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Disband “Ineffective” Farmers Market Board Bogged Down by Vendor Reps: Consultant Says – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 14, 2020
Hamilton’s Farmers’ Market Board is “ineffective” and needs to be disbanded, says a 36-page governance review conducted by Michael H Howes & Anne Bermingham of 2WA Consulting, Inc.
The consultants squarely lay the fault for the Board’s dysfunction with an entrenched group of vendor representatives who are misusing their positions to advance their own interests at the expense of the improvement of the Market.
The Board is “bogged down with operational issues and decisions” instead of making policy, the consultants write. This “has resulted in an ineffective board”.
The consultants interviewed Market Board members and the Market Manager in the course of making their findings.
Much of the reason for the ineffective board rests with the three vendor Board representatives who use their Board seats to argue about the day-to-day operating practices of the Market.
The consultants note the vendor representatives frequently bring up “issues and situations relating to the [2011/12] renovation of the Market footprint are repeatedly raised and identified as historical injustices, with the vendors highlighting that they have been treated very badly”.
“This is either an effort to gain a more sympathetic view of the issues they want to discuss”, the consultants write. “Or a deliberate obfuscation that drags out meetings to the point that everyone becomes frustrated and the agenda cannot be completed”.
The consultants note the Market Board frequently debates City parking policy on nearby streets and the York Boulevard parking garage. [The consultant repeatedly writes “York Street” in error while referring to York Boulevard]
“Any changes are to the account of the City Council and none are planned. This does not stop the Board from continually discussing the issue”. The consultants state during their interviews with vendor representatives, the lack of metered parking on York Boulevard was a grievance the vendor Board members repeatedly brought up.
The vendor representatives have expressed strong opposition to bike lanes on York Boulevard, and complain the addition of bike lanes “has a major negative impact on business for vendors”.
The consultants note the Market Board overuses in-camera sessions, asking “if it is being used to have conversations that the Board doesn’t want made public but should be”.
Market vendor Board members are not suppose to discuss or vote on issues when they have a conflict of interest. The consultant notes multiple violations of these rules.
The vendor members of the Board frequently overrule the Market Manager, when they should not, the consultants found. Many vendors refuse to obey by market rules, such as hours and parking at the loading dock.
One of the vendor board members, who frequently flouts the rules has refused to pay fines imposed against him.
The report finds vendor representatives are openly hostile to citizen appointees on the board, claiming the citizens have a political agenda detrimental to the market and do not shop regularly at the Market. “There is no evidence to back-up either of these claims”, the consultant writes.
Residents who shop at the Market expressed much frustration with vendors randomly closing early and not following market policies.
31% of respondents to a survey noted complaints related to market hours and adherence to those hours by vendors. The consultant says the market hours must be enforced, among various numerous policy violations to address.
During a Council meeting today, Ward 15 Councillor Judi Partridge described it as a damning report requiring the attention of Council.
Ward 2 Councillor Jason Farr stepped off the Farmers’ Market Board this term of Council, Ward 7 Councillor Esther Pauls is on the Board.

created: September 14, 2020


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Hamilton City Council Doesn’t Decide on Market COVID Rent Reductions – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 14, 2020
Hamilton City Council deferred a decision on a request for a 75% rent deduction for vendors in the Hamilton Farmers’ Market.
Council will make a decision at a future date, possibly next Wednesday, September 23rd.
The proposed discount is similar to the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program. CECRA provides 50% of rent to commercial landlords, with the landlord expected to forgive 25% of rent, and businesses paying 25% of their usual rent.
The cost of providing rent relief, for April to August, is estimated to be $150,000.
Four vendors have left since COVID began, with many more expressing concerns about their ability to continue due to significantly reduced sales.
Prior to COVID, 45 percent of Market customers arrive via the Jackson Square entrance.
It is not known what percentage of the Market’s customers are people who work downtown. Hamilton’s downtown office buildings are mostly vacant. The City of Hamilton is the largest employer downtown, and its staff will continue working from home until at least January 2021.
The City of Hamilton is the landlord of the Farmers’ Market, and as a municipal government is ineligible for the federal program. The Farmers’ Market, while a municipal corporation, does not have ownership of the market building.
Ward 9 Councillor Brad Clark asked if the City can include this cost in its pending request to the Province for COVID costs reimbursements. Staff stated they will explore this.
Ward 15 City Councillor Judi Partridge asked if granting relief at the Farmers’ Market opens the City up to a “tsunami of requests”.
City staff state they will bring forth a report on September 23rd. The City has received relief requests from other tenants of the City’s real estate operations, and this would be cited by them in their requests.
Partridge expressed concerned about the “fairness” of this request, citing that the City is not providing property tax relief to commercial ratepayers.
Ward 2 Councillor Jason Farr began his questions by asking if the doors between the Market and Jackson Square have reopened. The Market is located in the centre of Ward 2. The doors have been open since early July.
Farr continued his questions, asking if Market vendors had received the Canadian Emergency Relief Benefit. CERB is an individual income support program. Small business owners qualify for CERB if their businesses are unable to pay them an income of more than $1000 per month. Many businesses, such as Farmers’ Market restaurants, have lost all their revenue sources. These businesses are still being billed rent by the City of Hamilton for their market stalls.
Staff responded to Farr that it is not known how many market stall holders qualified and took the assistance program. In any event, this be personal information not available to the City.
Ward 7 Councillor Esther Pauls, who sits on the Market Board as the City Council representative, expressed her support for a rent reduction. Pauls asked how many vendors applied for various government COVID commerical loan programs. Staff and the Market Board Chair do not know the number, and there is no requirement for businesses to disclose this information.
At one point during the meeting, Partridge waved what she described as a “damning report” on Market governance. The report, which is not yet public, was provided to some members of City Council a month ago, Partridge said.
The Legislative Assistance managing today’s Council meeting stated it had not been provided to her prior to the meeting. It is not clear who had the report, and how it reached some Councillors. The Farmers’ Market is the responsibility of the Office of the City Manager (CMO). The Director of Strategic Partnership position is presently vacant.
Matthew Grant, Director of Communications & Intergovernment Relations, states the CMO is working to release the report. “We’d like to ensure you and other members of the press have a copy”, Grant wrote.
Council spent just over an hour in closed session debating the rent relief request before emerging to announce the deferral of decision to a later date.
The Public Record took a copy of the meeting video and it is available on our YouTube page.

source: news-thepublicrecord

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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Hamilton City Hall v. LGBTQ Committee: Part I – An Illegal Investigation – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 30, 2020
This is Part I in a four-part series examining Hamilton City Council directing their appointed Integrity Commissioners to investigate the Chair of Hamilton’s LGBTQ Advisory Committee. For background and a timeline, visit the main page of the series here.
In an unsigned report, the Integrity Commissioners say LGBTQ Advisory Committee Chair Cameron Kroetsch should be removed from advisory committees and publicly reprimanded by Council for his statements on CHML criticizing City Council and the
City’s Senior Management Team for their roles in various City Hall cover-ups, for his criticism of backroom deals at City Hall, and for his public criticism of the Council appointee on the Hamilton Police Service Board.
Part I of a four-part analysis explains why this investigation is ultra vires, outside the bounds of law, and thus illegal.
Hamilton’s Integrity Commissioners are retired municipal senior managers Janice Atwood-Petkovski and Jeffrey Abrams. Atwood-Petkovski was Hamilton City Solicitor for four years, retiring in 2017.
The basis for the Integrity Commissioners’ investigation is a series of rule changes and resolutions passed by City Council in closed session earlier this year.
Integrity Commissioners derive their powers and authorities from Section 223.3 of the [Ontario] Municipal Act. The Act states ICs can investigate members of Council or Local Boards. They cannot investigate city staff, residents of the municipality, or groups which are not a Local Board.
The Municipal Act defines Local Board as “a municipal service board, transportation commission, public library board, board of health, police services board, planning board, or any other board, commission, committee, body or local authority established or exercising any power under any Act with respect to the affairs or purposes of one or more municipalities, excluding a school board and a conservation authority”.
It is not legal for Hamilton City Council to adopt a different definition of Local Board.
City Clerk Holland and City Solicitor Nicole Auty did not provide the analysis used to declare advisory committees to be Local Boards.
This interpretation is foundational the launching of the investigation regarding Kroetsch.
The Municipal Act definition has been clarified in numerous Ontario Court rulings, the foundational case for defining a Local Board is City of Hamilton and Hamilton Harbour Commissioners eta 1984 CanLII 2125 (ON SC).
The Ontario courts conduct a four part test to determine if a entity is a Local Board:
1. the entity must be carrying on the “affairs of the municipality” (as set out in the definition in section 1);
2. a direct link with the municipality must be found (either by way of legislation or authority from the municipality);
3. there must be a connection to or control by the municipality; and
4. there must be an element of autonomy.
The four part test presumes the entity “is established or exercising any power under any Act with respect to the affairs or purposes of one or more municipalities”.
To be a Local Board, all four conditions must be met. Atwood-Petkovski and Abrams are required to conduct this test and include it in their investigative report. They did not. In paragraph 3 of their report, they state “An advisory committee is a local board to which the code of conduct and oversight by the integrity commissioner apply”.
To be a Local Board “there must be an element of autonomy”. In paragraphs 20 and 21 of their report, Atwood-Petkovski and Abrams declare “advisory committees are not decision-making bodies” and “for advisory committee members, it is sometimes a surprising revelation that their personal advocacy for a public policy issue may in some respects be constrained by their appointment to a body which is bound to an advisory role only, given the primacy of Council”.
In doing so, Atwood-Petkovski and Abrams have found that the LGBTQ Advisory Committee is not a Local Board. They do not explain the contradiction between their statements. The earth cannot be both round and flat at the same time.
In paragraphs 42, 46, 52, 90, 91, 96, 97, and 98 of their report, Atwood-Petkovski and Abrams repeatedly state the LGBTQ Advisory Committee has neither autonomy, nor the ability to exercise any power with respect to the affairs of the municipality.
At no point in their report do Atwood-Petkovski and Abrams explain why they believe that, despite all their findings to the contrary, the Advisory Committee is a Local Board. Instead, throughout the report, they simply accept the claims of City Clerk Holland.
Section 223 of the Municipal Act requires Atwood-Petkovski and Abrams to independently assess and evaluate the claims put forth to them. There is nothing in their report to indicate they have done so.
Written coherent reasons are required of statutory decision makers. In 2018, in a judicial review of decisions made in part by Atwood-Petkovski as City Solicitor, writing for an unanimous three-judge Divisional Court panel Ontario Superior Court Justice Michael N. Varpio chastised the City for failing to properly consist the law and explain its legal reasoning when making statutory decisions. (CHP v. City of Hamilton, 2018 ONSC 3690)
It is for these reasons that Atwood-Petkovski and Abrams’ investigation is ultra vires – beyond the powers granted to them and City Council under the Municipal Act – and therefore illegal.

