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It's Above Board: Ward 10 Councillor Maria Pearson Assisting as Agent on Minor Variance Application – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 9, 2017
I looked into the matter of Ward 10 City Councillor Maria Pearson serving as an Agent on a minor variance application in her ward. The variance will be heard on October 19.
I reviewed the application file, and spoke with multiple members of staff.
There is nothing untoward or even of concern in how Pearson is handling the file; it is extremely unusual for a Councillor to be an Agent, and the circumstances of this particular case are very unique.
I’m choosing not to provide detail as it involves personal matters of the property owners and their family.
The variance is required due to a long-ago error, and the cost of the application is being paid by Title Insurance.

created: October 9, 2017


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Mayor Fred Eisenberger Surprises Amazon … With An Amateur Pitch Video – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 7, 2017
Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger’s top priority is bidding for the second Amazon Headquarters.
After weeks of preparation, Mayor Eisenberger released his first pitch video to Amazon (which is now unlisted).
The video – three weeks in planning after the bid announcement – is cringe worthy.
Starting from its poor dreary image of Hamilton with green text proclaiming “A warm hello from the City of Hamilton!” to it’s final screen with two different font colours with two different font faces, the video makes our great city look like the kind of place a fictional sitcom would be written about.
Hamilton doesn’t meet Amazon’s bid criteria anyway, but others may be watching and Mayor Eisenberger’s video poorly dispalys our City with its poor quality, weak message, and easily preventable errors.
Other Mayor’s are taking advantage of the Amazon publicity to get their name out there, and hopefully attract other businesses.
Danbury, Connecticut, population 80,893, which is at the terminus of a heavy-rail commuter line from New York City, is one such city. Mayor Mark Boughton’s video is one of the best I’ve seen. His video is well produced, delivers the message that Danbury wants medium size companies to see, and made me think I want this guy to be my mayor.
He sits at his desk, lists his advantages to locating in Danbury with nice cutaways, and near the end walks to a stack of Amazon boxes saying he’s a customer. Like almost all these videos, he closes by asking Alexa where Amazon should locate. The answer Danbury.
Most of the videos at least get a ribbon for participation, many showcase their cities with cut-aways, interviews with business owners, and attractions. Some are just bad, such as this sitting at desk video with a Bill Clinton presidential photo in the background and the Mayor referring to Amazon a “mail-order business”.
The City put out an emergency procurement for branding, video, and marketing services for the HAmazon bid. We’ll learn in a few months who the City hired, and for how much. Until then, let’s hope the surprise Mayor Eisenberger is promising in the next video is a better video.

source: news-thepublicrecord

created: October 7, 2017

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


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Morning Coffee Notes for October 3 – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 3, 2017
An interesting day ahead, Council Planning Committee is at 9:30am.
My neighbourhood association (Beasley) is delegating to seek Council to endorse a settlement reached between the NA and Greenwin that will protect family units in the towers at 181 John Street North, and 192 Hughson Street North. Greenwin had attempted to get a “minor variance” to eliminate the three bedroom units in the towers; the Committee of Adjustment rejected the variance as not being minor in nature.
Property Standards in the Ward 1 student area is on the agenda, with Ward 1 Councillor Aidan Johnson moving a motion to expand a project that hires Mohawk students to patrol the student areas of Ward 1 looking for property standard violations and then issues warnings; which are followed up with Provincial Offenses Act notices. In light of this weekend’s “biggest party of the year” on Dalewood, it will be interesting to see how Johnson handles the difficult task of managing Town and Gown relations.
This afternoon, Julie Lalonde is speaking at the Hamilton Public Library Central Branch at 3pm, and the Waterdown Branch at 7pm.
I have radio show administration this evening.

created: October 3, 2017


text:
Morning Coffee Notes – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 10, 2017
A quiet day is expected at City Hall with only two advisory committee meetings. I attended the Business Improvement Area Advisory Committee meeting this morning; it was housekeeping.
I’m hoping to get a lot of writing done in my office today; and on that note, I close this note early to focus on that writing.

created: October 10, 2017


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Ontario Municipal Board Hearing on Hamilton Ward Boundaries Day 1 [Replay LiveBlog] – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 19, 2017
The Ontario Municipal Board hearing into Council’s latest ward boundaries proposal is underway today.
The Public Record is liveblogging the hearing today.
Most recently, the City and Mark Richardson reached a settlement of one of the appeals. TPR’s analysis Council Miscalculation: How the Ward Boundary Settlement Sets Council’s Defeat at the OMB.
OMB panel
The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) members deciding this case are Dr. Bruce Krushelnicki and Paula Boutis. Krushelnicki is the Executive Chairman of the Environmental and Land Tribunals of Ontario, and is therefore the highest ranking member of the OMB.
City of Hamilton Legal Counsel
City Council retained outside legal counsel for the hearing as the Council voted to not accept the recommendations of professional experts Watson & Associates, instead creating their own boundaries as a Council.
The outside Counsel for the Council are Steven Ferri, partner at Loopstra Nixon LLP and, Cindy Yi, as associate at the firm.
Appellant
Two private citizens have appealed the Council’s new self-created ward boundaries. Mark Richardson and the City of Hamilton reached a settlement, Richardson is no longer an active appellant.
Robert Dobrucki is self-representing, a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, and a lawyer by trade, he is appealing as a private citizen. (Dobrucki was a guest on The Public Record Radio Show in October 2016 on the topic of ward boundaries)

created: October 19, 2017


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Ontario Municipal Board Hearing on Hamilton Ward Boundaries Day 2 [Replay LiveBlog] – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 20, 2017
Day Two of the Ontario Municipal Board hearing into City Council’s new Ward Boundaries is underway.
Today, the City will continue to present its case to the Board. The day beings with Gary Scandlan, of Watson & Associates, on the stand. He is an expert on Land Use and Population Forecasting.
Catch up on yesterday’s liveblog here: https://www.thepublicrecord.ca/2017/10/ontario-municipal-board-hearing-on-hamilton-ward-boundaries-day-1-liveblog/
Follow along with our liveblog below.
OMB panel
The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) members deciding this case are Dr. Bruce Krushelnicki and Paula Boutis. Krushelnicki is the Executive Chairman of the Environmental and Land Tribunals of Ontario, and is therefore the highest ranking member of the OMB.
City of Hamilton Legal Counsel
City Council retained outside legal counsel for the hearing as the Council voted to not accept the recommendations of professional experts Watson & Associates, instead creating their own boundaries as a Council.
The outside Counsel for the Council are Steven Ferri, partner at Loopstra Nixon LLP and, Cindy Yi, as associate at the firm.
Appellant
Two private citizens have appealed the Council’s new self-created ward boundaries. Mark Richardson and the City of Hamilton reached a settlement, Richardson is no longer an active appellant.
Robert Dobrucki is self-representing, a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, and a lawyer by trade, he is appealing as a private citizen. (Dobrucki was a guest on The Public Record Radio Show in October 2016 on the topic of ward boundaries)

