New faces bring new opportunity

We have a chance to shake up city council to effect progressive change

The municipal election will be upon us in little over a month’s time. With the distraction of all that’s happening lately at Queen’s Park, I’ve been preoccupied gawking at the train-wreck Toronto municipal election. But we’re not perfect. We need to focus on getting our own council chambers running smoothly and with purpose, if only to ward off dictatorial decrees from our provincial overlords.

My ward has no incumbent this time around; Aidan Johnson made the decision that one term was enough. I liked Coun. Johnson. I found him receptive to my queries and an exemplar of the conscientious public servant. I thank him for his service and wish him good fortune on his new position.

Now the people in Ward 1 get to pick someone new, along with wards 3, 7, 8. Fresh ideas and new faces are a welcome opportunity to effect change. Everyone else is up for a repeat performance for another term. For some, it’s the third or fourth time around. That’s a problem. How are we expected to improve our lot with the same councillors holding us back term over term?

Here we are, again, having another do-or-die discussion about the LRT.

Here we are, again, dealing with a growing list of people who need affordable housing.

Here we are, again, dealing with aging infrastructure and decaying roads.

We don’t seem to be getting ahead with the people who have been in charge, some of them for multiple terms. Maybe it’s time to shake things up, get new blood around the table and bring in new ideas and ways of doing business.

We need councillors who will stay the course when they make difficult and controversial decisions; councillors with a commitment to a vision of Hamilton as something better. We’ve done the work, we know what we want to be: the best place to raise a child and age successfully. We need councillors who are willing to take the risks to achieve that vision.

We need councillors who support public transit and who are committed to bringing transit to all citizens of the city of Hamilton, boundary to boundary. We can’t wait until teleporter technology is perfected or whatever the most recent travel technologies are being touted as future forward. We have to act now, with the technology we have today, while making room for future innovations as the system expands. The LRT is just the beginning of a better transit system for Hamilton. We need councillors who are committed to that vision.

We need councillors who will fight for affordable housing funds without using the most vulnerable of our citizenry as pawns in political turf wars. That we have over 6,000 people waiting for affordable housing is a shame on us all. While we fight for provincial funding to fill the need, these people can’t wait, soon to be freezing in the dark, while those who sleep under warm blankets at night fight about responsibility. We need representatives who want to effect solutions to our homeless challenges, not councillors who want to pass the buck.

We need councillors who can represent their wards effectively, but who privilege Hamilton as a whole over parochial ward interests. Councillors who can work collaboratively under our shared vision, contributing positively to creating greatness rather than councillors focused on what’s in it for them and fighting for narrow ward interests. Hamilton is greater than the sum of its wards.

The lure of incumbency is difficult for people to ignore. A familiar face, a known name on a slate of strangers is a friend whether personal contact has happened or not. There are 11 incumbents in 15 wards. Council doesn’t have term limits, but two terms is enough to get your ward agenda addressed. Don’t hog the trough.

If we want change for Hamilton, we have to change our representation. Several incumbents are running for their third or fourth, or more, terms. Surely there is someone who can do the job just as well, or better, among the challengers brave enough to take on an incumbent. We are spinning our wheels trying to effect change with the same representation.

The work of democracy is hard, it’s not something you can off-load to your neighbour; you have to exercise your vote yourself. This is our chance, once every four years, for the citizens of Hamilton to exercise our democracy muscle and get involved in the selection of our next city representatives. We need the voices of all Hamilton citizens to make these choices. Please make the effort on Oct. 22. Get out and vote.