created: September 30, 2020


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Hamilton City Hall v. LGBTQ Committee: The Misuse of the Integrity Commissioner, a Four Part Series – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 29, 2020
Hamilton’s Integrity Commissioners have completed their first investigation in years.
In an unsigned report, the Integrity Commissioners say LGBTQ Advisory Committee Chair Cameron Kroetsch should be removed from advisory committees and publicly reprimanded by Council for his statements on CHML criticizing City Council and the City’s Senior Management Team for their roles in various City Hall cover-ups, for his criticism of backroom deals at City Hall, and for his public criticism of the Council appointee on the Hamilton Police Service Board.
Hamilton’s Integrity Commissioners are retired municipal senior managers Janice Atwood-Petkovski and Jeffery Abrams. Atwood-Petkovski was Hamilton City Solicitor for four years, retiring in 2017.
The basis for the Integrity Commissioners’ investigation is a series of rule changes and resolutions passed by City Council in closed session earlier this year.
There are many flaws to the report:
For ease of reading, the analysis of this Integrity Commissioner is broken into four parts:
Part I: An Illegal Investigation
Part II: The Hamilton Integrity Commissioners – Outliers with an Alternative Approach
Part III: False Claims, Accusations, and City Hall Contradictions
Part IV: Conflict of Interest and the City Clerk’s Misinterpretation of Law
Part I is being published today, with Parts II – IV to follow.
In February, City Clerk Holland and other members of the City’s Senior Management Team (SMT) negotiated a new long-term contract with Atwood-Petkovski and Jeffrey Abrams, who operate as the company Principles Integrity, to be Council’s Integrity Commissioners for the remainder of this Council’s term. The contract includes a provision for this Council to extend the term for a potential total length of six-and-a-half years. This appears to be the longest contract ever offered to an municipal Integrity Commissioner firm in Ontario.
The financial compensation and performance metrics of the contract are not publicly available. As integrity commissioners are not employee of the municipality, there is no impact upon the pension payments of ICs who are also retired municipal employees.
The long-term contract follows four short-term non-competitive contracts issued by Council to Principles Integrity over 20 months beginning in July 2018. [Contract extension: 2,3,4]
During their first 20 months, Atwood-Petkovski and Abrams closed all complaints without any public investigative reports and recommended no sanctions against Councillors who threatened people on numerous occasions. Among the incidents, a series of threats Ward 4 Councillor Sam Merulla posted to Twitter threatening a CHCH journalist for airing video of Merulla’s statements during a Council meeting. Twitter suspended his account for violating its terms of use. Atwood-Petkovski and Abrams investigated the matter and do not consider the behaviour serious enough to warrant a public report.
At the same time as the long-term contract was offered, Council and SMT were finalizing the plans for the Integrity Commissioners to write an investigative report regarding Kroetsch.
On February 26, Hamilton City Council confirmed the new Integrity Commissioner contract. During closed session that evening. under the title of “Committee Update”, Council provided instructions to the City Clerk to relay to the Integrity Commissioner a resolution directing the IC to launch this investigation.
The investigation was formally launched March 4 and was made the top priority of the Integrity Commissioner. On March 5, the City Clerk updated the City website to state that Advisory Committees were now Local Boards, and updated the Integrity Commissioner webpage to include that IC’s new powers.
The significance of this change is noted below.
Integrity Commissioners derive their powers and authorities from Section 223.3 of the [Ontario] Municipal Act. The Act states ICs can investigate members of Council or Local Boards. They cannot investigate city staff, residents of the municipality, or groups which are not a Local Board.
The Municipal Act defines Local Board as “a municipal service board, transportation commission, public library board, board of health, police services board, planning board, or any other board, commission, committee, body or local authority established or exercising any power under any Act with respect to the affairs or purposes of one or more municipalities, excluding a school board and a conservation authority”.
It is not legal for Hamilton City Council to adopt a different definition of Local Board. City Clerk Holland and City Solicitor Nicole Auty did not provide the analysis used to declare advisory committees to be Local Boards.
This interpretation is foundational the launching of the investigation regarding Kroetsch.
The Municipal Act definition has been clarified in numerous Ontario Court rulings, the foundational case for defining a Local Board is City of Hamilton and Hamilton Harbour Commissioners eta 1984 CanLII 2125 (ON SC).
The Ontario courts conduct a four part test to determine if a entity is a Local Board:
1. the entity must be carrying on the “affairs of the municipality” (as set out in the definition in section 1);
2. a direct link with the municipality must be found (either by way of legislation or authority from the municipality);
3. there must be a connection to or control by the municipality; and
4. there must be an element of autonomy.
The four part test presumes the entity “is established or exercising any power under any Act with respect to the affairs or purposes of one or more municipalities”.
To be a Local Board, all four conditions must be met. Atwood-Petkovski and Abrams are required to conduct this test and include it in their investigative report. They did not. In paragraph 3 of their report, they state “An advisory committee is a local board to which the code of conduct and oversight by the integrity commissioner apply”.
To be a Local Board “there must be an element of autonomy”. In paragraphs 20 and 21 of their report, Atwood-Petkovski and Abrams declare “advisory committees are not decision-making bodies” and “for advisory committee members, it is sometimes a surprising revelation that their personal advocacy for a public policy issue may in some respects be constrained by their appointment to a body which is bound to an advisory role only, given the primacy of Council”.
In doing so, Atwood-Petkovski and Abrams have found that the LGBTQ Advisory Committee is not a Local Board. They do not explain the contradiction between their statements. The earth cannot be both round and flat at the same time.
In paragraphs 42, 46, 52, 90, 91, 96, 97, and 98 of their report, Atwood-Petkovski and Abrams repeatedly state the LGBTQ Advisory Committee has neither autonomy, nor the ability to exercise any power with respect to the affairs of the municipality.
At no point in their report do Atwood-Petkovski and Abrams explain why they believe that, despite all their findings to the contrary, the Advisory Committee is a Local Board. Instead, throughout the report, they simply accept the claims of City Clerk Holland.
Section 223 of the Municipal Act requires Atwood-Petkovski and Abrams to independently assess and evaluate the claims put forth to them. There is nothing in their report to indicate they have done so.
Written coherent reasons are required of statutory decision makers. In 2018, in a judicial review of decisions made in part by Atwood-Petkovski as City Solicitor, writing for an unanimous three-judge Divisional Court panel Ontario Superior Court Justice Michael N. Varpio chastised the City for failing to properly consist the law and explain its legal reasoning when making statutory decisions. (CHP v. City of Hamilton, 2018 ONSC 3690)
It is for these reasons that Atwood-Petkovski and Abrams’ investigation is ultra vires – beyond the powers granted to them and City Council under the Municipal Act – and therefore illegal.

created: September 29, 2020


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Hamilton Heritage Committee Recommends Designation of Royal Connaught – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 17, 2020
Hamilton’s Municipal Heritage Committee voted to recommend formal heritage designation for the former Royal Connaught Hotel building in Downtown Hamilton, but not before residents of the building aired their grievances about the condominium corporate structure of the building.
The process of designation took over a decade, with City Council initiating the process in April 2008 – shortly after the hotel closed and the building entered into receivership.
The eastern portion of the building was first constructed in 1914-16 in the Edwardian Classicism style by Buffalo architects Esenwein & Johnson, the Royal Connaught Hotel was Hamilton’s grand hotel and ball room during the nearly 90 years it operated. As Hamilton’s fortunes decreased with deindustrialization, so did the hotel which struggled in the 1990s before closing in 2004. The western portion of building was constructed starting in 1931 and is being designated as well.
Vote carried 7-2.
The designation, if approved by Council, will protect nearly all of the exterior of the building and protect the interior lobby and mezzanine.
The developers who converted the Royal Connaught into condominiums, Rudi Spallacci and Ted Valeri, retained ownership of the lobby and the ground level commercial units. The developers are charging condo residents a fee of $68,000 for use of the lobby. Many residents of the condos are upset about this arrangement and how the condominium corporations were structured. Various matters related to the condominiums are subject to litigation. [Recent changes to Ontario’s condominium laws now forbid these kind of rent-seeking arrangements by developers]
Residents Lynda Zugec, Trevor Copp, and Kristina Schmuttermeier each delegated to the Committee to share their concerns about how they’ve been treated by the developers, the problems they see as a result of the creation of multiple condo boards, and who would be responsible for the costs of heritage preservation in the building.
Each of them, in different ways, noted the developer is the party who is making revenue from the lobby and the commercial units. They want the City to require the developer to be responsible for heritage preservation.
Numerous times during the meeting, the Chair and City staff asked the delegates to return their discussion to the heritage designation matter.
Hamilton City Council will need to ratify the Heritage Committee’s decision in a future meeting.

