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Hamilton Civic League Speaker Series: Your Vision for Hamilton

By Meredith Broughton
Published February 20, 2010

The Hamilton Civic League would like to invite you to our first speaker series event that will be held this Monday, February 22nd at 7 p.m.

The Hamilton Civic League would like a better understanding of what priorities Hamiltonians think our city should be setting for the next four years. What type of city do we want? What is the long-term vision? Do we have the best people leading us to our goals?

Entitled "Hamilton’s Halloween Election; Unmasking Candidates and Issues", the first event of this series will provide a fairly broad range of potential topics - - "Your Vision" will have a panel of diverse individuals who each claim an interest in what the future of Hamilton has to offer.

Panelists:

These free monthly public forums are staged to inform, empower and engage voters in preparation for the upcoming municipal election. The panelists have been specifically chosen to articulate their vision and to respond to the concerns of the community. The goal is to begin the dialogue to awaken our community to the issues that need to be considered ahead of the October 22nd election.

The event will be held at the Crossfire Assembly, 458 King Street E. (near Locke) in the Strathcona neighbourhood. On-site parking is available and refreshments will be served. Any questions? Feel free to contact us through email or via facebook.

Be informed. Be empowered. Be engaged.

See you on the 22nd!

Meredith Broughton is a pastor to students and board member of the Hamilton Civic League. She is completing two graduate programs, one in theology at McMaster Divinity, another in echocardiography at Mohawk. Meredith lives downtown with her husband Jarod and loves showing visitors and newcomers all the good things Hamilton has to offer.

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By Meredith (registered) - website | Posted February 22, 2010 at 17:34:28

Just a reminder - the event's still on tonight, even with all the snow! (Finally, it feels like it really is February - but we're Canadians, and a little snow never stopped us.)

The sidewalks have been shoveled, the coffee is brewing - now all we need is for you to throw on your snow boots/toques and head on over to the Crossfire Assembly (across from Gilbert's Big and Tall Clothing).

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By John Neary (registered) | Posted February 22, 2010 at 21:02:56

Meredith,

That was a great event. (I'm half of the couple that showed up late with a newborn baby and left early, so I missed most of the Q&A at the end.)

All four panelists (I guess McLean was snowed in) were well-spoken. Props to the panelists and organizers. And extra props to Loren Lieberman for superb moderation. I can't remember the last time I saw a moderator call out speakers for not addressing the question being debated.

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By grassroots are the way forward (registered) | Posted February 22, 2010 at 22:42:11

It was a great success and the panelists were good, though my favorite was Jeremy, he speaks his mind and boy do I ever like that.

Kudos to all, great work everyone.

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By MattJelly (registered) - website | Posted February 23, 2010 at 01:31:48

I had a lot of fun. Thanks to the league for hosting.

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By John Neary (registered) | Posted February 23, 2010 at 06:13:20

Yes, Jeremy Freiburger was quite outspoken, particularly regarding "developers."

Speaking of which, I was surprised that no one raised the issue of tax breaks for empty buildings.

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By Dave Kuruc (anonymous) | Posted February 23, 2010 at 08:00:11

Round 2 with Jeremy this Thursday at Artword Artbar - 7pm along with musical guest Terra Lightfoot. We'll be talking about the creative catalyst, arts, community renewal and all sorts of good things!

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By highwater (registered) | Posted February 23, 2010 at 09:49:12

So sorry I missed this. I had planned to go but my day took a few bad turns. Will there be a video posted?

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By Imperial (anonymous) | Posted February 23, 2010 at 12:30:36

Yes. Many thanks to the Civic League folks for pulling together a great night.
I'm glad everyone enjoyed and I loved being one of the panel. Good mix of positive vibe and lived experience at the table.

Dave's event at Artword should be great on Thursday. We'll get into a bit of the nitty gritty on the Catalyst, hear some great local music from one of my favs Terra Lightfoot, and have a rousing good time at the Art Bar.

Keep up all the positive work folks. Engaged citizens can make all the difference and the Civic League is a great concept to grow - become a member, get a t-shirt, come to events - then please please please vote in the upcoming election.

For the record I'm not running...but I suspect someone else is.

Jeremy

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By John Neary (registered) | Posted February 23, 2010 at 13:15:33

@Jeremy: I'm a bit confused. "Someone else" is running? I thought the Hamilton Civic League was supposed to be strictly nonpartisan. While I'd support most of yesterday's panelists in a bid for political office, I think the HCL would lose some credibility if it's used as a platform for someone's campaign launch.

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By davidvanbeveren (registered) | Posted February 23, 2010 at 15:48:26

Not sure who Jeremy is referring to. HCL is clear about it's non-partisan status and mandate and it won't be endorsing any candidates or staking positions on policy matters. Its role is to provide a platform for dialogue, to educate on the mechanics of voting and details of municipal government jurisdiction, and to provide an objective comparison of candidates and incumbents against criteria established by a Values & Priorities survey conducted in a transparent and scientific manner. Declaring candidacy for office would render anyone ineligible for active membership, and to the best of our knowledge none of last night's panelists have indicated their intent to run for office.

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By John Neary (registered) | Posted February 23, 2010 at 16:12:24

@davidvanbeveren,

Thanks for clarifying. Perhaps Jeremy is referring not to someone affiliated with HCL, but rather to someone who's just well known on this message board. Time will tell.

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By highwater (registered) | Posted February 24, 2010 at 00:47:36

I certainly didn't infer from Jeremy's comment that he was referring to anyone associated with the HCL.

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By Imperial (anonymous) | Posted February 25, 2010 at 16:38:43

Hey Folks. Certainly wasn't implying anyone from HCL was running.
Just making sure the nasty rumour that I was thinking about is crushed.
Can't wait to see who comes out of the woodwork though.

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