The $25k balustrade flip-flop

Public pressure has Hamilton city councillors rethinking a

$25,000 decision for an improved balcony view.

In November 2017, 10 councillors voted to replace a ninth-floor balustrade with safety glass at a cost of up to $25,000.

The price has since increased, and now a group of several councillors is trying to overturn the decision.

‘‘As soon as I voted for it – everybody voted for it – I sat there thinking ‘I don’t really know about this’,’’ said councillor James Casson, who seconded the original motion.

‘‘[The revocation] is definitely the reverse of what I originally seconded . . . I’m just admitting, hey, we got this one wrong.’’

Casson said he initially supported the balustrade project for safety reasons, but got flak afterwards.

Now four councillors – Mark Bunting, Angela O’Leary, Paula Southgate, and Leo Tooman – have co-signed Casson’s bid to reverse the decision.

Cr Paula Southgate spoke against the balustrade removal but voted to support the report it was in.

She got confused, she said, and her colleagues all voted for it.

‘‘I think that sometimes that happens – things go through in a slight rush. And then you have time to weigh it up against other decisions,’’ she said.

The original vote for the up-to$25,000 spend was unanimous, but Crs Geoff Taylor and Mark Bunting were absent and Cr Ryan Hamilton had not yet been elected.