created: October 20, 2017


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Ontario Municipal Board Hearing on Hamilton Ward Boundaries Day 3 [LiveBlog] – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 23, 2017
Day Three of the Ontario Municipal Board hearing into City Council’s new Ward Boundaries is underway.
Today, the City will continue to present its case to the Board. The day beings with Dr. Bill Freeman on the stand for the City to provide testimony on history and sociology of Hamilton.
Catch up Thursday’s liveblog and Friday’s liveblog.
Follow along with our liveblog below.
OMB panel
The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) members deciding this case are Dr. Bruce Krushelnicki and Paula Boutis. Krushelnicki is the Executive Chairman of the Environmental and Land Tribunals of Ontario, and is therefore the highest ranking member of the OMB.
City of Hamilton Legal Counsel
City Council retained outside legal counsel for the hearing as the Council voted to not accept the recommendations of professional experts Watson & Associates, instead creating their own boundaries as a Council.
The outside Counsel for the Council are Steven Ferri, partner at Loopstra Nixon LLP and, Cindy Yi, as associate at the firm.
Appellant
Two private citizens have appealed the Council’s new self-created ward boundaries. Mark Richardson and the City of Hamilton reached a settlement, Richardson is no longer an active appellant.
Robert Dobrucki is self-representing, a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, and a lawyer by trade, he is appealing as a private citizen. (Dobrucki was a guest on The Public Record Radio Show in October 2016 on the topic of ward boundaries)

created: October 23, 2017


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Ontario Municipal Board Hearing on Hamilton Ward Boundaries Day 4 [Replay] – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 24, 2017
It’s the fourth day of the Ontario Municipal Board hearing into Council’s new ward boundaries. Today, we’ll have testimony and arguments from each side during the day. In the evening, starting at 6:30pm, participant statements will begin. They will continue until 9:30pm. Statements will continue tomorrow morning.
This morning, the City will continue to present its case to the Board. Dr. Robert Williams, an expert in municipal ward boundaries who was involved with the Watson & Associates team, is on the stand for the City.
OMB panel
The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) members deciding this case are Dr. Bruce Krushelnicki and Paula Boutis. Krushelnicki is the Executive Chairman of the Environmental and Land Tribunals of Ontario, and is therefore the highest ranking member of the OMB.
City of Hamilton Legal Counsel
City Council retained outside legal counsel for the hearing as the Council voted to not accept the recommendations of professional experts Watson & Associates, instead creating their own boundaries as a Council.
The outside Counsel for the Council are Steven Ferri, partner at Loopstra Nixon LLP and, Cindy Yi, as associate at the firm.
Appellant
Two private citizens have appealed the Council’s new self-created ward boundaries. Mark Richardson and the City of Hamilton reached a settlement, Richardson is no longer an active appellant.
Robert Dobrucki is self-representing, a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, and a lawyer by trade, he is appealing as a private citizen. (Dobrucki was a guest on The Public Record Radio Show in October 2016 on the topic of ward boundaries)

created: October 24, 2017


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Ontario Municipal Board Hearing on Hamilton Ward Boundaries Day 5 [LiveBlog] – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 25, 2017
Day five of the Ontario Municipal Board hearing into Council’s new ward boundaries. Today, we’ll have start with participant statements in the morning. This afternoon, Dr. Robert Williams, an expert in municipal ward boundaries who was involved with the Watson & Associates team, is on the stand for the City being cross-examined.
OMB panel
The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) members deciding this case are Dr. Bruce Krushelnicki and Paula Boutis. Krushelnicki is the Executive Chairman of the Environmental and Land Tribunals of Ontario, and is therefore the highest ranking member of the OMB.
City of Hamilton Legal Counsel
City Council retained outside legal counsel for the hearing as the Council voted to not accept the recommendations of professional experts Watson & Associates, instead creating their own boundaries as a Council.
The outside Counsel for the Council are Steven Ferri, partner at Loopstra Nixon LLP and, Cindy Yi, as associate at the firm.
Appellant
Two private citizens have appealed the Council’s new self-created ward boundaries. Mark Richardson and the City of Hamilton reached a settlement, Richardson is no longer an active appellant.
Robert Dobrucki is self-representing, a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, and a lawyer by trade, he is appealing as a private citizen. (Dobrucki was a guest on The Public Record Radio Show in October 2016 on the topic of ward boundaries)

created: October 25, 2017


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Ontario Municipal Board Hearing on Hamilton Ward Boundaries Day 6 [Replay LiveBlog] – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 26, 2017
Day Six of the Ontario Municipal Board hearing into Council’s new ward boundaries will see appellant Robert Dobrucki on the stand to give his testimony and evidence in the matter at the start of the day.
Following this, Land Use and Planning Expert Gary Scandlan will return to the stand for cross-examination by Dobrucki. The OMB panel choose to have cross later in the hearing to give Scanlan the opportunity to hear Dobrucki’s evidence before being cross-examined in part based upon that evidence.
This afternoon, if the cross is completed, Dobrucki will be cross-examined by the City’s lawyer Steve Ferri.
OMB panel
The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) members deciding this case are Dr. Bruce Krushelnicki and Paula Boutis. Krushelnicki is the Executive Chairman of the Environmental and Land Tribunals of Ontario, and is therefore the highest ranking member of the OMB.
City of Hamilton Legal Counsel
City Council retained outside legal counsel for the hearing as the Council voted to not accept the recommendations of professional experts Watson & Associates, instead creating their own boundaries as a Council.
The outside Counsel for the Council are Steven Ferri, partner at Loopstra Nixon LLP, with Brendan Ruddick and Cindy Yi, both associates at the firm.
Appellant
Two private citizens have appealed the Council’s new self-created ward boundaries. Mark Richardson and the City of Hamilton reached a settlement, Richardson is no longer an active appellant.
Robert Dobrucki is self-representing, a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, and a lawyer by trade, he is appealing as a private citizen. (Dobrucki was a guest on The Public Record Radio Show in October 2016 on the topic of ward boundaries)

created: October 26, 2017


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Ontario Municipal Board Hearing on Hamilton Ward Boundaries Day 7 – Final Arguments [LiveBlog] – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 27, 2017
After two days of pre-hearing, and seven days of hearings, the Ontario Municipal Board case reviewing Hamilton’s ward boundaries enters closing arguments today.
The City will argue first, then Rob Drobucki – the appellant – will make his argument, the City gets the last word in reply, and then the OMB will adjourn to make its decision which will be released in the coming weeks.
OMB panel
The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) members deciding this case are Dr. Bruce Krushelnicki and Paula Boutis. Krushelnicki is the Executive Chairman of the Environmental and Land Tribunals of Ontario, and is therefore the highest ranking member of the OMB.
City of Hamilton Legal Counsel
City Council retained outside legal counsel for the hearing as the Council voted to not accept the recommendations of professional experts Watson & Associates, instead creating their own boundaries as a Council.
The outside Counsel for the Council are Steven Ferri, partner at Loopstra Nixon LLP, with Brendan Ruddick and Cindy Yi, both associates at the firm.
Appellant
Two private citizens have appealed the Council’s new self-created ward boundaries. Mark Richardson and the City of Hamilton reached a settlement, Richardson is no longer an active appellant.
Robert Dobrucki is self-representing, a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, and a lawyer by trade, he is appealing as a private citizen. (Dobrucki was a guest on The Public Record Radio Show in October 2016 on the topic of ward boundaries)

created: October 27, 2017


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Video: Hamilton City Council Board of Health for October 16 – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 16, 2017

created: October 16, 2017


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Video: Hamilton City Council Public Works Committee for October 16, 2017 – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