created: September 17, 2020


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Hamilton Public Library Expanding Hours Starting October 5 – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 17, 2020
Hamilton’s largest library branches will resume Monday and evening hours beginning as soon as October 5, Chief Librarian Paul Takala announced Wednesday during the Hamilton Public Library’s monthly Board meeting.
Central, Dundas, Red Hill, Terryberry, Turner Park, and Waterdown branches will open an hour earlier at 10:00am on weekdays. These branches will remain open until 9:00pm Monday to Thursday with limited services after 6:00pm. 6:00pm to 9:00pm will be quiet study hours and only self-service options available. Theses branches will close at 6:00pm on Fridays.
The official date of expanding hours will be announced by the Hamilton Public Library in the near future.
The HPL plans to expand Saturday hours at all branches to 10:00am to 5:00pm. Presently, branches open at 11:00am.
Sunday hours will not resume in 2020. Takala says library management will make a decision in November regarding Sunday hours for 2021.
“Inequalities in our community that are being exasperated by the pandemic”, Takala said. He says that many neighbourhoods in Hamilton have less access to technology – both high speed internet and computers. For this reason, the library is prioritizing the Barton, Concession, Kenilworth, Sherwood, and Parkdale branches for the second phase of expanded hours. The plan is to have these branches opened six days a week with Monday to Thursday evening hours shortly after the first groups hours is expanded.
The plan for “Group 3” library branches – the remaining urban branches – is to expand to six days per week at a future date. The rural branches, many of which had non-staffed self serve hours prior to COVID, will be reviewed at a later point. The library hopes to resume non-staffed self serve eventually.


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Hamilton Public Library Forecasts Budget Surplus, Due to Closures and Secondments – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 19, 2020
Few municipal services provide the budget transparency of the Hamilton Public Library, and the Library’s mid-year fiscal update gives us a picture of COVID impacts upon government services.
Overall, the Library expects a end of the year surplus of $879,000. With the reopening of branches, this is likely to be a one-time “surplus” due to increased cleaning and other COVID related costs.
The surplus is primarily driven by position vacancies, operational cost decreases due to COVID closures and reduced hours of operation, and secondments of staff who are ultimately being paid by the Province for work in the Hamilton public health unit COVID response.
While there is an overall surplus, the Library is experiencing some many increased costs and decreases in revenue.
Losses of revenue include:
Increased costs include:
Savings include:
Hamilton City Hall denied requests from The Public Record for public financial ledger information during the summer.

created: September 19, 2020


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Joey's Notepad: Federal By-Elections and Voting During COVID – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 21, 2020
With so much happening, I missed the announcement Friday of two federal by-elections in Toronto scheduled for October 26.
The election is worth watching for how Elections Canada handles demand for mail-in ballots, manages to achieve physical distancing at polling locations, and what changes are recommended in preparation for the next general election whenever the present minority Parliament ends.
Voter turnout during by-elections is usually significantly lower than regular elections. This means Elections Canada will not face the same level of challenge to implement pandemic protocols.

created: September 21, 2020


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Joey's Notepad: HPL Curbside Pickup Not As Busy As I Thought – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 19, 2020
Joey’s Notepad is where I post short notes in a microblog format.
Wednesday, I reported that the Hamilton Public Library is expanding hours starting in October and that in the event Hamilton needs to return to “Stage 2” COVID restrictions, the HPL will keep branches open for self-service instead of returning to curbside pickup.
The HPL report on hours stated that curbside pickup was labour intensive as a primary reason for not resuming this service.
In the HPL’s circulation report, the Library states only 6,930 physical items were circulated during the May/June pick-up service.
Considering the amount of work involved and the low take-up of curbside pickup, not returning to it makes a lot of sense.


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Joey's Notepad: Interesting things I don't have time to cover (i) – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 19, 2020
The owner of Odeon Fitness wrote Hamilton City Council this week asking them to expand the City’s mandatory masking bylaw to include indoor fitness facilities.
“We do intense, functional fitness/crossfit style workouts including cardio and weightlifting, and have found that all the members who take the masked indoor classes have been able to do the workouts, regardless of age, ability, or
fitness level, with their masks on”, Marnie Saskin writes on behalf of the business. “They have found the masks a discomfort rather than a hindrance, and say that it makes them feel more at ease since everyone is masked”.
This is an interesting angle to life during COVID, and this is not the only fitness facility in Hamilton to require masking.
Odeon Fitness is also asking the City to allow fitness businesses to operate outdoors, with physical distancing, if indoor activities are restricted due to another outbreak of COVID. There is a good potential story about this idea, and also a role for journalists to answer the questions about how we allocate our outdoor spaces. What would this entail, how would the City allocate space, and does the City charge for the space.
Like many businesses, Odeon is very concerned about surviving the winter, as they note in their closing line.
The full letter to Council below as an image:


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Joey's Notepad: Mask Littering Mentioned in Staff Report – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 19, 2020
On Page 9 of the City of Hamilton staff report regarding mandatory masking, staff note the visible problem of people littering their disposal masks.
“There have been anecdotal reports of increased littering due to
improper disposal of non-reusable masks”, states the report. “Educational efforts to inform the public on how to properly dispose of masks will continue”.
I was asking myself today if Hamilton Spectator cartoonist Graeme Mackay is already drafting an updated version of his class “Signs of Spring” Tim Hortons cup litter cartoon.


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Joey’s Notepad: Municipal Councils as Quasi-Judicial Decision Makers – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 30, 2020
Today at 9:30 am, Hamilton City Council will decide if it will impose a penalty upon a volunteer citizen advisory committee member for expressing views critical of members of City Council and senior managers of the City.
This is a rare instance of Council entering into quasi-judicial decision-making – they are sitting in judgment of an individual, must determine guilt, and render a decision that complies with the Municipal Act, common law, and natural justice.
In short, they must provide due and fair process.
They are the trier of the facts based upon the Integrity Commissioners’ investigative report and finding.
They must weigh the merits of the report, ensure they’ve heard all the relevant information, and render a decision.
The decision can be appealed to the Ontario Divisional Court for judicial review. The Divisional Court can review the decision for reasonableness – does it comply with the law, and is the decision within the range of reasons available to the Council based upon the facts of the case?
Judicial review is just that, a review. The Court does not become a new trier of fact.
Quasi-judicial implies almost but not entirely judicial.
While Council is sitting in judgment, the individual councillors remain politicians and can speak politically. Individual councillors can act with bias, make outlandish statements, and vote for political reasons divorced from the facts.
It is the final decision of the Council that must meet the requirements of the law.


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Joey's Notepad: Transparency in Transportation Design Decisions at the Jolley Cut and Concession – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 20, 2020
I’m working on summarizing the 661-page consultants report on the future of Sam Lawrence Park. It is an extensive information dense document covering everything related to the park. My notes are a couple of pages long now.
In the report are the discarded options for changes to the Jolley Cut and Concession Street. It is nice to see this level of transparency in a public document, mostly importantly because it gives us a detailed understanding of the decision making process involved in the consultant’s final recommendations.
I’ve extracted the discarded function design options, here’s the PDF of the five designs if you are interested.
Sam Lawrence Park is intersected by the Jolley Cut, a major mountain access route between the lower city and mountain. There are no alternative routes. Due to how the road bends in the escarpment cut, any queuing of cars poses a higher than usual risk of rear end collisions. This is one of the reasons the roadway has the “jughandle” for vehicles wishing to go from the Jolley Cut onto Concession Street to travel eastbound – a queue of vehicles awaiting a left turn at the intersection risks creating a hazard.
Sam Lawrence Park is a popular destination, many pedestrians need to safely cross the street. The current design is not safe for pedestrians, especially more vulnerable users of the park.
The space available is constrained, there are houses on Concession, the escarpment to the south, and any space used for roadway is less space for parkland in one of Hamilton’s premier park locations.
Thus, the consultants needed to find a design which best balances various needs, needs which are more specific than in many other locations
Ultimately, they recommend the removal of the right turn channels on the east side of Upper Wellington, and a redesign of the “jughandle” to create a formalized pedestrian crossing. A stop sign will be installed for traffic coming from the Jolley Cut on the “jughandle” to make clear pedestrians have priority. Removing the right turn channels increases pedestrian safety, and makes crossing a single stage.
There are some interesting concepts which create a “T intersection” and take less land for the intersection, also removing the jug handle. These are discarded because of the high traffic flow from the Jolley Cut, and the T requires more turning actions by vehicles.
During public feedback, some people suggested a roundabout design for the intersection, a couple of the discarded designs envision what a roundabout would look like. It really gives a perspective on how much space is needed for a roundabout (also due to the slopes of the topography, the amount of infill which be needed).
Again, here’s a PDF of the discarded designs, if you wish to “nerd out” like I just did.

