organized the first ever Hamilton Youth Town Hall at City Hall in mid April.
This Thursday we’ll be continuing to engage on these major issues in a meeting at the Spice Factory at 6:30pm to discuss Safe Streets in Ward 2. I’ll be unpacking the process for residents to have their concerns addressed, including why things take so long to get done, what I’m doing to change things moving forward, and some collective action we can take, as a city and a community, to change industry standards for the better.
Upcoming meetings, this year, will be held on topics including climate justice, the City’s 2025 budget process, and issues facing tenants in Ward 2 (which will include a review of the preliminary results from the Ward 2 tenant survey). I’ll also be out in the North End later this year to hear resident input about future plans for both Eastwood Arena and the Strachan Street Linear Park.
I hope you can make it out to at least one of our 2024 meetings. Stay tuned to my newsletter, and social media, for announcements including dates, times, and locations. Hope to see you out there Ward 2!
City Council Summary - May 22, 2024
The Council debates leading up to May 22 centred around an information report on encampments and decisions on Hamilton’s Goods Movement Strategy and Community Safety and Well-Being Plan; and City Enrichment Fund grant allocations.
City Enrichment Fund Grant Allocations
Grants Sub-Committee - May 13, 2024
Audit, Finance and Administration Committee - May 16, 2024
City Council - May 22, 2024
As happens around this time every year, City staff released their recommendations for grant funding for the City Enrichment Fund (CEF). In short, CEF allocates funding for not for profit community organizations in Hamilton to help them deliver their programming. This was an unprecedented year for CEF. There were 427 applications, 177 of them new to CEF. Council asked staff supporting CEF to come forward with a way to fund all organizations with a passing application score, which meant splitting the pool of funds among more applicants, for the second year in a row. As a result, this year’s funding allocations generated a considerable amount of discussion in the community, especially from organizations who were expecting more funding or who had historically received more. Councillors discussed different options and, thankfully, Grants Sub-Committee Chair Councillor Nann came forward with an amendment, which I happily seconded, to extend last year’s appeals process so any qualifying organizations could appeal if they felt a decision about their funding was made in error. Ultimately, going forward, it will be important to reconsider the funding model for CEF in the long term and to consider expanding and changing the current allocation model. Currently, CEF is funded at levels determined before the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Without a significant analysis, including a willingness to revamp the program, I am concerned CEF will not be sustainable in the long term. I’m looking forward to next year, including coming staff reports, and remain hopeful for big changes to help this program thrive.
How did Council vote on the amendment moved by Councillor Nann?
In favour - Beattie, Cassar, Clark, Danko, Francis, Horwath, Hwang, Jackson, Kroetsch (seconder), McMeekin, Nann (mover), Pauls, Spadafora, Tadeson, A. Wilson, M. Wilson
Goods Movement Strategy
General Issues Committee - May 15, 2024
City Council - May 22, 2024
The previous Council had approved the development of a Goods Movement Strategy to outline how the City would respond to the increased need to move goods around the Hamilton area by truck, rail, and ship. This is important follow up from the approval of the Truck Route Master Plan during the last term of Council. When reading the report, however, a few members of Council were surprised by some omissions, including direct consultation with the community around the impacts of goods movement (especially as non local cut through truck traffic through the City’s core). As the consultants said, in response to Council’s surprise, their report was informed by the previous term of Council’s priorities and direct consultation with industry stakeholders, not with the community at large and not based on this term of Council’s priorities. As a result, I worked with City staff on an amendment, with the input of my colleagues, to get a better end result and to ensure the community’s voices were included in the final product. That amendment now means an additional report will come forward to address “concerns and opportunities related to term of council priorities, including equity, public health, roadway safety, impacts of continued road expansion, and urgency around the City's declared climate crisis”. I’m looking forward to staff’s report back on this and hope the action plan associated with the consultant’s report will be updated to reflect this Council’s priorities.
How did Council vote on the amendment I put forward?
In favour - Beattie, Cassar, Clark, Danko, Francis, Horwath, Hwang, Jackson, Kroetsch (mover), McMeekin, Nann (seconder), Pauls, Spadafora, Tadeson, A. Wilson, M. Wilson
Community Safety and Well-Being Plan
Emergency and Community Services Committee - May 16, 2024
City Council - May 22, 2024
On June 23, 2021, Council unanimously adopted the City’s first Community Safety and Well-Being Plan (CSWP) as a result of Provincial framework. Unfortunately, the outcomes recommended in the plan have gone largely unfunded. During this year’s annual report on the CSWP a few amendments were put forward, including one by Councillor Nann with respect to gender-based violence and one by me about getting a report back from staff with more information about the Toronto Community Crisis Service (TCCS) and how a model like this might work in Hamilton. This service, in addition to those provided by police, fire, and paramedics, has been in operation in Toronto since 2021. At that time, “four community crisis support service pilots to test a non-police led approach to non-emergency, non-violent calls, including mental health crisis calls and wellness checks”. It’s been successful in helping to bridge the gap and address emerging community needs and the City of Toronto is planning to expand it citywide from the four initial areas by the end of 2024. Our City staff are hoping to invite those connected to the TCCS to a future meeting of the Emergency and Community Services Committee to tell us what they’ve been doing and what they’ve learned. I’m hoping to be able to bring recommendations to Council about how we can implement and fund a similar service in Hamilton with the lessons learned around what did and didn’t work in Toronto.