October 16, 2017


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Bay Street North Resident Writes Council in Opposition to Bay Street Bike Tract – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 13, 2017
Giovanni Puzzo, a resident of Bay Street North, wishes to delegate to the next City Council Public Works Committee meeting on November 27, 2017 in opposition to the Bay Street Bike Lanes.
Puzzo writes that he is opposed to the bike lanes as it removes on-street parking, he will no longer be able to have contractors parked on the street in front of his house, his visitors will have more difficulty, and the bike lanes are for “a few people that do not even live in the area”.
RE: Bike Lanes on Bay Street North
I own and rent out a house on Bay Street North. The house only has one parking spot which my tenants use. In order for the city to put bikes lanes in they have removed the on street parking north of Barton Street on Bay Street.
They only communication was through The Spectator. None of the property owners were ever informed of any plans and or meetings regarding the bike lanes.
I use to park on Bay Street and now I will not even have any deliveries done and I am unable to stop or drop off anything and unload or load any groceries or tools, etc. Any maintenance to be done on the house such as roofers, furnace repairs, duct cleaning and etc will require them to go find a parking spot somewhere else and carry the material back and forth.
Barton and Murray Street have limited parking and it is almost impossible to find parking anywhere. So now relatives and or friends coming to visit will no longer be able to park on the street.
I cannot believe the City actually took the parking spaces away from the people that live in the area to accommodate a few people that do not even live in the area that will ride their bike for a couple of months a year.
Everyone in the neighborhood that I spoke to says they use the road lanes to ride their bikes and there is no need for bike lanes. They also said they are all opposed to the bike lanes and they ride bikes. Also, they would prefer to have parking over bike lanes.
Bay Street is already a busy and congested street and now to have bike lanes there makes no sense at all. So what happened to the City informing the residents and getting their input.
I am not sure why the bike lanes have to be in a strait [sic] path down Bay Street when they could route some of the path down MacNab Street or Queen Street. they travel North to South from downtown to the GO station. This would allow for the long time elderly residents that live on Bay Street to keep the on street parking they always had.
Garbage and recycling trucks have to do their weekly pickups and cars will be stopped behind them waiting and inconvenienced.
Sooner or later one of the will try to go around them and get hit head on. They do not realize the safety concerns they have created.
Also, what happens to all the elderly people being inconvenienced that need to be picked up or dropped off in front of their house.

created: November 13, 2017


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City Finally  Releases HSR Long, Short-Term Disability, WSIB, and Other Leave Stats – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 9, 2017
Following repeated requests from The Public Record, the City of Hamilton released a breakdown of it’s “19% absenteeism” statistic:
I wrote yesterday about how the City was using the “absenteeism” label in a manner that made it appear that 19% of drivers were just not showing up to work. In fact, as we see from the breakdown above, drivers are not engaged in any work action, are not randomly calling in sick, and that the HSR is dealing with a significant number of operators on short-term disability.

created: November 9, 2017


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City Staff Consulting on On-Street Patio Program – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 12, 2017
City staff are working on their report to Council on the results of the City’s first year of On-Street Patios. As part of the review, staff are consulting with Business Improvement Areas seeking their feedback on the program and how to improve it in coming years.
The feedback at previous meetings of the Business Improvement Area Advisory Committee was very positive; with many BIA leaders stating there is interest in having more than the current limit of two on-street patios for each commercial district.
Staff will speak with the BIA Advisory Committee Tuesday morning, the meeting is scheduled to begin at 8am in Room 264 at City Hall.
Public feedback on the on-street patio project can be sent to Amanda McIlveen, Parking Manager, Hamilton Municipal Parking System.

created: November 12, 2017


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Committee Says Yes to Selling City Lands to Fund Affordable Housing, Council to Decide on List in January – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 29, 2017
Tuesday morning, Council’s Affordable Housing Sub-Committee voted unanimously to endorse a staff listing of city owned properties to be sold to fund affordable housing development in Hamilton.
Funds from the sales will be placed in a reserve fund that is earmarked for affordable housing.
The City’s criteria for selling, its conditions for developer purchase, and the overall plan have all be declared “confidential” by Councillors and will not be made public.
The list of sites, only the list, will be made public after Council ratifies the plan in January.
Within the clauses declaring the report is confidential, some sites are specifically referred to be letters. One of the sites is referred to as site “R”, this indicates at least 18 sites on the list.
The meeting was quick, only five minutes.
Councillors Collins, Conley, Green, and Pearson voted in favour. Farr was absent.

created: November 29, 2017


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Court Finds City of Kitchener Negligent for Failing to Salt Downtown Sidewalk in Timely Manner – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 7, 2017
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled two weeks ago that municipalities must have standards for the sidewalks they maintain, and the standards must be comparable to those for motor vehicle lanes.
In this case, a woman slipped and feel on ice on a municipality maintained downtown sidewalk in January 2010. Due to her choice of wearing running shows, the woman was found 50% responsible for her slip and fall, nonetheless, the City was found 50% at fault due to its negligent in failing to salt the sidewalk despite having reasonably known of the dangerous conditions of its downtown sidewalks.
Significantly for other municipalities, including Hamilton, the Court held that municipalities must have policies for responding to freeze-thaw cycles creating ice on municipally maintained sidewalks – and the policies must include reasonable response times for salting. Waiting until daytime hours during major freeze thaw cycles was held as unacceptable by the court.
Here are a few key paragraphs from the ruling:
[15]           Despite knowing on January 25 that a thaw-freeze situation was forecast for that Monday overnight, neither the evening supervisor nor did Mr. Heise call in city maintenance workers before their 7 a.m. regular shift start on January 26 to deal with those icy conditions that were likely to have formed overnight  on the sidewalks. He stated that the thaw-freeze cycle did not merit a change in the operators start time of 7 a.m. The reason for that was that although the defendant city had a policy allowing him to call in the trackless operators earlier before their 7 a.m. start time if there was an accumulation of 8 cm of snow, it had no policy at all at the time with regard to handling thaw-freeze conditions such as this. Because of that, he and the night supervisor were not permitted by the city to call in the operators before 7:00 a.m. to address icy conditions on the city sidewalks.  Accordingly, no consideration was given by him or the night supervisor to call in the city’s trackless maintenance drivers earlier than 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 26, 2010, including downtown operators, to deal with the thaw-freeze conditions that had occurred on the sidewalks after the last trackless maintenance for the sidewalks ceased at 3 p.m. the day prior.
[16]           The defendant municipality at the time had no minimum maintenance standards for its sidewalks.  Mr. Heise also admitted that sidewalk maintenance supervisors including the overnight supervisor and himself did not check with road patrol operators in order to determine what the conditions of the sidewalks might be for the presence of snow or ice. It is significant that no evidence was provided by the city from the night supervisor responsible for monitoring the sidewalks regarding his knowledge of the sidewalk and weather conditions over the evening of January 25, 2010.  It appears that he made no inspections of the sidewalks overnight to check for the presence of ice notwithstanding the thaw-freeze cycle that was happening that evening. In reality, there was no system of regular inspections of the city’s sidewalks and the only evidence was that Mr. Heise looked at the sidewalks from his vehicle when he was coming into work at 6:30 a.m.
[17]           However, Mr. Heise confirmed that the city’s policy did allow its operators to be called in before 7 a.m. to ensure the removal of snow in the downtown area. That in fact occurred on January 21 when operators were called in at 4 a.m. in the downtown area in order to ensure the removal of snow by noon hour.
[18]           No written documentation of whatever policy the city had for winter maintenance of this sidewalk was provided at trial through Mr. Heise or otherwise. Moreover, there was no evidence of Mr. Heise or otherwise of any priority in the city policy given to its employees outside that downtown area to remove ice and snow from high pedestrian traffic areas including those sidewalks servicing schools and bus stop areas such as the one in issue in this action.
…
[34]           There were no minimum winter maintenance standards applicable to the city’s sidewalks at the time. The only evidence of the city’s winter maintenance sidewalk policy was that it allowed Mr. Heise or the evening supervisor to call in the operators before their regular 7 a.m. start time if there was more than 8 cm of snow or if required to clear the downtown area. T3here was no evidence of any city policy directing that its overnight sidewalk maintenance supervisor conduct an inspection of its sidewalks when a thaw- freeze cycle or freezing rain was predicted. There is no evidence that any such inspection was conducted in the overnight hours of January 25, 2010.
[35]           Most significantly, the sidewalk supervisors were not permitted because of the city’s policy to call in those operators because of ice forming on its sidewalks overnight because of the thaw-freeze cycle. There was no evidence from the city either that its policy permitted the operators to be called in earlier than 7 a.m. if there was freezing rain overnight. Both of these conditions would obviously be at least as dangerous or likely more dangerous for pedestrians using the sidewalks than the presence of just 8 cm of snow on them.
[36]            Moreover, there was no city policy directing priorities to be given by its operators to remove ice and snow from high pedestrian traffic areas on sidewalks at bus stops used by the city’s transit buses and students getting off school buses on their way to their adjacent schools. Mr. Snyder also gave no priority to attend there that morning or on prior mornings to inspect and, if necessary, apply salt on the sidewalks despite his knowledge that he had or ought to have had of the high pedestrian traffic areas there early those mornings.
…
[44]           In my view, it was not a reasonable policy to permit the city’s sidewalk maintenance staff to be called in before its regular start time of 7 a.m. when there was more than 8 cm of snow on the sidewalks overnight but not when there was ice that had formed on the sidewalks overnight because of thaw–freeze cycles or freezing rain. The city knew or should have known that thaw-freeze cycles overnight would cause at least equal or more hazardous sidewalk conditions for pedestrians early in the morning than 8 cm of snow.
[45]           There was no written policy of and no evidence as to what instructions or guidance, if any, were provided to its sidewalks maintenance supervisors regarding their inspecting sidewalks overnight for hazardous conditions caused because of ice or snow or both. In fact, the policy of the city was not to allow its supervisors to call in its operators earlier than their scheduled start time of 7 a.m. to try and address the hazardous conditions caused by ice formations on the sidewalk overnight because of thaw-freeze or freezing rain conditions when there wasn’t 8 cm of snow.
[46]           In this case, that policy was not reasonable especially when the hazardous icy conditions on the sidewalks could have been dealt with before the plaintiff’s fall had the city’s supervisors been instructed to inspect the sidewalk icy conditions overnight during the thaw–freeze cycle for ice formation causing hazardous conditions on its sidewalks and to call in their operators earlier than 7 a.m. to start removing the ice from those sidewalks especially in high traffic areas such as the one in question in this case.
[47]           In particular, it is significant that the city had experimented with its supervisors to have the regular start times for its operators commencing at 5 a.m. rather than 7 a.m. which was subsequently stopped only because of noise complaints from the neighbors. That evidence appears to confirm the city’s awareness of its obligations to address in a timely fashion the hazardous conditions for pedestrians caused on its sidewalks overnight.

