Comment 28530

By Save Yer Soul (anonymous) | Posted February 08, 2009 at 10:57:38

I'm not always a fan of Bob Bratina's ideas, but I like that he, for this town, thinks outside the hat, which means considering what might actually work for communities, and why, rather than whether a project might be so easy to implement that council will have it done and be gone to other pursuits before anybody notices how poorly it works. That said Bob, your frustration is showing. Save yourself before you become a "leader" and/or find yourself babbling in your porridge.

And Ryan, please stop calling for "leadership." This city has way, way, way too many leaders already; people who see themselves in the cut and thrust of political battle, but little skill at performing the tasks at hand. Leadership is a political term. Leadership requires followers, the less questioning the better. Forget the MBA crap about good leadership building concensus etc. Blilding concensus is an entirely different skill that empowers and engages citizens in the process rather than appeals to their desires to get something, anything, done. This isn't easy, and leaders usually don't get the credit as a result.

And while we're at it, let's stop talking about Hamilton's potential. Potential is the result of failures to realize past opportunities. If this city had a dime for every time someone said it had potential, it would not need to actually develop any of this so-called potential. We should be embarrassed when people talk about the city's potential.

This is more than semantics. Use of language defines the objectives. If you want to "make a difference" invest in a property, form a co-op, open a shop, create a product, attend a rally, anything but wait to be led. Realize, rather than dream about, potential.

And if you're Bob Young and the city actually does spend $50mil+ to move you to a forlorne field out by the airport instead of to brownfields south-west of Dundurn S. and Main W. or some other juncture of GO, highway and civic transportation routes so more fans might handily attend future TiCat games, you have my heartfelt sympathy for becoming a victim of community leadership.

Location, location, location.

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