How did Council vote on the motion I put forward at the Emergency and Community Services Committee?
In favour - Beattie, Cassar, Clark, Danko, Francis, Horwath, Hwang, Jackson, Kroetsch (mover), McMeekin, Nann, Pauls, Spadafora, Tadeson, A. Wilson (seconder), M. Wilson
City Staff’s Observations Related to the Encampment Protocol
General Issues Committee - May 15, 2024
City Council - May 22, 2024
Last August, Council approved an Encampment Protocol in a split vote of 10-6. I was in favour of the protocol and, as I said in an article I published in this newsletter last July, the affordable housing crisis will not be overcome by will, compassion, and millions in funding alone - this is a monumental task and it must involve everyone in our communities and funding, in the billions, from both senior levels of government. Since writing that article, we have more case law on encampments to help guide us. It’s now clearer than ever - cities must provide some space for those who have been deprived of housing and are forced to shelter outside. It’s one of the reasons the City introduced an Encampment Protocol in the first place. City staff and Council recognized our legal obligation and put in a set of policies to help to manage that obligation. Admittedly, the Protocol has fallen short of residents’ expectations and neither the Provincial nor Federal government are stepping up with enough funding to help cities who are struggling with limited resources. Also, and as part of City staff’s report about the observations on the Protocol, they suggested potentially allowing encampments along the greenspace on Strachan Street in the North End. I moved an amendment to refer the use of the Strachan Street greenspace back to staff for further review. I did this because I'm working to transform this space into an activated linear park and because I have motions coming forward to enable initial community consultation (on June 3 to the Public Works Committee). I hope it will set the stage for the necessary approvals to begin to move the process of phasing this area from an open greenspace to an officially signed and programmed Strachan Street Linear Park. It's rare to be able to program a greenspace in Ward 2 and I'm looking forward to hearing from the community about how they envision this space.
How did Council vote on the amendment I put forward regarding the greenspace along Strachan Street?
In favour - Beattie, Cassar, Clark, Danko, Francis, Horwath, Hwang, Jackson, Kroetsch (mover), McMeekin, Nann, Pauls, Spadafora, Tadeson, A. Wilson, M. Wilson (seconder)
Upcoming Meetings and Events
This section lists important upcoming Committee and Council meetings, community and City events, and Ward 2 town halls. To read Committee and Council Agendas and Meeting Notices, please subscribe to updates directly through the City’s website.
Meetings and Events
Ward 2 Town Hall - Safe Streets - Thursday, May 30 - Spice Factory - 6:30pm to 9:00pm
The Hub Youth Gala and Fundraiser - Friday, May 31 - Westinghouse HQ - 5:00pm to 9:00pm
Bike for Mike - Sunday, June 2 - Collective Arts Brewing - 8:30am and after (depends on the route or ride)
Binbrook Pride - Sunday, June 2 - Binbrook Fairgrounds - 12:00pm to 5:00pm
Safe At Home - Tuesday, June 4 - City Hall 2nd Floor Foyer - 8:00am to 9:30am
City of Hamilton Arts Awards - Wednesday, June 5 - Westinghouse HQ - 6:00pm to 9:00pm
Bike Day Hamilton - Thursday, June 6 - City Hall Forecourt - 7:30am to 9:30am
Federation of Canadian Municipalities Annual Conference - Thursday, June 6 to Sunday, June 9 - Calgary Telus Convention Centre
Pride Garden Party - Saturday, June 8 - Workers Arts and Heritage Centre - 12:00pm to 4:00pm
YWCA’s Walk a Mile in Their Shoes - Wednesday, June 12 - City Hall Forecourt - 11:00am to 1:00pm
Art Exhibits, Installations, and Performances
Gemini / Brian Kelly - Assembly Gallery at Redchurch - until Thursday, May 30
Brave New Works Festival - Theatre Aquarius - Thursday, June 6 to Saturday, June 8
Kiera Boult - Hamilton’s My Lady - Centre[3] - until Saturday, July 27
Labour Pains - Workers Arts & Heritage Centre - until Saturday, July 27