created: November 7, 2017


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DARTS Cannot Win – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 2, 2017
It seems DARTS cannot win. Last year, Council grilled DARTS demanding they cut their budget by one million dollars. Part of Council’s demand was that DARTS retire its large Arboc vehicles and replace them with smaller ProMaster buses that Council says allow for more flexibility.
The new ProMaster vehicles are smaller than the Arboc, and DARTS pays drivers 25% less per hour to operator them.
Today during the November 2, 2017 Hamilton Accessible Transit Review Sub-Committee, Councillors heard from two delegations of nursing home staff that the new buses are too small for their trips booked with DARTS. From DARTS, Councillors were told that DARTS operators have rejected the latest labour contract offer – despite their union negotiating team recommending the deal.
A delegation of nursing homes told Councilors that the new Promasters are not large enough for their trips with residents – they want DARTS to at least have some of the larger Arboc vehicles in the fleet. They stated that when they request DARTS service, they are receiving multiple vehicles and feel it will be more efficient to have larger vehicles.
Councillors received both the staff updates and nursing home delegations, without a motion directing any actions.

created: November 2, 2017


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Environment Hamilton Meeting on HSR Transit Crisis, November 14, 2017 [Video] – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 15, 2017
Environment Hamilton hosted a meeting at Hamilton City Hall to discuss the ongoing Hamilton Street Railway Transit Crisis.
Full Video Above or On The Public Record’s YouTube Page

created: November 15, 2017


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Hamilton Chamber of Commerce City Managers Breakfast for 2017 – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 9, 2017
The Hamilton Chamber of Commence hosted City Manager Chris Murray for the City’s Manager’s Breakfast on October 31, 2017.
Murray spoke extensively on the City’s top priority – the HAmazon bid for the Amazon HQ2.
Full video above and on our YouTube page.


text:
Hamilton City Council for November 22, 2017 – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 22, 2017
Full video of the meeting above or on our YouTube page.

created: November 22, 2017


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Hamilton City Council General Issues Committee for November 1, 2017 – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 1, 2017
Hamilton City Council, only two weeks after praising HSR upper managers for their great work, held a special debate on the ongoing crisis at the HSR which is seeing dozens of buses not operating each day as a temporary hiring freeze imposed by Council have resulted in an operator shortage.
Also on the agenda was a report from the City Elections Office looking to determine how to improve voter turnout.
Full Video Replay above or on our YouTube page here.

created: November 1, 2017


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Hamilton City Council GIC for November 10, 2017 – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 10, 2017
Hamilton City Councillors debated the 2018 public transit HSR capital budget. Much of the debate centred around the ongoing transit crisis, the use of the late 1980s custom build transit garage at 330 Wentworth Street North as a public works yard and office, and if it be more cost effective to return to using this garage for transit than building another transit garage.
Full Video Replay above or on our YouTube page

created: November 10, 2017


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Hamilton City Council Governance Committee for November 21, 2017 – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 21, 2017
Council’s Governance Committee heard from two residents suggesting improvements to Council’s Procedural Bylaw to improve meetings, and decided to recommend that Councillors pay for their own civic rings.
Full Video Above or on our YouTube page.

created: November 21, 2017


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Hamilton City Council Greater Bay Area Committee for November 21, 2017 – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 21, 2017
The Greater Bay Area Committee failed to make quorum, while the Councillors and Mayor listened to presentation and discussed issues of mutual concern between Burlington and Hamilton, no decisions could be made.


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Hamilton City Council Special Emergency and Community Services Committee for November 7, 2017: Neighbourhood Action Strategy – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 7, 2017
Hamilton City Council’s Emergency and Community Services Committee held their meeting with a special 4pm start time to hear presentations from each of the priority neighbourhoods in the Neighbourhood Action Strategy and receive an assessment report from Dr. Jim Dunn of McMaster University.
Full Video above or on our YouTube page.