created: September 20, 2020


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Joey's Notepad: Westdale and Barton Most Popular Library Branches for Outdoors WiFi Use during COVID Shutdown – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 19, 2020
Joey’s Notepad is where I post short notes in a microblog format.
As our lives went online due to COVID this spring, Hamilton’s libraries were closed but kept their WiFi active for people to use outside of the building at a time when residential internet service providers were unable to keep up with demand, and many found themselves in need of high speed connectivity.
Prior to COVID, many in lower-income neighbourhoods relied upon the library for internet access. With COVID, there is much concern about access to online learning in these neighbourhoods. With library branches reopen, the Hamilton Public Library is prioritizing expanded hours in these neighbourhoods.
The HPL released WiFi usage statistics for April, May, and June. The data is quite interesting.
The Barton library branch, the branch with the largest socio-economic need by location, saw the largest use of WiFi during the COVID closure.
Following closely behind in second is the Westdale branch – an affluent area of Hamilton with a large post-secondary student population of McMaster students. With the move to online lectures, and most student houses filled with four to eight students (some even more) sharing a not great internet connection, it is not surprising the library’s wifi hotspot was a popular destination.
East Hamilton’s Red Hill branch follows closely behind Westdale. The Ancaster branch wifi was well used as well, fourth for usage.
This indicates many people driving to the parking lots of library branches to access reliable high speed internet.
The Central Library branch was only the fifth most popular branch for WiFi usage. In part, this can be attributed to the limited space outside the library which the WiFi reaches, and the unfriendly urban environment. To use the Wifi required leaning against the building, or sitting on the sidewalk. There are no benches available to sit.
By comparison, in Westdale there are benches outside the library and people could sit on the closed Tim Horton’s patio next door. Similarly, the Ancaster branch is surrounded by a green space and comfortable outdoor spaces to work.
[Note: this is by hours of usage, the Hamilton Central library branch had the highest number of connections, however, connections includes when someone’s mobile device connects to the network while walking by for example. Whereas hours of usage correlates to actual wifi usage]
The rural Lynden branch stands out, at sixth busiest, for it high WiFi usage. If we were to measure based upon the population of a branch’s catchment area, it easily be the busiest.
These statistics are useful for the Hamilton Public Library to plan for 2022.
Should there be outdoor patios at library branches?
The HPL is planning a patio for the new Greensville branch. Migrant farmer workers rely upon the Greensville branch for WiFi access to remain connected to their families at home, much of this use occurs outside of branch hours.


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Notes from the Development Industry Liaison Committee for September 21, 2020 – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 21, 2020
City of Hamilton Planning and Public Works staff met with various representatives of the development industry via a public video conference on Monday.
Topics of discussion included allocating the limited capacity for wastewater connections in the Airport Employment Growth District, online planning submissions,
Approximately a dozen industry representatives were present in the video call.
The logistics and transportation focused Airport Employment Growth District is experience more business growth than projected. With COVID revealing the problems with lengthy supply chains and the need for shorter distances between warehousing and customers; the City is receiving new planning applications for new and expanded facilities in these sectors. There were 26 active development applications on June 3rd, staff state.
In 2010, Hamilton City Council approved the AEGD plan, including the construction of servicing for the area. A 11-km trunk sewer to service the area is scheduled for completion in 2025. Earlier this year, Council approved $11-million to quickly upgrade existing pumping stations to provide increased capacity until the trunk system is complete.
Increased capacity is expected to come online in December 2020, and April 2021.
Until the trunk sewer is complete in 2025, the Senior Director of Growth Management will determine what projects are approved for water usage and which projects will have to wait to 2025.
Representatives of the development community did not have comment on the changes.
City staff state they are working on
Terri Johns of T. Johns Consulting Group Ltd requested a discussion of planning application review and approval timelines.
City staff members Jamila Sheffield, Secretary/Treasurer of the Committee of Adjustment, and Anita Fabac, Manager of Development Planning, both state staff in planning are working to schedule hearings and complete review of applications.
Brenda Khes of GSP Group and Sergio Manchia of Urban Solutions both state they have numerous applications “stalled” by transportation engineering reviews. Transportation engineering reviews are backlogged by at least three months at present, with ongoing vacancies in this section of the city bureaucracy.
Senior Director Growth Management Tony Sergi, the ranking staff member on the video call, firmly responded that he resented the imp
The discussion became tense at one point, with developer representatives stating the staff in this section are too risk adverse and are unnecessarily rejecting applications which require more extensive review.
The meeting was short, adjourning after about 30 minutes. The next meeting is scheduled for October 19.


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Proposed Site Plan for new Hamilton Public Library Carlisle Library Branch Revealed – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 19, 2020
The former TD bank branch in Hamilton’s Carlisle community is being converted into a library branch following the donation of the building and land by TD to the Hamilton Public Library earlier this year.
The Hamilton Public Library released the proposed site plan for the branch last week.
Of note, the HPL is planning a outdoor covered reading patio. The branch will be designed for unstaffed extended hours access.
The HPL hopes to tender the construction contract later this year, and for construction to begin in Spring 2021.


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Province Implements Accounting Changes for Planned Funding Cuts to Public Health in 2022 – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 20, 2020
Premier Doug Ford’s Conservative government is adjusting the base funding of Hamilton’s Public Health Unit to reflect planned base funding cuts announced last year, with a offset of “one-time funds” for the next two years which have the effect of delaying the cuts until 2022.
The planned cuts were announced in 2019. Local Member of Provincial Parliament Donna Skelly (Flamborough-Glanbrook) supported the planned cuts to provincial public health funding.
In a letter to Hamilton’s Medical Officer of Health on August 21, the Ontario Ministry of Health states Hamilton’s base funding is being cut by $2,318,000 this year, from $31,460,330 in 2019 to $29,141,500 for 2020.
The Province is providing one-time funding to “mitigate” the cuts for 2020, and giving Hamilton some one-fund grants for capital expenses and pandemic pay. The “one-time funds” mean the cuts are now scheduled to take effect in 2022.
Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, wrote Mayor Fred Eisenberger to state she is “pleased” to provide one-time funding because “Ontario recognizes the considerable time and resources necessary for public health units to continue to effectively respond to COVID-19”
“This funding ensures that municipalities do not experience any increase as a result of the cost-sharing change.”
The “cost-sharing” change Minister Elliott refers to is the shift of public health costs onto municipalities as part of the delayed provincial funds. Prior to the planned cuts, the Province of Ontario paid 75% of the Hamilton Public Health Unit’s base costs. 25% of the base costs was paid by the City of Hamilton.
The 2020 City of Hamilton budget included a $1.1-million cost increase in Public Health budgeting for the planned cuts. The Province is continuing to implement other cuts, which the City states cost $1.2-million in addition to the public health costs.
For 2020, With one-time funding for capital and a top-up for the Pandemic Pay Initiative, Hamilton’s Public Health unit is receiving $32,704,600 in base funding from the Province – an increase of $1,244,300 over last year.
Separately, the Province will be allocating additional funds to the City of Hamilton for COVID-19 public health response costs. The Minister of Health writes they are initiating the process for local public health units to “request reimbursement of one-time extraordinary costs incurred in managing the response to COVID-19”.
Hamilton Medical Officer of Health Dr. Elizabeth Richardson is expected to speak about the funding cuts on Monday during the Hamilton Board of Health meeting. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 9:30am on Monday, September 21, and will be livestreamed on YouTube.


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The Show Goes On (Safely): Free Admission for Hamilton's 2020 Mum Show – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

September 21, 2020
The City of Hamilton is eliminating admission fees for the 2020 Mum Show at the Gage Park Greenhouses due to COVID reducing the size and scope of the event this year.
Hamilton City Council’s Public Works Committee voted unanimously today to eliminate admission fees this year, citing the hardships of COVID both financial and non-financial upon Hamiltonians
This year’s event will see reduced capacity, and no interactive programming or activities to facilitate social distancing. There will be no cafe this year.
Tickets will be available to reserve online, say City staff in an update to City Council, and while people can line-up for walk-up tickets; there is no guarantee of walk-up admission.
The 2020 Mum Show is the 100th year for the popular event, officially called the “Fall Garden and Chrysanthemum Show” but known as the Mum Show. Plans to mark the 100th anniversary are delayed until after COVID.
City Councillors expressed hope that the Province of Ontario will consider the elimination of admission fees as a COVID related expense, and will reimburse the City of Hamilton for lost revenue.
The event usually attracted 15,000 visitors over 10 days.
The Mum Show will run from Friday, October 23 to Sunday, November 1. More information on the City of Hamilton website here.


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City Hall Calls Special Farmers Market Board, and Doesn't Post Public Notice – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 26, 2020
Hamilton City Hall is holding a special meeting of the Hamilton Farmers’ Market Board of Directors this evening and not providing public notice of the meeting. The meeting starts at 5pm, and members of the public wishing to exercise their right to watch the proceedings will need to log into the video conference to do so.
A Market insider contacted The Public Record to share the meeting information. It is not posted anywhere on the City of Hamilton website. The City Manager’s Office does not post public meetings of the Farmers’ Market Board on the City’s website.
Tonight’s meeting is to discuss a scathing consultants report which called for the disbanding of the “ineffective” Board.
Tonight’s meeting is a follow-up to that meeting. The Public Record filed a close meeting violation complaint with the Ontario Ombudsman regarding the September 28 meeting.
The Municipal Act requires the City of Hamilton to make meetings of Local Boards open to the public. During COVID, while meetings are being conducted by video conference, this means the City must livestream or provide members of the public with access to the video stream.
The City Manager’s Office is not streaming videos of the Farmers Market Board neither on the City website nor the City’s YouTube page.
Tonight’s meeting is being held by Cisco Webex. The Public Record will post the meeting information at 4:45pm if the City does not make available a public link to view the meeting.
Hamilton City Hall disputes the requirement for public meetings to be publicly available means that videos of meetings should be available to the public. The City is destroying public meeting videos and no longer making recordings of Local Board meetings.
Thus, if members of the public are not able to join the meeting while it is happening, they will not be able to know what happened.
In 2019, the City Manager’s Office tried to claim releasing of videos it posted to the City of Hamilton YouTube and removed from public viewing could “facilitate the commission of an unlawful act”.

