Eroding decorum flagged as concern at city hall
Increased agitation between ‘old guard’ and ‘inexperienced’ councillors; delegates get rough ride during heated debate about Aberdeen ‘road diet’
It’s June and Uber just announced it will abandon Hamilton’s popular bike-share program.
A pitch by councillors Maureen Wilson, Jason Farr and Nrinder Nann to use ward funds to help keep SoBi afloat doesn’t gain enough votes.
Fans of the bike-share initiative unleash a storm of criticism via social media and email.
But Farr manages to line up private donations to patch together a plan to keep SoBi alive without public dollars.
There are congratulations, but also jabs.
After praising Farr, Coun. Terry Whitehead adds, “And we know who the workers are.”
For Nann, the new Ward 3 councillor, who pushed for the first proposal, it’s a not-so-veiled barb that alleges there are “doers and non-doers.”
“I think it’s highly unfortunate that some of our colleagues continue down this path of creating this division around our council table,” she said at the time.
“And quite frankly, I’m sick, literally, and tired of it, and I’m really hoping that it will stop very soon.”
Months have passed and “it” hasn’t stopped.
The digs continue and camps between the so-called “old guard” and “inexperienced” councillors seem firmly entrenched with increased agitation over critics on social media.
Add to this discord the aggressive grilling of residents who delegate before elected officials on various issues.
Last week, Whitehead sparred with Coun. John-Paul Danko during a public works session over Whitehead’s aggressive line of inquiry of staff and delegates.
Danko, who is chair, ejected Whitehead from the virtual meeting for questioning the “competence” of transportation director Edward Soldo and refusing to apologize.
In turn, the veteran Mountain councillor accused Danko, newly elected in 2018, of “retaliation” for the committee’s rejection of his
attempt to halt his line of inquiry with a citizen delegate over a contentious “road diet” for Aberdeen Avenue.
Nann worries disrespect for delegates will keep residents from going before council to raise important issues, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We need those voices now more than ever, and I’m really concerned that we’re seeing an erosion of democracy locally as a result of these kinds of issues.”
Ned Nolan, a lawyer who lives two blocks from Aberdeen, was delegating in favour of the pilot project to reduce Aberdeen to two lane from four. He shares this trepidation.
“I can handle it, but what worries me in the big picture is how this atmosphere affects other councillors and staff, and other citizens who may want to delegate. I’m concerned that this behaviour can have a chilling effect.”
Whitehead, a vocal critic of the road diet, lobbed him several technical traffic questions, peppered him with rhetorical inquiries and assailed his stance as “hypocritical.”
Danko ejected his Mountain colleague when he accused Soldo of being disingenuous about the nature of a private conversation he had with him about the Aberdeen project.
In an interview, Whitehead told The Spectator he stands by how he interacted with the staffer and delegates, contending the notion of decorum can be “subjective.”
The Ward 14 councillor also argued “activists” are stealing too much of the limelight. “We know who they are; we know who they’re joined with, and we know politically their associations.”
Whitehead also said heated council meetings are nothing compared to the mud that’s slung at Queen’s Park and in Ottawa.
“You can’t expect politicians to be teetotallers. We’ve got a huge responsibility and I’m trying to fight the fight, and Aberdeen is very important to my community.”
Whitehead has argued fewer lanes on the west-east thoroughfare between Highway 403 and Queen Street South will lead to greater logjams on the Mountain and accesses.
Later at council this week, he supported the pilot, calling it “prudent,” but warned lower traffic counts due to COVID-19 could skew results.
For his part, Danko describes the Sept. 11 turbulence as a “watershed moment.”
He said conservations with most of his colleagues, several staff and members of the public showed support for his actions as chair.
“And also quite a bit of relief that things have perhaps come to a head and a desire to improve things moving forward.”
Wilson, who represents Ward 1 and backed the Aberdeen pilot amid a late-arriving 700-plus-name petition against it, was one of those supportive voices.
“We set the tone for how our civic engagement should be exercised, and when one of us or any of us demonstrate that level of toxicity, it reflects poorly on all of us and the institution, and it makes people turn their back on city hall.”
On Thursday, the chairs of the various standing committees received a rules of order refresher organized through the office of city manager Janette Smith.