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Hamilton Design Review Panel Says Brad Lamb's Television City Not Appropriate for Site – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 19, 2017
Hamilton’s Design Review Panel, a group of experts in architecture, planning, and urban design, meet on November 9 to review Brad Lamb’s proposed 40 and 30 storey buildings connected by a one story podium with underground parking.
The developer has posted his Design Review Panel documents on the project website here.
The 40 storey building is proposed to be 131.5 metres in height, which would make it the tallest building in Hamilton as measured from base to top. Being on one of the highest elevation points in the Lower City will increase its presence on the skyline.
The property at 163 Jackson Street West is the present home of CHCH Television’s administrative offices and broadcast studios.
Panel member Yasin Visram was the first member to ask questions to Brad Lamb’s planner. He questioned the density, concerned that the two towers on the site represents over-densification, suggesting there should only be one tower on the property. He expressed skepticism on having one shared electrical room, and the statement by the planner that there will be no adverse wind impacts at street level from the structure. Visram stated “it’s hard to believe” there are no concerns from the planner on wind impacts.
Registered Professional Planner and panel member James Webb was very skeptical about the plan and its height being greater than the escarpment. He asked many questions on the geometrics of the site, and was particular critical of the developers team for presenting building heights compared to the escarpment without consideration of the elevation of the ground at each site.
Webb defended Hamilton’s new Downtown Secondary Plan which allows for a conditional maximum height of 30 storeys. Webb said the plan has found the correct balance for intensification across the Downtown area. He stated that over-intensification of certain areas of the Downtown will have negative effects for the City.
It was panel member Vincent Colizza, an architect, who provided the most direct statement asking “Do you feel it’s appropriate to have 40 stories across single family homes?”.
Caroline Street South across from the site and the homes on Wesanford Place are a unique district within the Downtown. Along with Whitehern, they are the only properties in the Downtown Secondary Plan with a strict 3-storey single family home height limit.
Colizza strongly expressed opposition to the “aggressive take on the site”, and was very forceful that the plan must be changed to comply with the Secondary Plan’s 12.5 metre setback from neighbouring property lines.
Colizza applauded the proposed public plaza and protection of the heritage designated home on Jackson Street, saying it will add greatly to the public realm.
No member of the panel agreed with the proposed height, with some suggesting that even 30 stories may not be appropriate for the site.
The applicant’s development and rezoning application is available on their website. A date for the proposal to be debated by City Council’s Planning Committee has not been set.
CORRECTION: The original version of this story stated the homes on Wesanford were a Heritage Conservation District. They are not. Their character is enshrined in the Secondary Plan. I regret the error.

created: November 19, 2017


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Hamilton Town Hall on Income Security Reform Working Group – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 23, 2017
The Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction held a town hall at Hamilton City Hall on Thursday, November 23, 2017 to discuss and plan steps towards getting the recently released Income Security Reform Working Group report implemented.
Speakers included working group members Dr. Gary Bloch and Laura Cattari.
Full video above and on our YouTube page.

created: November 23, 2017


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HSR Director to Present Transit Crisis Response Plan to Council on Wednesday at 5pm – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 5, 2017
An important update on Hamilton’s ongoing Transit Crisis, HSR Director Debbie Dalle Vedove states in an internal memo that she’ll be presenting a plan for responding to the Transit Crisis to City Council this Wednesday at the 5pm Council meeting.
“I have a series of steps I want to take to improve the customer and operator experience and provided a briefing to Council earlier this week to outline short, medium and long-term strategies to achieve this. I am going back to Council with a follow up report and presentation on Wednesday, November 8”, wrote the Director in the internal memo.
For months, the HSR has been cancelling bus trips, and experiencing delays in repairing many of its transit vehicles as the result of City Council’s decision to impose a hiring freeze for the first months of 2017, and the cancellation of the 10-Year Transit Plan.
As recently as three weeks ago, Council and the HSR were denying the crisis – which they only acknowledged after The Public Record released the results of our Freedom of Information request for HSR bus cancellations, staffing levels, and bus breakdowns. The City stated they could not provide the information, as they were not tracking it. The City sought $3000 from The Public Record for cancellations and staff information, and $5 for each bus breakdown record requested – with over a thousand breakdowns, the City is seeking another couple of thousand of dollars for information they should already be tracking.
The full memo, sent to The Public Record by multiple sources states:
Dear Staff,
I want to sincerely thank you for your patience and professionalism over the last few weeks while we have worked to address the service cancellation issues and the scheduling challenges that we experienced over the summer. I can appreciate that the recent attention in the media and social media can be unsettling.
I care about this organization and its people. I remember what it was like to be an operator like it was yesterday. I understand the challenges you face and the opportunities we have to make the HSR better.
There is a lot going on right now and there isn’t an easy way for me to communicate with our team individually or as a group. I have a series of steps I want to take to improve the customer and operator experience and provided a briefing to Council earlier this week to outline short, medium and long-term strategies to achieve this. I am going back to Council with a follow up report and presentation on Wednesday, November 8. I want to be able to share information with all of you as real time as possible and have a two-way dialogue about where you believe there are additional improvements to be made.
I care about what you think so I’d like to hear from you about how best I can communicate with you. This may include a Facebook page, texts and/or emails to your personal devices, an intranet site just for HSR staff, and other creative ideas you may bring forward.
Please drop your suggestions and preferences in the box where ‘Our People Surveys’ were placed for me to consider, or feel free to contact me personally. If you’re comfortable providing your personal cell number or email address, please leave it for me as well so I can develop a distribution list. Your personal contact information will remain confidential.
I know you take pride in your work – a vital service to so many in our community – and I want to remind you that the positive and professional work you do is highly valued and appreciated.
As always, you are welcome to contact me if you have questions or would like to speak with me personally.
Best regards,
[Signed by Debbie Dalle Vedove]

created: November 5, 2017


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HSR Extending Driver Shifts, Putting Articulated Buses on 1-King at Night Starting December 31 – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 21, 2017
Hamilton’s embattled public transit division, the Hamilton Street Railway, is extending shifts for its drivers starting December 31.
The HSR is struggling with a operator shortage caused by a combination of City Council hiring cuts and an increase in short-term disability numbers. Some operators will be scheduled to work 50 hours per week.
There are no service cuts or add service in the winter schedules.
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 107 President Eric Tuck says the extended hours will help free up 10 operators for “spareboard” to cut down on missing buses and start having relief buses in place for breakdowns.
“It is important to note that the majority of the work is still between 40 and 50 hours. The Union has accepted the board as the best case scenario for servicing our customers given our current staff shortages.”
HSR Director Debbie Dalle Vedove says they changed the shift lengths to “bolster the spare board so we can minimize any cancellations”.
Dalle Vedove says the HSR will be posting for new operator applications as they’ve “exhausted our present pool” and expect to start accepting applications next week.
This set of operator schedules will remain in effect until the end of April.
Tuck says he’ll be working with HSR management to see the 33 promised operators hired and seek “improved schedules to provide much better on time performance”, Tuck added he wants to see “no missed/cancelled service so that we can meet the expectations and trust the public have put in us.”
Starting January 2nd, (the 31st and 1st are Sunday/Holiday schedules), 1-King buses after 8 p.m. will operate using the longer 60-foot articulated buses. During the day, those buses will be on the 10-B-Line route, and will change to King at Eastgate Square in the evening. Regular 40-foot buses operating on the 1-King route will become 55/58 Stoney Creek buses.
The HSR is implementing the change after The Public Record pointed to the current inefficiency of operating articulated buses on low demand Stoney Creek routes will bypassing occur on the 1-King.
Tuck says “with winter coming” it’s important to increase capacity on the 1-King route to make sure nobody is left behind in the cold. “It is worth trying”, he says of the change.
The Public Record asked both the Union and City for comment on New Year’s Eve service. For the past 20 years, the HSR has been the only Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area transit agency to not provide added service on NYE.
Presently, HSR service is scheduled to end at Midnight on December 31.
Both the Union and City are indicating they want to see extended and added service.
The HSR did not plan for New Year’s Eve when it set the schedules for 2017.
“The Union has been approached and will meet with the employer to discuss this issue over the next week”, Tuck said Tuesday.