created: October 26, 2020


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City Hall Resumes COVID Video Town Halls as Second Wave Hits Hamilton – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 15, 2020
Hamilton City Hall is resuming its evening town halls as Hamilton experiences a second wave of COVID-19 with higher daily new cases than during the first wave.
The Town Halls will occur every other Thursday at 7pm from now until the end of 2020, and can be watched live on the City of Hamilton YouTube page, on Cable 14, or heard on 900 CHML radio.
People can ask questions of Hamilton’s Medical Officer of Health, Director of Emergency Operations, or Mayor by “Tagging @cityofhamilton on Twitter, Sending an email to communications@hamilton.ca, or by phone to 905-645-3232 (during the show)”

created: October 15, 2020


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City of Hamilton Backs Down on Requirements for Pickup Truck Parking in New Developments – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 15, 2020
Hamilton City Council’s a parking spot for every pick-up policy is officially dead.
The City settled with the West End Home Builders Association (formerly known as the Hamilton-Halton Home Builders’ Association) at the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal, agreeing to set the required width of parking at 2.8 metres in the City’s new city-wide Commercial Mixed-Use Zoning Bylaw. City Council had originally set a requirement of 3.0 metres for all parking stalls, citing the popularity of larger pickup trucks as measured by new car sales.
The impact of the parking stall size change, the largest of any mid-size or large city in Ontario, was significant to proposed developments. Due to the larger stall sizes, support pillars for building would be further apart, causing a decrease in the number of units in new development with larger unit sizes. This would increase the costs for purchasers both in purchase and in ongoing fees such as maintenance and property tax.
Unit sales in Hamilton generate less revenue per square foot than other areas of the Greater Toronto Area.
The parking stall size issue was one of the most contentious issues among dozens of issues being dealt with as part of the appeals of the city-wide By-Law.
Other changes agreed to today include changes to the design of parking spaces, and a decrease in discretion in applying the parking stall rules. The full settlement has not yet been released by the City of Hamilton.
During today’s Local Planning Appeal Tribunal hearing, the City’s lawyer updated the Tribunal case management details. Numerous parties have reached agreements with the City regarding provisions in the new By-Law, and other parties have withdrawn. Significantly, the City says the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing has withdrawn their site specific appeals after negotiations with the City.
An updated order will be issued by the LPAT outlining how the appeals will proceed in the coming years.
The order regarding parking stall sizes, as per the settlement, will be issued in the coming weeks. The City of Hamilton is preparing the order – as per the settlement agreement – to send to the Tribunal. The Tribunal will review the draft and issue their order following this.
Future hearing dates are yet to be set.


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City of Hamilton Internal Auditor Tables First "Fraud and Waste Annual Report" – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 22, 2020
Hamilton’s internal auditor tabled the first-ever “Fraud and Waste Annual Report” to City Council today. In the report, internal auditor Charles Brown states his office received 65  reports to the City’s new semi-independent fraud/waste hotline between July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. 48 of the reports were made anonymously, Brown states. During this time, 20 additional reports were made directly to the auditor’s office from various city departments. This compares to previous years, when reports were directly filed to Brown, when the record was 12 reports. The Office of the City Auditor is located within the City Manager’s Office.
In the annual report, Brown reports that 45% of reports came from individuals who self-identified as employees and 55% of reports were made by non-employees.
Of the 85 complaints, 31 resulted in investigations being launched, 23 were referred to various City units with “response required”, 25 referred with “no action required”, and 20 “no response required / not enough information / out of jurisdiction”.
The 31 investigations were in one of three categories: 8 fraud, 15 “waste/mismanagement”, and 8 “combined fraud and waste/mismanagement”.
From the investigations, there were 5 terminations, 3 disciplinary actions, and 2 “other (includes employee retirement)” and $21,000 was recovered.
The report is available on the City of Hamilton website here.

created: October 22, 2020


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Clr Wilson: "I was quite alarmed" by Terry Whitehead’s tweeted threats to use the Integrity Commissioner against Citizens – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 20, 2020
Ward 1 City Councillor Maureen Wilson says she was “alarmed” by the tweets of other members of Hamilton City Council following Council’s illegal investigation of the Chair of the LGBTQ Advisory Committee for his remarks critical of Council.
“When I saw the post, I was quite alarmed by it”, Wilson stated. “I wrote to the Mayor when I got up in the morning and I expressed my alarm. That I deemed it to be a threatening gesture or words, and that I registered my opposition in no uncertain terms”.
“As the Head of Council I asked him to consider, I’d have to find my wording of the ask”, Wilson continued. “When that kind of behaviour is practised, it diminishes the institution of Council and in my opinion the City government as whole. It is not in keeping with how I think elected individuals should serve.”
At this point, the City’s livestream of the meeting ended suddenly following Wilson’s first statement.
LGBTQ Chair Cameron Kroetsch tweeted after the meeting “I’m saddened that the conversation, including @ward1wilson’s comments, were not livestreamed. Councillor Wilson spoke from the heart and demonstrated incredible leadership.”
In an email during the afternoon of October 21, the City claims the stream ended because the VPN connection of the meeting host disconnected.
“It seems the video issues with yesterday’s committee meeting were associated with a VPN connection of the Webex host, which failed approximately one hour into the meeting”, wrote Director of Communications Matthew Grant. “Our IT department is issuing advice to meeting hosts to prevent this from happening in the future (connect direct to Webex so if the VPN has issues the Webex meeting isn’t impacted)”.
The WebEx platform streams directly to YouTube and was stable when the disconnection occurred. The video conference continued, and only the livestream was effected by the VPN error.
The City’s VPN is configured to route all user traffic via the VPN. Some large organizations use a split tunnel approach to their VPN in which web traffic that does not require internally security does not flow through the VPN service.
The sudden end to the stream comes only weeks after Hamilton City Hall destroyed videos of Advisory Committees meetings early in September. The destruction began following a September 1, 2020 meeting of the Housing and Homelessness Advisory Committee during which members of the committee expressed differing opinions regarding the City’s handling of homelessness encampments. The Public Record filed a Freedom of Information request for the videos. The City has denied the request, with Deputy City Clerk Janet Pilon writing the City destroyed all video records of these meetings.
Today’s meeting of the Hamilton LGBTQ Advisory Committee was the first since the September 30, Council vote to reprimand LGBTQ Chair Cameron Kroetsch under Section 223 of the Municipal Act.
Council claims he violated privacy laws by posting a motion of the LGBTQ Advisory Committee which included the name of a public appointee to the Hamilton Police Service Board. (The City did not inform Ontario’s Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of the alleged breach. The motion was critical of Council)
Following the Council vote to reprimand Kroetsch, Ward 14 City Councillor Terry Whitehead took to Twitter in a tirade against community members. Whitehead was upset the Executive Director of Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion Kojo Dempsey shared a 2013 video of Whitehead raising concerns about the cost of the Hamilton Police Budget. Whitehead tweeted “Curious does HCCI fall under the integrity commision just asking”.
To police whistleblower Paul Manning, Whitehead tweeted “We are just beginning to understand that the integrity commissioner and independent body now has the ability to look investigate beyond council. it would be prudent to determine if you fall under expanded role”.
The Public Record filed a closed meeting complaint to the Ontario Ombudsman regarding the livestream ending during the meeting.

created: October 20, 2020


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COLEMAN: An Independent Auditor General in 2023? – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 22, 2020
The 2022 municipal election is only two years away, and already the election campaign is underway.
City Hall is in election mode now, with the City Clerk destroying advisory committee meeting videos, the “Integrity Commissioner” going after citizens (while allowing Councillors to threaten people using their public offices), Council threatening to use the IC against more citizens, and capital budgets being prepared to maximize ribbon cuttings in 2022.
Out in the communities of Hamilton, various resident groups are building grassroots movements to elect new Councillors who will serve the public interest and end the constant stream (or sewage leak if you prefer) of cover-ups, scandals, and closed sessions which are the norm for Hamilton City Hall and City Council.
I expect many of these movements, and new candidates, will put forth calls for the City to adopt a fully independent Auditor General to both uncover ongoing cover-ups and corrupt practices, and to ensure more efficient and effective use of public resources into the future. One of the excuses advanced by the Old Guard faction at City Hall is the cost of an independent Auditor General, and that Hamilton is much smaller than Ottawa and Toronto. It is true, Hamilton has a smaller population than Toronto or Ottawa.
Sudbury, population 165,000, has an independent Auditor General. So does Windsor, population 233,763. Windsor’s AG is an external accounting firm. (Ottawa’s AG farms out investigations to a list of per-qualified firms as needed)
An note about the present internal auditor, Charles Brown. While he is much too close to Council, with some members of Council referring to him as “Charlie” during meetings and it being rare that he is referred to with the proper Mr. Brown that one would expect in a professional environment, Brown is fiercely defended by internal city staff with strong ethics.
Today’s tabling of the first-ever “fraud and waste annual report” is an interesting milestone. On one hand, how it is in 2020 that this is only just happening for the first time? On the other, after years of nobody filing complaints to the auditor regarding malfeasance, that finally the independent whistleblower hotline has enabled complaints is a stepping stone that a new City Council can use to clean up corrupt practices within the City government.


