Raise the Hammer

So if this was your family budget and you didn't have enough revenue coming in, what would be the first thing you could do prior to finding new sources of revenue?

Stop spending maybe?

$150 million for a stadium, $800 million for LRT (which it appears we're going to be on the hook for at least part of), $100+ million for the cleanup of randle reef, millions for an aerotropolis, all in a post-manufacturing steel town with apparently no clue how to find its footing in a ultra-competitive global economy and move into the 21st century?

Some will say we need to spend this money, it is investment and for sure some of it should be spent (enviro clean up and sewers would be my priority) but there are larger global forces at play here, forces $13 an hour Canada bread jobs or James St. artist's studio galleries aren't going to do much to counteract. We need to be very careful how and what we spend our money on, the global economy is shifting right under our feet and there is very little municipal or even provincial governments can do to change that or buffer us from the brunt of its “equalizing” affects.

LRTs, while very nice, are a luxury for a city and province in the state ours are in. We are struggling to keep up with maintenance cost requirements for our current infrastructure and our current and future economic and employment prospects are less than rosy. We cannot afford to continue “planning for tomorrow” while falling behind today. An LRT right now would be akin to putting an addition on a house with a rotting foundation paid for on credit by a single-income family working on contract.

Over the decades there has always seemed to be some project that would “change Hamilton” but what we have now after all the money spent in this city is a broken down, pollution filled, poverty stricken city. The arenas, halls of fame, arts and entertainment venues, museums, city funded business parks and sundry other municipal projects have done little to stop the downward trend of Hamilton. The fundamentals in this town are too messed up.

In Hamilton we are reaching for the brass ring while standing in sewage (literally).