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HSR Hopes to Get Eight Articulated Buses Repaired and Back on The Road in Three Weeks – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 9, 2017
HSR Manager of Transit Fleet Maintenance Mark Selkirk says the HSR is hoping to have eight articulated buses currently awaiting parts back on the road in three weeks.
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Selkirk says the buses are awaiting replacement parts from engine manufacturer Cummins which recently changed its distribution channels – causing delays in the HSR receiving engines needed for warranty repairs on the 60 foot buses.
The loss of articulated buses comes as the HSR system is in crisis as the result of Council putting in place a temporary hiring freeze earlier in the year, and cutting the 10-Year Transit Plan.
The HSR has failed to put thousands of hours of scheduled bus service on the road in October, with cuts causing bypasses across the City. Buses on the 10 B-Line and 51-University have seen capacity cut in half as 40′ Nova buses replace articulated buses, only worsening the impact on HSR passengers.


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Parrish & Heimbecker, Bunge, Harbour West Neighbours Take City to OMB on Pier 8 Development – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 15, 2017
Parrish & Heimbecker, Bunge, and Harbour West Neighbours have taken the City of Hamilton to the Ontario Municipal Board appealing against various aspects of the City’s plan to develop the Pier 8 lands into a series of mid-rise buildings housing 1500 residential units as well as commercial and institutional units.
Both Parrish & Heimbecker and Bunge are appealing to protect their interests in conducting industrial operations near Pier 8 decisions.
[7]  The parties agreed that Bunge’s appeal satisfied each of the foregoing factors.  Bunge’s interests are similar to and aligned with the appeal filed by Parrish & Heimbecker, Limited (“P&H”) and may therefore shelter under the P&H appeal.  Both companies operate industrial facilities at the harbour to the east of the lands and are concerned with the potential restrictions on their operations which may arise from mixed use development.  It is in the public interest to ensure that employment lands containing industrial uses are adequately considered when planning for other uses on nearby lands.  Apart from a potentially minor increase in the length of the hearing, no party would be prejudiced by Bunge’s party status.  Bunge’s direct interest in the matter is confirmed by its existence as a harbour industrial operation located on a nearby pier to Pier 8.  Bunge has an interest in the property it occupies under a lease from the Hamilton Port Authority effective to 2039.  Avoiding a multiplicity of proceedings was not particularly relevant here, and Bunge’s argument related to historical background was not contested by the City.
The City and Parties are expect to complete their issues list to each other by December 4, 2017, and circulated an agreed (or identified disputed issues) list by January 15, 2018.
The parties will be in front of the OMB again on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 at 10am at Dundas Town Hall for another pre-hearing conference.


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Province Gives City Council January 24, 2018 Deadline to Decide on LRT Operations – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 27, 2017
In a letter released late Monday afternoon, President & Chief Executive Officer of Metrolinx Phil Verster has delivered a January 24, 2018 deadline for Hamilton City Council to make a final decision on the B-Line Light Rail Project.
The letter responds to a August 18, 2017 resolution by Hamilton City Council demanding the province give them control of the operations of the LRT and that the Hamilton Street Railway operate the line.
The province’s long-awaited response is that the HSR can operate the line, if the City assumes the liabilities, costs, and increased construction costs resulting from the change.
Verster states the province does not believe HSR operating the project is in the best interests of the LRT nor City Council.
The deadline is included in the three page letter sent to Hamilton’s City Manager on Friday.
With the January 24 deadline looming, Council must decide quickly if they wish to fund the cost of HSR operating the LRT.
If Council votes to operate the LRT, the City’s LRT Director Paul Johnson, in a report to Council, says he’ll “immediately” need to hire “a team of one to three rail experts would be needed to clearly define the role of the operator in all tender documents, particularly the Project Specific Output Specifications (PSOS). This team could consist of full-time staff, but would more likely, given time constraints and availability of resources, consist of consultants”.
No budget estimate is provided for these consultants.
Johnson says his office will require an additional team “of approximately five people” during the design and build phases of the project to “ensure that the interests of the City as operator were protected”. He estimates this will cost $750,000.
Johnson further states that voting to have HSR operate the LRT exposes the City to cost implications for delays. “There is a risk that these interfaces could cause delays for which the City would be responsible. Any such delays attributed to the City could also have cost implications.”
The report continues with further risks to the City:
“Claims related to the City’s role as operator include not only foreseeable claims, such as those associated with accidents and/or the City’s role in the design development and delivery phases of the project, but also unforeseeable claims.”
If the City chooses to operate the LRT, operators would be part of the same union, ATU 107, as HSR bus operators.
City Council will hold a special (emergency) Council GIC meeting on Friday morning to debate their response to the letter. At the time of publication of this article, there were two public delegations registered to speak, both from the NO LRT movement: Carol Lazich, and Sarah Warry Poljanski.
Members of the public can register to speak to Council on the new LRT development, and if the HSR should operate the LRT prior to 12 noon on Thursday using the City’s online delegation request form.
I am pleased to respond on behalf of the Province and Metrolinx to Hamilton City Council’s August 18, 2017 motion regarding Hamilton Street Railway (HSR) operating and maintaining the Hamilton Light Rail Transit (LRT) system.
The March 2016 Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), between Metrolinx and the City confirmed key principles, roles and responsibilities for the Hamilton LRT project, which is expected to be completed by 2024.  The MOA identified Alternative Financing and Procurement (AFP) using Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Maintain (DBFOM) as the anticipated delivery model for the project. The DBFOM model means the successful consortium (ProjectCo) responsible for designing and building the project, is also responsible for operating and maintaining it for the 30 year concession period.
This approach ensures that ProjectCo considers all aspects of performance including that of operations and maintenance assets, and in so doing, it provides a strong incentive for high quality design, high quality construction, and also for cost effective and efficient long term performance.
Metrolinx and the Province have devoted significant time and effort to consider and assess the implications of changing the delivery model at this stage of the project, while ensuring value for money, appropriate risk transfer and committed project timelines are maintained. I believe that removing operations from the procurement and assigning them to the HSR is not in the City’s interest for the following reasons:
Based upon these considerations, I strongly recommend that the project continue to be delivered using the DBFOM model. However, if the City decides it is not willing to proceed with this model, Metrolinx is prepared to remove operations from the current procurement and work with the City on the basis that HSR will take on both the commercial and operational obligations under contract with Metrolinx remaining as the project owner.
To be specific, ProjectCo will retain the responsibilities for daily and lifecycle maintenance as well as for capital rehabilitation of the assets. This is consistent with the Design-Build-Finance-Maintain (DBFM) LRT projects in Toronto and Ottawa.
The City will be fully responsible and accountable to Metrolinx to operate the LRT system with the following obligations:
The City will also be responsible for and carry the complete and full risk for ensuring that HSR is capable of fulfilling the above accountabilities and has comprehensive plans to achieve that state of readiness. Such plans must be shared with Metrolinx by no later than March 2020, given that it typically takes 4 to 5 years to properly prepare the operational capabilities. The City will also have to enter into an operations agreement with Metrolinx, by March 2020, to define the roles and responsibilities of the parties, the service and performance standards, the commercial responsibilities as well as the interface requirements between HSR, Metrolinx and ProjectCo.
This approach is consistent with the Toronto and Ottawa LRT projects – where the local transit agency will operate the LRT services.
Until the City formally agrees to all the provisions in this letter, Metrolinx will continue to proceed on the assumption that the project will be delivered through a DBFOM model with ProjectCo delivering the operations. If the City wants to change to a DBFM model with HSR delivering the operations, I would ask that the City formally confirm agreement to all the conditions in this letter, supported by a Council resolution, by January 24, 2018.
I appreciate the patience shown by the City and trust this response demonstrates the commitment of the Province and Metrolinx to the LRT project and our willingness to consider the City’s requirements.