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COLEMAN: So When Did Council Change The Rules to Use the IC against LGBTQ Chair? – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 4, 2020
A tweet by podcasters Joel MacLeod and Roland Tanner highlights one of the many discrepancies in Council and Council’s Integrity Commissioners’ claims against LGBTQ Advisory Committee Chair Cameron Kroetsch.
The tweet highlights that the City of Hamilton updated the Integrity Commissioner website on March 5, 2020 to state the Integrity Commissioner can investigate Local Boards.
Nobody on City Council has said when the update occurred, and neither has Hamilton City Clerk Andrea Holland.
Sometime between April 2019 and March 2020, the Office of the City Clerk changed a key passage on the web page.
The Internet Archive indexed the Integrity Commissioner page on April 27, 2019 when it stated “The Integrity Commissioner has authority over members of Council and enforces the Code of Conduct” and “The Integrity Commissioner also does not have jurisdiction over the conduct of City employees or the conduct of members of committees who are not members of Council”
The Internet Archive did not index the page again until May 8, 2020, during the 14 months which passed, the page was changed to state [emphasis upon changes added]:
“The Integrity Commissioner has authority over members of Council, members of Local Boards and Citizen Committee members and enforces the Codes of Conduct” and to remove that the IC’s jurisdiction is limited to members of Council.  The web page itself states it was last updated on March 5th, 2020.
It is possible the update occurred prior to March 5, 2020. Council’s investigation into the LGBTQ Advisory Committee Chair officially began on March 4.
Council decided to make the changes and to launch the investigation out of public view in closed session. We cannot be sure when this happened because Hamilton City Council holds more closed meetings than any other municipality, and the titles of the closed session items are intentionally vague.
What we do know is that City Council never updated the Integrity Commissioner By-Law 16-290 to reflect the power of the Integrity Commissioner to investigate Local Boards.
(As a matter of administrative law, this does not matter because the Municipal Act requires Local Boards to be subject to a Code of Conduct, and the Act states the Code can investigated by an Integrity Commissioner from either the municipality involved or another municipality . This change was effective March 1, 2019, superseding the outdated bylaw.)
On Thursday (Oct 1), Hamilton’s Aboriginal Advisory Committee met. Its members expressed surprise to learn the Integrity Commissioner could investigate them. On Friday, the Seniors’ Advisory Committee met, and members similarly expressed surprise.
It seems nobody outside of the closed Council Chamber knew this rule change happened.
All of this shosw a pattern of behaviour by Hamilton City Council, they took an accountability officer created to address municipal corruption following the Toronto Computer Leasing and External Contracts Inquiry, and have turned it into something it was never intended to be.
MacLeod and Tanner’s tweet does a great job of illustrating this.
Additional: The 905er podcast is proving to be interesting, with timely interviews of people in the news in the West GTA area.

created: October 4, 2020


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Coming to the Hamilton Farmers' Market: "Good Eats" and Fritters – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 10, 2020
“Like many others”, as he says, Joshua Charbonneau lost his food service industry job at the beginning of COVID. Upon losing his job, Charbonneau sat down to write a business plan and launch his own venture.
He began slowly, selling his cure fish at markets and to restaurants. Slowly he has expanded and is now ready to open a booth in the Hamilton Farmers’ Market as a grocer outlet.
In addition to cured trout and salmon, Joshy’s Good Eats will be offering specialty high quality bagels. Charbonneau told the Hamilton Farmers’ Market Board of Directors that he hopes to inspire a bagel culture in Hamilton, by bringing more variety of bagels to our area. He plans to also offer Jewish cuisine and dairy appetizers.
London Ontario area The Fritter Shop is planning to open an outlet in the Market, offering its unique variety of fritters – many of which come in unique shapes.
The founder of the company, Kelvin Van Rijn, told the Market Board on October 5 that he is looking forward to expanding his company to Hamilton, and his company experienced great sales at The Market at the Western Fair District.
Fritters will be baked off-site, and warmed at the Market before being served.
Hamilton Farmers’ Market Manager Bill Slowka states he is working to finalize lease agreements with each vendor.
Opening dates for each are not known.
The Market will be closed in early January for planned ventilation upgrades to support the increasing number of food service outlets in the west side of the Market.

created: October 10, 2020


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Correction Note: Commercial Mixed Use Zoning Article – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 21, 2020
In my article “City of Hamilton Backs Down on Requirements for Pickup Truck Parking in New Developments” I mistakenly stated that hearing dates in the appeals of new City of Hamilton Commercial Mixed Use Zoning Bylaw had been cancelled in the Spring due to COVID.
There were no scheduled dates in this appeal during spring, and I had mistakenly thought a March 2019 cancellation occurred in 2020. I regret the error.
The original article closed with the following incorrect sentence: “This appeal has been delay by the COVID-19 pandemic, with hearing dates in the spring of 2020 cancelled”. The sentence as been removed.

created: October 21, 2020


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Council Fails to Make Quorum Again – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 15, 2020
Not enough Hamilton City Councillors showed up in a video conference on Tuesday, September 29, 2020 to make quorum for the Capital Projects Work-In-Progress Review Sub-Committee to meet.
Only two of the four members of the Committee logged into the video call. Attending were Ward 1 Councillor Maureen Wilson and Ward 10 Councillor Maria Pearson. Absent were Ward 3 Councillor Nrinder Nann and Ward 8 Councillor John-Paul Danko.


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Farr to Metrolinx: Resume QEW Express Service Between Hamilton and Toronto – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 14, 2020
Ward 2 Hamilton City Councillor Jason Farr says Metrolinx should resume full bus service on its Route 16 QEW Express route.
Farr is moving a motion at Hamilton City Council’s Public Works Committee next week to have Council formally call on Metrolinx to resume full service on the route, which was suspended (with the exception of one very late night trip from Hamilton to Toronto Union Station) due to COVID.
Hamilton City Council significantly cut back local transit service offered by the Hamilton Street Railway, and continues to offer drastically reduced HSR service at modified summer service levels. The provincial and federal government have provided Hamilton City Council with $17,211,723 in Phase I funding. Council has no plans to reverse service reductions on the HSR.
Presently, GO Transit is offering four trains out of Hamilton during the weekday morning peak period, and four train trips to Hamilton from Toronto Union Station.
During the remainder of the day, and on weekends, Metrolinx’s runs a hourly bus service from the Hunter Street GO Station to Aldershot GO to connect with the Lakeshore West train.
In his motion, Farr claims that the bus link is problematic for persons with mobility difficulties. Farr writes “accessibility is a troubling issue for passengers that can only be accommodated on the much smaller footprint lower-level of the bus (the more spacious upper level is inaccessible to many passengers who are disabled, elderly or wanting to keep a close eye on luggage that can only be stored on the lower level)”
Metrolinx uses the same double-decker buses for the QEW bus service.
Farr states Metrolinx should provide a full resumption at the “at the service level observed prior to April 8, 2020”.
He has made no statements to resume HSR service at the levels prior to Council’s cuts in March.

created: October 14, 2020


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Hamilton Airport Tells Council COVID Downturn May Decrease Revenue to City – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 15, 2020
Hamilton’s international airport is reporting a 51.1% year-over-year decrease in passenger traffic in the first half of 2020. The airport expects by the end of the year, passenger traffic will be down 65 to 70 percent.
Cargo is up 12.4%, which Cathie Puckering, President and CEO, John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport attributes to e-commerce growth and PPE flights paid for by the federal government. “80% of Canada’s supply was coming though Hamilton airport”, Puckering states.
Much of the new cargo flights are originating from Vancouver’s airport, which Puckering’s report to Hamilton City Council attributes to “e-commerce activity from Asia-originating shipments”.
With the ongoing expansion of cargo hubs at the airport, Hamilton is becoming one of the largest cargo hubs in North America. The new DHL facility will be the fourth-largest hub for the international cargo company, says Puckering.
The Airport is requesting to use $55,000 from a joint marketing funding contributed to by the City of Hamilton to complete a land use plan update, with the goal of attracting more companies seeking lands with airside access (direct access to the airport’s runway). City of Hamilton Senior Director of Growth Management Tony Sergi recommended Council approve the expenditure.
Councillors on the the Airport Sub-Committee voted 8-0 to approve the spending.
The rate of noise complaints has nearly doubled this year, from 18 per 10,000 airplane movements in 2019 to 31 per 10,000 movements thus far in 2020. The airport attributes this to use of Runway 06-24, which has an approach over the urban area of the city. The main runway, 12-30, is under construction for upgrade and expansion. The airport also states that a combination of increases in cargo flights and people working from home are likely contributing to the increase in complaints.
Note: This section is updated with information provided by Hamilton International Airport
During the meeting, the Airport CEO showed a slide showing a tax fee assessment payment of $400,000 in January and a payment of $339,000. During this slide, Puckering discussed the economic downturn, and that the Airport would be decreasing its payments to the City. Details were not provided in closed session. Puckering stated this would be part of the closed session.
The Airport, in an email to The Public Record after the original publication of this story states “With respect to the tax assessment fee, this was paid in full and there have been no adjustments that have been made to that payment”.
“With respect to rent payable, this is a function of activity at the Airport.  The commentary included in the presentation, along with [Puckering]’s comments, were meant to reflect a potential decrease compared to prior years”, writes Tomas Cleary, Senior Coordinator, Marketing and Communications at the Airport. “However, as we get closer to year end, we provided an update that the Airport will likely overperform previous rent estimates previously stated”.
Council claims this financial matter represents a matter of “a proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality or local board; and a position, plan, procedure, criteria or instruction to be applied to any negotiations carried on or to be carried on by or on behalf of the municipality or local board”.
Hamilton City Council conducts more business in closed session than any other municipality governed by the Ontario Municipal Act.
“While this one [downturn] is likely the worse we’ve experienced and going to be the longest to recover from”, says Puckering. “We’ll face it head-on and recover”.
Airlines have been shifting passenger flights from Hamilton to Toronto in response to COVID-19 decreases in passenger volumes. Hamilton Airport believes this is a temporary shift, as the low-cost airline model is not compatible with the higher landing fees and longer turn-around times at Toronto’s Pearson International.
Council then went into closed session for over 90 minutes to discuss “TradePort / City Lease Negotiation Status Update”, and the Airport indicated that it would be discussing the payment and fees issue.


