Raise the Hammer

Jason,

I love your unbridled optimism, it's fantastic and inspiring. Yet when I've been reading the things in CATCH that I've been reading lately I get bogged down in that grimy Hamilton reality I've felt for 18 years. And really, I thank God for CATCH and the amazing work they do, it's not them, it's the flea circus they have the guts to cover. Please read the following excerpt from CATCH and visit the site, they have been very busy lately:

Regular unadvertised meetings that have been going on for nearly a decade between city staff, councillors and the Hamilton Halton Home Builders Association have been labelled “illegal” by Brad Clark. Several councillors and senior staff expressed enthusiasm about the quarterly gatherings before Clark slammed the practice as a “cosy relationship” that is not permitted by the Municipal Act. “If the agenda was not published to the general public, if the meeting date was not published to the general public, it was an illegal closed door meeting – it’s that clear,” declared the Stoney Creek councillor and former provincial cabinet minister. “You may not like it, but that’s the way it is.” That declaration came after Maria Pearson had told Monday’s planning committee meeting that “the whole board” who participate in the meetings wants more councillors to attend. “It used to be in the past that the chair of planning committee sat on that committee for the year, and I have attended, even not being the chairman, in the last little while,” she explained. “And the comment coming back is that they would really like to have more than one designated representative from council on that committee.” Her call was endorsed by planning chief Tim McCabe who said the meetings began in 2002 “as more of a working committee” to discuss city policy.

I am gaining more and more respect for Brad Clark. Wow, that kinda hurt.

Comment edited by mrjanitor on 2011-03-23 22:19:56