created: November 27, 2017


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Transit Crisis 2: Assaults – A Concerning Development – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 8, 2017
I’m at City Hall for Council, HSR Union President Eric Tuck had to step out for an emergency. I happened to be in the lobby as he took this call.
Tuck learned that a HSR operator had just been assaulted around 5 p.m. today. Tuck told me this is the fourth assault of the week. Tuck says he and other operators have been subjected to a barrage of public anger in the past week following the City’s claims that operators are at fault for the Transit Crisis.
I just published a lengthy Editors’ Note about why the City’s spinning – and stonewalling of The Public Record’s Freedom of Information requests – on the Transit Crisis is problematic.
I focused on how the lack of information harms our ability to have an informed debate and make good decisions about how to response to the crisis.
I didn’t include this consequence – by inflaming public opinion with the claim that 19% of operators are ‘not showing up to work’, the City may be contributing to tensions on our buses.
Tensions that may be a cause of these assaults, and even if they are not the cause of the assaults, making the work environment toxic won’t help convince HSR operators to work the overtime necessary to keep buses on the road as the HSR looks to hire new operators following a early 2017 hiring freeze and cancellation of the 10-Year Transit Plan.
The City has a responsibility to address the crisis, state the facts, and not inflame with incomplete information. City Hall can do better, let’s hope they start to.

created: November 8, 2017


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Transit Crisis Band-Aid – What New HSR Hires Mean – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 9, 2017
I’m going to do this update has an Editor’s Note, I’ll take time to go in-depth on the future of the HSR and what this all means in the coming week or so.
Tonight, City Council approved the hiring of up to 33 new bus operators.
The hiring is a Band-Aid on order, one that is riding the HSR to get here, so it’s going to be awhile and we don’t know when it will arrive.
What does that mean? In theory, it means HSR management will hustle in hiring operators to put all scheduled service on the road, and to ensure the HSR can become a reliable transit service.
In reality, it will likely be at least two months before passengers will see any impact – it’s probably going to get worse before it gets better.
Even with 14 new operators scheduled to driving buses in December, this will only end the HSR’s death spiral – backfilling retirements and operators who burn out. (and this is assuming none of the trainees fail training. I’m told by a retired trainer that failure rates vary from 5 to 20% per class)
Will HSR’s Director be bold and hiring all 33 new operators? We don’t know, and the media didn’t get to ask her tonight.
The Director’s boss General Manager of Public Works Dan McKinnon took media questions tonight. McKinnon said 33 is a ceiling, and they may not hire that many operators if they do not need them if HSR’s long-term and short-term disability numbers improve. I asked him directly if the HSR would use this hiring to not just get scheduled buses on the road, but to have a “rescue bus” pool to address reliability.
He didn’t know, on many of my detailed questions, he didn’t have the answers. He did provide the HSR’s Manager of Transit Planning and Infrastructure Jason Vander Heide, and the Manager of Transit Fleet Maintenance Mark Selkirk to answer detailed questions.
Vander Heide states there will be changes to HSR’s internal scheduling starting with the January operator schedules to address bus capacity issues, and it definitely sounds like he is hoping to do more. Having only been in the role for three months now, he’s trying to reverse decades of mismanagement, so we’ll see what he can do in a relatively short time before January.
(Inside baseball: there are four schedules “boards” per year. Traditionally, the “winter board” is Jan/Feb/Mar. Vander Heide has made it Jan/Feb/Mar/Apr – which has made more than a few operators unhappy)
Selkirk responded to my questions on the number of articulated buses in the garage awaiting repair. He says the issue is that the engine manufacturer’s supply chain has changed, and the HSR is awaiting replacement engines for many of the buses to arrive from the United States. There are also buses in the garage for transmission replacement. I’m going to write a separate story on this.
In the coming week or so, I’m going to write on three of the fundamentals of good public transit:
Council next debates the HSR on Friday when the HSR Director presents her 2018 Capital Budget for infrastructure and bus purchases. I’ll be there.
One last closing note: You’ll hear other media report the 33 potential hires as 58 new operators because the HSR say they already 25 operators “over complement”. I’m not going to try to explain the HSR’s broken human resources calculations – it’s clear how broken the HSR is from the fact they don’t have the first clue what their headcounts truly are, and they are failing to put buses on the road.
Update: The City issued its own press release tonight using the 58 operators figure.