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Hamilton Arts Awards Being Revamped – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 21, 2020
The City of Hamilton’s Arts Awards are being revamped, writes Director of Tourism and Culture Carrie Brooks-Joiner in a information update shared with Council on October 20.
Nominations will be simpler for the public to submit to the City. Instead of the “current requirements for extensive information about the nominee’s career”, the new process will ask the nominator “to confirm basic eligibility criteria and provide reasons why they think the artist should be recognized”.
There will be changes to how the nominations are evaluated:
The jury will consist of 12 to 15 arts community leaders that represent key disciplines and will be reflective of our diverse communities including: Black, Indigenous, People of Colour (BIPOC) and LGBT2S+. They will be involved throughout the process providing guidance to staff and the program partner and an evaluation at the end of the program. They will select the award winners from the short-list and play an important role in recognizing and celebrating the short-listed nominees and award winners. They will be offered an honorarium for their contribution.
They will replace the current 11 award specific volunteer juries and the volunteer steering committee.
More details are available in the information memo.


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Hamilton City Hall Proposes 4.28% Rate Increase, 4.0% Tax Levy Increase to Start 2021 Budget Process – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 23, 2020
Hamilton City Hall is hopeful the provincial and federal governments will continue providing record levels of financial support to municipalities for transit, public health, and COVID costs to address budgetary pressures resulting from the pandemic.
Based upon this presumption, City staff state the starting figure for the 2021 municipal budget process is a 4.0 percent tax increase – an increase of $146 for a home with average assessed value exclusive of area rated services.
City Hall did not release detailed projections of scenarios that could exist if the other levels of government do not renew their financial support packages when they expire.
The 4.0 percent increase is presumed upon a 1 percent growth in tax assessment, and no reassessment appeals impact.
It is not yet known if commercial real estate values will decrease in the coming year due to COVID’s impact upon offices and retail, approximately 10 percent of Hamilton’s property tax revenue is from commercial properties. [Today saw retailer Le Château enter into bankruptcy and announce closure of all its retail outlets]
City staff propose cancelling the implementation of this year’s 0.5 percent capital budget tax increase, an annual increase designed to lessen the growth of Hamilton’s $2-billion plus infrastructure deficit.
Staff suggest using the remaining $4.3-million of 2019 Federal Gas Tax funds to “offset” the reduction of revenue from not implementing the 0.5% increase. As the annual 0.5 percent increase is based upon the previous year’s rate, the cancellation of this year’s increase will compound in future years.
The rate budget – what people pay for water and wastewater – increase is forecast to be 4.28 percent.
[Due to work from home, the average water bill for residential users has changed, and thus projections are not available of what this increase may represent in dollars per month]
“While industrial and commercial water consumption declined over the past year as a result of lockdown restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the increase in residential consumption has offset the negative impact on revenues”, the staff report states.
The City says it is “projecting additional financing pressures related to COVID-19 in 2021 between $34.8 M and $59.2 M”, the City says pressures are primarily related to public health, housing and homelessness, and lost transit revenue. The budget projections do not reveal if the City plans to increase transit service or continue to operate reduced service levels in 2021. The transit budget will be revealed on January 22, 2021.
The Hamilton Police Services budget is expected to increase $4,782,820 due to inflationary costs and salary/benefit costs. The projected 2021 police budget is $175,597,980.
Council will hear from the public near the end of the budget process on February 8, 2021.
This will be the only date Council will allow public delegations to Council on the budget. The public and interested parties can submit written correspondence to Council at any point during the process.
The first budget process meeting is Thursday, October 29 at 9:30am during which City Hall senior management will provide their overview presentation of projections, forecasts, and the timeline for the budget process this year.
The agenda for Thursday’s meeting is available online.

created: October 23, 2020


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Hamilton City Hall: Public Meeting Videos Do Not Have to Be Made Public – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 14, 2020
Hamilton City Hall is continuing to censor advisory committees for speaking critically of Council and City Hall cover-ups.
In early September, Hamilton City Clerk Andrea Holland removed all public meeting videos from the City’s advisory committees from YouTube.
Holland refused to provide any explanation for the removal, nor could see cite any records retention policy which authorized the removal. The Municipal Freedom of Information Act requires the City of Hamilton to only dispose of records in accordance with the City’s record retention policy.
This followed Council’s use of the “Integrity Commissioner” against the Chair of the LGBTQ Advisor committee for criticizing City Hall and Council cover-ups. Holland is also censuring minutes of advisory committees to prevent embarrassment to Council and senior managers at City Hall.
The removal followed a September 1, 2020 meeting of the Housing and Homelessness Advisory Committee during which members of the committee expressed differing opinions regarding the City’s handling of homelessness encampments.
The Public Record requested the meeting video from the Office of City Manager Janette Smith. The City of Hamilton’s records policy states that videos on the City’s YouTube page are in the custody of the City Manager’s Office.
Smith’s office declined to provide the video, which is a public record.
The Public Record filed a Freedom of Information request for the video. The City has denied the request, with Deputy City Clerk Janet Pilon writing the City destroyed all video records of these meetings.
Pilon’s denial of the FOI request states of YouTube “it’s not our system” as part of the reasons.
Pilon states the Municipal Act only requires the City make public meetings available for viewing online during COVID, and the Province has not stated how long the videos need to be made available. As per the standard practice of Hamilton City Hall, the City is only meeting the bare minimum requirements of transparency.
The decision is fully supported by City Manager Janette Smith, and the City’s Manager of Records and Freedom of Information Lisa Barroso.
In 2019, Hamilton’s City Clerks ignored freedom of information tribunal requirements.
In MO-3764-I, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario wrote “the City did not respond” to the Commission when required to respond to the Tribunal, this after already being late in responding to reply representations. (Para 6)
In MO-3752-I, similarly, the City Clerk did not respond to the Tribunal after denying a request. The IPC adjudicator stated “The city did not submit representations, despite receiving a number of extensions and follow-up from this office” (Para 6). Even after this, as required, the IPC requested Hamilton’s Manager of Records respond and make submissions to the Tribunal. “I decided to seek representations from the city in response to the Notice of Inquiry and the appellant’s representations, which were shared with the city in accordance with Practice Direction Number 7 of the IPC’s Code of Procedure. The city did not submit representations” (Para 7).
In MO-3771, in response to a legitimate freedom of information request, the City Clerk declared a request to be “frivolous or vexatious” and refused to process the request. In this case, during an attempt to mediate the issue, IPC took the step of calling the City Clerk’s Office. The City Clerk did not respond. “The city did not respond to the letter or to the mediator’s voice message to the city regarding the appellant’s position as set out in his letter” (Para 5). The IPC decision in this case references numerous times the refusal of the City of Hamilton to provide any reasons for their actions. “In this appeal, the city provided no representations in support of its position thereby providing me with no assistance in making my determination”, the adjudicator wrote.
“I feel it necessary to point out that the city not only failed to establish that the appellant’s request was frivolous or vexatious but also did not participate in the inquiry of the appeal. I remind the city of its obligations as an institution under the Act and the serious implications to a requester of an institution’s frivolous or vexatious claim”, the adjudicator added to emphasis the point.
City Clerk Andrea Holland stated in late 2019 that she fully supports her staff actions in these matters, including their non-responses to the IPC.
The Public Record is exploring what steps can be taken regarding the destruction of public meeting videos by Holland. There are no similar instances in case law, this appears to be the first time a municipal City Clerk has destroyed this type of public record.


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Hamilton City Manager's Office Commits $200,000 to COVID Communications Consultant – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 15, 2020
The Office of Hamilton City Manager Janette Smith has committed $200,000 on a communications consultant to assist with “management strategies and strategic communication services as a result of COVID-19”. The purchase was done as a single source purchase because “it was more cost-effective or beneficial to the City” writes the City’s Director of Financial Services and Taxation & Corporate Controller in a procurement update given to Council last week.
The City of Hamilton has one of the largest communications departments of any municipality in Ontario with 24 full-time equivalent staff. As John Best of The Bay Observer reported in March “By comparison Ottawa, with a population one and a half times Hamilton has a communications staff of 31. The Communications staff in Toronto totals 54, serving a population of 3 Million.”
“A [Purchase Order] for $200K was established in the spring as part of contingency planning in case of staff illness/absences/vacancies, but to date the City’s COVID-19 communications have been handled by Communications staff, and that continues to be the case”, a spokesperson for the City emailed The Public Record after the publication of this story.
Other emergency and non-competitive procurement spending by the City Manager’s Office includes $45,000 to Day Communications Group Inc. for internal communications work and $95,900.00 to Bang The Table Canada Ltd. related to the City’s new public engagement portal on the City website.