Peter Graefe, a political scientist at McMaster University, told The Spectator the dynamic between elected officials and delegates should involve a few questions to “tease out” additional facts.
“Citizens bring the information. The debate is with the councillors.”
But, for years, Hamilton “has been odd” in the “extent to which councillors want to debate the people who are delegating,” said Graefe, noting the practice also wastes time.
Resident Ian Borsuk is troubled that councillors may “pre-emptively” decide to challenge a delegate based on affiliations.
“Because then it no longer becomes an issue of what I’m going to be saying in my delegation; it’s going to become an issue of who I am and who my affiliations are,” said Borsuk, who has delegated on behalf of Environment Hamilton and the Hamilton Transit Alliance.
Nolan argues there’s no reason to shy away from the term “activist.”
“If I’m an activist advocating on behalf of many neighbours and families in my community for a safe street, then I would proudly accept that label, and I’d say that ought never to become a bad word.”
Coun. Sam Merulla, a longtime representative for Ward 4 in the east end, also tangled with Danko at public works last week, accusing him of believing “petitions are useless.”
Merulla also took umbrage with a comparison of the Aberdeen project to a Kenilworth Avenue road diet he established in Ward 4, exclaiming at one point, “stop lying.”
In an interview, Merulla said that wasn’t meant for Nolan, but rather “liars” pushing a “false comparison” of how the Kenilworth effort came about politically.
As of late, the veteran councillor has frequently blamed “keyboard morons” — a term he coined to describe critics on social media — for holding undue influence over the local political discourse.
Merulla argues a social media campaign, allegedly with political ties to the NDP, is being waged against the “old-timers” on council.
Conversely, the “new guys are being seen as strings on a puppet to the social media cabal,” he said, calling it a worrisome dynamic for local governance.
“Their loyalty seems to be more in line with the keyboard morons than they are with their own council colleagues and by extension the City of Hamilton.”
Danko doesn’t reject the notion that active social media accounts can influence debate but notes councillors end up waging “proxy battles” with one another over perceived supporters and enemies online.
“I think some councillors, more than others, are having a difficult time keeping those two worlds separate.”
Nann says she’s not immune to criticism, the most recent of which is over the way her office handled a temporary men’s shelter in the Stinson neighbourhood.
But she says her response must be measured. “If I blow up and lose my mind on an issue, I’m disserving the residents that I represent.”
Merulla has called out delegates a few times in recent months. He says it’s within his rights to respond to criticism, some of which he describes as libellous.
“I understand that people think we’re superhuman but we’re human. So if you think you’re going to attack and call names and threaten, it just flies against human nature.”
Chris Ritsma, however, says he doesn’t know what he posted to Twitter that provoked a warning by Merulla during a February presentation that he has a “team of lawyers” monitoring tweets about him.
“I don’t think it’s a healthy dynamic. I think people should be open and able to be critical without fear of repercussions,” said Ritsma, who is chair of the cycling advisory committee.
As for that barb against Danko, “that was nothing,” Merulla said. “It’s politics. Well that’s the problem. Everybody’s a bloody snowflake.”
In fact, he added, it doesn’t compare to breaches in decorum of councils past, noting a particular tense dynamic with staff just after amalgamation in 2001.
Mayor Fred Eisenberger also says decorum is better than it was, recalling how in his first term as mayor, the relationship between and staff and council was so “terrible,” a psychologist was hired to iron out the issues.
“That was then. We’ve had much less of that in recent years,” he told The Spectator. However, the mayor said “there’s an opportunity to remind people what inclusive and respectful behaviour ought to be” for delegates and officials.
Eisenberger, who says Danko made “an appropriate call,” at council this week was among those who thanked Whitehead for his “passion.”
Coun. Tom Jackson lauded him as a “ferocious and fierce” advocate for constituents and alluded to “unfair and unnecessary criticisms and attacks” Whitehead had endured.
Eisenberger, urged, however, this “passion” not “translate into the personal,” adding “we can disagree and not be disagreeable.”
For Wilson, that wasn’t enough. The message needs to be stronger.
“I will never accept or make excuses for that kind of bad, toxic behaviour. It was appalling. It will always be appalling.”