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Transit Crisis Spin: When City says 19% of Drivers Are 'Not Showing Up' What Does That Really Mean? – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 8, 2017
There is a public relations war underway between City Council and the union representing Hamilton Street Railway employees over who is to blame for the crisis in Hamilton’s public transit division.
The City is trying to place the blame for the HSR’s 25-years-in-the-making crisis on its employees, citing a 19% absence rate as the reason for the crisis. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 107 says the problem is mismanagement and is calling on council to fire the HSR’s Director who has been on the job for 13 months.
What is the truth of the matter?
I’ve been working on the Transit Crisis file for months, digging to get to the truth. Unfortunately, my efforts to get the truth via a Freedom of Information request was stonewalled by the City requesting $3000 for simple performance and statistical data.
When I made this stonewalling public, the City was forced to admit buses were in fact missing, and we’re finally seeing Council act on the crisis.
The problem is we’re dealing with a crisis we don’t understand because the City won’t release basic performance and staff complement data – the City claims they don’t have it, yet is able to state with confidence that there is a 19% “absenteeism” rate.
The City’s claims are mutually exclusive – either they have the data or they couldn’t produce their main speaking point.
Update: 20 hours after The Public Record the City finally released a breakdown of their 19% figure. The breakdown shows there is no work protest or drivers just not showing up for work.
This is important, because it’s all the City wants to talk about.
Does 19% absenteeism mean 97 of the HSR’s 509 bus operators are deciding to not show up to work every day? The way its being spun, and some people may be lead to believe this to be the fact.
The 19% includes staff on long-term disability, short-term disability, work accommodation, illness, emergency leave, sickness, and other causes for absences. We don’t know the breakdown, because the City won’t provide it.
Bus operators have strict standards for licensing and health, including regular medical reporting cycles. HSR operators must hold a Class ‘B’ drivers license.
If there are questions about their health, for example high or low blood pressure, they are not allowed to operate a bus for a period of time until the medical concern is resolved. This is for good reason, the consequences of a operator going into cardiac arrest while operating with 50 or more people on a bus would be disastrous.
This is a short term disability, contributing to the “absenteeism” rate.
Many drivers are presently off on Workplace Safety and Insurance Board coverage due to complaints about skeletal muscle injuries, citing the lack of shock absorption in the new NOVA buses the HSR has been purchasing for the past two year.
Considering the state of Hamilton’s roadways, it is understandable that some drivers will experience injury. The question is how many? Are the new buses part of the cause?
Again, we don’t know because the City won’t release information.
What is the average age of HSR operators? If the average age is increasing, it is likely that the “absenteeism” rate will increase as well. As we age, people face increase risk of serious illness. This combined with the health standards required for bus operators will increase “absenteeism”.
(Recently, an operator who is a friend of mine had a drug complication and was not allowed to operate a bus with passengers for many months. He was not work accommodated, and placed on short-term disability.)
There are many legitimate reasons operators could be off work.
I filed a Freedom of Information request to the City for human resource head counts for the past 30 months including a breakdown of staff on long-term disability, short-term disability, work accommodation, illness, emergency leave, sickness, and other causes for absences.
The City responded they do not have this information available, and that it will take 43 hours to compile. At the City’s standard rate of $30 per hour, it will cost The Public Record $1300 to get this information.
The facts this data will provide are essential to informed public dialogue on what is happening at the HSR, and how to fix it. So why isn’t the City making it public?
I’ve heard rumours of unofficial job actions, and I want to report if there is – this is important for the public to know. I sought daily absence rates to track potential unofficial job actions.
I became aware of a Friday in early March that some younger operators were attempting to organize a work protest by calling in sick. Local ATU executives worked to prevent this job action. On the day of the action, I noticed an increase in canceled buses – the public needs to know if there was an increase, or just that I was looking for missing buses on that particular day?
Is there a pattern to when operators are calling in sick day of? Are they more likely to call in sick on a Monday or Friday, on a day with bad weather or good weather, around a long weekend, or even on days of major highway closures?
There was a change to the middle manager who is scheduling buses – a change which I know caused some senior operators to refuse overtime in protest. Did this change cause more operators to call in sick, or a significant number of operators to refuse overtime?
What about burnout of those working overtime? Detailed statistics will show if the increase in bus cancellations is the result of more operators not driving, or operators deciding to not take overtime.
The ATU Union says they were opposed to 68 hours per week with overtime because drivers were experiencing burnout at 60 hours per week, is this true? With the City refusing to release data, we cannot being to find out.
In the absence of facts, the City has been spinning, spin which does not stand up to scrutiny.
Is the HSR short of operators? Under direct questioning from Ward 3 Councillor Matthew Green at last week’s Council GIC, HSR Director Debbie Dalle-Vedove stated the HSR is short operators and that had they hired in the spring as planned, they would not be.
This followed the HSR Director presenting a slide to Council stating she hired 37 operators, and 23 operators have retired. Her slide included hires that have not been made, and excluding operators who left the HSR other than by retirement. Much like the “absenteeism” statistics, the HSR did not provide the basic information we need for a proper informed discussion.
Right now, the City is intentionally pushing the narrative that one-fifth of HSR operators are ‘not showing up to work’.
You’ll note how carefully they are expressing the 19% absence line, not providing any detail on it, and not stating this is inclusive of legitimate reasons for absences such as disability, emergency leave, and other cause.
In backchannels, the Union is trying to push there is an increase injury rate from the Nova buses, a lack of operators, and a toxic work environment.
The public is left to wonder what is the truth, and this is unacceptable.
I trained in journalism under great editors at Maclean’s, one of them explained that when the government isn’t releasing information, and instead spinning, the facts are likely much worse than anyone expects.
What’s really happening at the HSR?


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City of Hamilton Expanding Red Light Cameras to Five New Locations – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

December 5, 2017
Hamilton City Councillors on the Public Works Committee voted Monday to add five intersections to the program:
The decision needs to be ratified by Council on Friday.

created: December 5, 2017


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City to Provide Security, if needed, at OMB Hearing After Lawyer Threatened – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

December 3, 2017
A lawyer for Sonoma Homes in the Ontario Municipal Board appeal of Council’s denial of a 12-storey mid-rise proposed for 1117 Garner Road East says her office received a “threatening message left on her firm’s phone system” related to the file.
In the procedural order issued by the OMB, the City of Hamilton stated that it will provide security if required during the hearing scheduled to start on June 18, 2018.  Police are investigating the threat.

created: December 3, 2017


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Hamilton City Hall Memorial Service for Yosif Al-Hasnawi – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

December 9, 2017
Hundreds of Hamiltonians filled Hamilton City Hall on December 9, 2017 to mourn the death of 19-year-old Yosif Al-Hasnawi who was shoot and killed one week prior on December 2nd when he intervened to assist an elderly man by harassed by two criminals.
One of the criminals shoot and called Al-Hasnawi. Al-Hasnawi had aspirations of being a medical doctor.
Full video above and on our YouTube page.
A memorial scholarship fund has been setup at Brock University, details on how to donate are at Yosif.ca

created: December 9, 2017


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Hamilton Public Works Committee Votes to Hire New Summer Bylaw Officers for Albion Falls – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

December 5, 2017
Hamilton City Councillors on the Public Works Committee voted Monday to hire four summer student by-law enforcement officers to enforce a trespassing ban at Albion Falls and other area waterfalls.
The hiring following a closing of Albion Falls earlier this year after a spate of rope rescues and one death. The City installed 215 metres of fencing and more than 30 warning signs to close off the waterfall.
On July 17, the City started issuing tickets to anyone seen pass the fences. Between July 17 and Thanksgiving weekend, the City issued 162 trespassing fines at area waterfalls, primarily Albion Falls, totally $22,273. In addition, the City issued $19,898 in parking tickets at waterfall areas.
The decision needs to be ratified by full Council on Friday.


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HSR Assigning Operators to Pull Articulated Buses from Service in Middle of Transit Crisis – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

December 2, 2017
Hamilton’s Transit Crisis continues, on Wednesday this week, over 10% of the City’s bus runs had at least one trip cancelled during the day due to a lack of operators caused by Council cuts in early 2017.
Sadly, HSR management’s response to the crisis has been lackluster. The latest example of this lackluster response is a odd decision to devote limited resources to removing the higher capacity 60′ articulated buses from service in the evening.
A year ago today, I pointed out the absurdity of 1-King operating with 40′ foot buses at night when articulated buses are available. Until two weeks ago, the HSR inefficiently ran articulated buses in Stoney Creek at night.
Starting in January, those articulated buses will finally arrive on 1-King in the evening.
However, in the interim, the HSR is assigning operators to remove the articulated buses from service at night.
Friday night, I was at Eastgate transferring to the 58-Stoney Creek Local scheduled for 7:00pm when a 40′ foot bus arrived at the stop about 7 minutes prior to the arrival of the 60′ foot articulated bus that was operating on the route.
The operator of the 40′ bus is assigned every night to removing the articulated bus from service and taking it to the HSR garage. Friday night, the HSR was operating two buses short, one missing from the 1-King and another missing from the 10-B-Line.
Instead of putting this operator into service to fill the missing 6:45pm B-Line, or taking the a 60′ articulated bus and putting it onto 1-King to carry more passengers instead of leaving people waiting in the cold, HSR upper management prioritized optics over service.
As my bus pulled out of Eastgate, I looked at a long line of people squeezing onto a 40′ bus on King, and watched the 60′ articulated bus drive away to the garage.
Technically, HSR upper management is solving the inefficiency problem of misplacing articulated buses by removing them from service.
However, once again, HSR upper management have shown themselves to be focused on hiding problems instead of actually solving them.
The solution is simple, families switch the family car and van all the time; why can’t HSR managers figure this out?

created: December 2, 2017