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Hamilton Community Legal Clinic Concerned About Council's Actions Against LGBTQ Chair – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 2, 2020
The Hamilton Community Legal Clinic issued a open letter today expressing their concerns about the action of City Council on Wednesday in making a quasi-judicial declaration that LGBTQ Advisory Committee Chair Cameron Kroetsch violated the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA).
The HCLC describes Council’s actions as “a heavy-handed, public, and unnecessary response that targeted a prominent member of the Queer community” and warn “the effect of these actions will undoubtedly make other members of the Queer community question whether they ought to participate in City processes or speak up on issues for fear of being targeted themselves”.
Kroetsch made public minutes of the LGBTQ Advisory Committee which Hamilton City Clerk Andrea Holland claims violate privacy laws. Holland has not responded to multiple requests from numerous individuals for her reasoning report.  Section 7(2)(k) of MFIPPA requires her to provide her reasons.
The alleged serious violation of MFIPPA is show in the graphic below produced by a Hamilton resident. City Clerk Holland did not inform Ontario’s Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of the matter.
HCLC’s letter notes serious errors of law which raise even more questions about the legality of the investigation than have already been raised.
“There is also the issue of the Integrity Commission’s enabling By-Law No. 16-288 (as posted on the City’s website), which does in fact omit any mention of the ability of the Integrity Commissioner to investigate anyone other than members of Council. While the Municipal Act does require a Code of Conduct to be established that governs local boards (section 223.2), section 223.3(1) indicates it “authorizes” Council to appoint an Integrity Commissioner to apply that Code of Conduct, it does not mandate it. In fact, the Municipal Act proceeds to provide for situations where no Integrity Commissioner is appointed or where a specific function is not assigned to them. As a result, it is not clear to us that the Integrity Commissioner had the jurisdiction to investigate this complaint. Notably, the City’s webpage on the Integrity Commissioner indicates the Commissioner’s role does include applying the Code of Conduct applicable to local boards, but the link provided leads to the By-Law No. 16-288, which fails to provide that function (the webpage, perhaps coincidentally, also appears to have been last modified on March 5, 2020, the day after this complaint was received by the Integrity Commissioner). ”
The HCLC calls on Council to “issue a public apology to Mr. Kroetsch and the Hamilton Queer community for the heavy-handed manner in which Council sought to address its concerns with Mr. Kroetsch’s conduct as Chair of the LGBTQ Advisory Committee” among six calls for action.
The full letter is on the HCLC website.

created: October 2, 2020


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Hamilton Development Industry Liaison Committee Video Conferencing Until at least June 2021 – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 27, 2020
How long will City Hall meetings continue to be conducted by video conference due to the COVID-19 pandemic?
The City of Hamilton’s Emergency Operations Centre had hoped to resume some meetings in-person in November, but with the Greater Toronto Area gripped by a growing number of COVID cases during this second wave of the pandemic, it is clear that no day can be predicted for the resumption of in person meetings.
To this end, it is noteworthy that the Development Industry Liaison Committee is now schedule all its meetings for the first half of 2021 to be conducted by video conference.

created: October 27, 2020


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Hamilton is Distancing Well: UToronto Report – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 28, 2020
Hamilton is achieving substantial physical distancing in public spaces.
An analysis of smartphone data by a group of University of Toronto researchers finds Canadians have significantly decreased their contacts with individuals outside of their households and maintained physical distancing while reopening businesses and services.
“It is a real achievement”, says University Professor Dr. Anita McGahan of the Rotman School of Business. “Hamiltonians should be proud”.
Smartphone data shows Hamiltonians are in close proximity, defined as two smartphones within an area with others (i.e. 50 metres) for at least five minutes in an hour. Hamiltonians are averaging approximately 2.5 close contacts per hour.
McGahan states this is “remarkable” as Hamiltonians are successfully increase their time outside of the household without an increase in their proximity to other individuals. During the summer, as the weather improved, Hamiltonians were outdoors more often, with daily mobility data reflective of weather. The data showed July 1st as the peak day for mobility in Hamilton this summer. The weather that day was sunny with a daytime high of 29°C.
The data showed an increase in close contacts during late May. Since that time, there has been a steady and sustained decline in close proximity averages.
McGahan says the research team’s analysis reveals that “mobility restrictions will not decrease proximity” to others. If there are restrictions, they need to be “strategically targeted” to address specific activities or actions in which the virus may spread. Close proximity has remained low, and at times below levels in March and April when lockdown measures were in effect, during the summer.
Weekly movements of people between neighbouring census divisions in the Greater Toronto-Hamilton show people are travelling locally. Trips by Hamiltonians to neighbouring census divisions are down 15% compared to the January 1 baseline. Compared to March 1st, trips are down by nearly a quarter.
“We need to sustain our gains”, says McGahan. “We need to innovate … how do we create safe places for people to be inside?”
McGahan notes there are many large indoor spaces with high capacity air circulation systems, such as sports arenas and large convention centres, which could be considered for physically distant activities. Municipalities also should explore outdoor heating to allow for safe distant social engagements.
The report, Mobility and Proximity in Canada During the COVID-19 Pandemic, co-author with Gabriel Cavalli, Brennan Lake, and Emanuele Pepe, is available for reading on the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy website.

created: October 28, 2020


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Hamilton Library Expanding Hours at 10 Branches – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 25, 2020
The Hamilton Public Library is expanding hours at ten branches.
Starting October 19, evening hours were added at Central, Dundas, Red Hill, and Terryberry. The branches are now open Monday to Thursday evenings until 9pm.
On Monday, November 6, evening hours will be added at Barton, Concession, Kenilworth, Sherwood, Turner Park, and Waterdown branches. They will remain open Monday to Thursday evenings until 9pm.

created: October 25, 2020


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HSR Now Charging Fees for Road and Lane Closures on Bus Routes – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 19, 2020
Hamilton’s public transit agency, the Hamilton Street Railway, is now imposing a fee for road closures which impact HSR service.
The fee has surprised the development industry and City planning staff.
In the past few weeks, developers have received notice of fees payable to the HSR for lane or road closures related to construction.
“It has somewhat blindsided our client”, Registered Professional Planner Terri Johns told the Hamilton Development Industry Liaison Group during a video conference meeting this morning.
The new fee was not publicly advertised, and all members of the DILG expressed surprise regarding it.
Tony Sergi,  Senior Director of Growth Management for the City of Hamilton stated he only learned of the fee last week when developers started contacting him regarding it.
General Manager of Planning and Economic Development Jason Thorne told the DILG that his staff are working to get more information.
Sergi, who coordinates the DILG meetings, says he is working to have HSR staff at the next DILG meeting to explain the fees, policies, and purpose at the next DILG meeting.
The HSR is presently operating at a reduced service level due to COVID. In the past, the HSR has not added additional buses on routes with detours or delays.
The Public Record requested a copy of the HSR’s new fee policy from the Public Works Department. The request was made at 10:54 a.m. this morning. A spokesperson for the HSR says they are looking into the request for the policy.

created: October 19, 2020


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Internet to be included as a $15/mth fee at CityHousing’s 500 MacNab Seniors Apartments – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 30, 2020
Residents who moved into the renovated Ken Soble Towers at 500 MacNab Street North will pay 15 dollars per month to the City of Hamilton’s telecommunications company HCE for high speed internet as part of their rent.
HCE will be paid $28,030 by CityHousing Hamilton for internet service to the building, which will be added to monthly rent bills for tenants.
Sean Botham, a manager with CityHousing Hamilton says the charge will be treated similarly to other fees such as parking. Botham says having HCE as the telecommunications partner will save CHH approximately $200,000 on capital costs compared to installing infrastructure for Bell and Cogeco service into the building.
CityHousing Hamilton says they hope to expand this type of service to other properties in Hamilton where HCE offers service.
[The City of Hamilton used to operate a city-wide fibre optic network. Hamilton City Council sold Fibrewired Hamilton to Atria in 2008. Council did not disclose how much they received. The sale ended the City’s public outdoor wifi network, which shut down a few years later.]
Councillors on the CityHousing Hamilton Board praised the arrangement.

created: October 30, 2020


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Joey’s Notepad: 500176 Ontario Ltd. v. London (City) 27 O.M.B.R. 118 – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 27, 2020
Protecting the rights of post-secondary students is something the Ontario Municipal Board has done in Kingston and Hamilton where municipal councils have tried to disperse student voters into different wards for their own self-dealing purposes.
How the OMB, now known as the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal, handles reviews of municipal ward boundaries is a fascinating area of the Tribunals jurisprudence. In this very small sliver, the OMB has served to uphold the rights of citizens with minimal political leverage.
In A Law Unto Itself: How the Ontario Municipal Board Has Developed and Applied Land-Use Planning Policy, John Chipman’s definitive examination of the OMB, Chipman notes a 1991 case involving a condo conversion in London.
The tenants were predominately students, and the OMB held public notice of the conversion was “inadequate because it was given in the summer months when the students were not in residence to receive it” (pg 66)
The application involved the conversion of 50 rental units near the University of Western Ontario and Fanshawe College. The usual tests of impact upon the affordable rental stock of the municipality were applied.
“The council of the City of London, on September 17, 1990, refused both applications for conversion on the grounds that ‘it would adversely affect the supply of rental housing in the Municipality'”
The Board’s decision to deny the conversion was based upon the affordability of the units, and stated as the reason for denial there was an “over-riding public interest” in maintaining “affordable student accommodation” and the applicant had failed to show the conversion to condos would not adversely affect the supply of affordable rental housing in London.
Of note, and the reason I took the time to find and read this ruling, is the second to last paragraph.
“As well, the board has serious reservations with regard to notice. The board is not satisfied that adequate notice was given to all the existing tenants, as it would appear that only about 10% of the existing tenants still reside in the row-housing units. No tenant appeared at the public meetings and no tenant appeared at the board hearing. The landlords knew or ought to have known that university students are normally not around during the summer months. This should have been taken into consideration by the applicants. The board is not satisfied that the tenants had an opportunity to express their views on this matter. This case is a unique and unusual situation and warrants special consideration.”
OMB rulings are not precedents, however, the now-LPAT does give past decisions weight and strives for consistency in decision making. This case is cited twice in the 90s, in other matters to discuss the Board’s approach to notice and natural justice. There is no reference to it in the CanLII database.
The ignoring of post-secondary student populations is something I’ve written on for 15 years, one of my favourite lines being one I wrote in 2010 about a politician pandering to anti-student sentiments. I stated they were not anti-student, they were pro-vote. Students don’t vote, they don’t matter was my argument.
(Sadly, that section of the publication I worked for is no longer online).
This case would’ve been an interesting one to reference in my writing back then.