Mayor Bob Bratina
 

Figured I make a thread for Mayor Bob Bratina......

Spec Live: Join discussion with Mayor Bob Bratina
http://www.thespec.com/news/article/...or-bob-bratina

My question is....

Why not replace Brian Timmis Stadium at the West Harbour land.

Any minute now.

Guess the rumour is true regarding retail at the West Harbour....

Comment From Hammer
What is the plan with the West Harbour now that the whole stadium and velodrome took and 180 and left this great location. Are there still talks of an amphitheater or something else there?

BB: This valuable location has been the subject for many years of our Setting Sail plan. Waterfront property should be among the highest revenue generating lands in the City's inventory. Public use of the land would be problematic because of the clean-up costs which a large commercial development could sustain, and provide the City with much-needed tax revenue.

I thought Bratina handled the dozen questions very well. There was totally an underlying bitter tone coming from WH/Fred supporters, these are the "Dissenters". They know who they are and Bob knows who they are. I believe Bratina when he goes around this city and people tell him he's doing a good job.

It's also important to note that Bratina's stance and position was the exact same whether he was on CHML or Spec. The media outlet is irrelevant, so I hope that puts an end to the dissenters complaining about going on CHML every week. I hope he continues to go on CHML every week just like I bet most everyone does. The dissenters are only complaining about Bratina using CHML because they just don't like what his message is.

I do agree that waterfront property should be taxed higher than land more inland; it's that way almost everywhere else. I can see where he's coming from when he says that it would be a waste to see the city take over this land with our tax dollars. It's a tough one... we want something great to go there, but preferably privately financed.

Some kind of large-scale arena/theater/whatever would be great, but I'm not sure our city can afford it right now.

Provincial politics
 

So Mayor Bob, gets dinged for standing at City Hall with Liberal candidates. Stand with whoever and hedge your bets, he is there to represent the city and get the best deal for Hamilton.
Smoozin never hurt.
If this was to better our lot, so be it, I don't care if he stands with Daffy Duck. Or Daffy Dalton! And anyone else that goes thru the motions of kissing Hamilton butt, just hope whoever either delivers or is in a position to deliver.
But most of this town will back NDP.:shrug::shrug:

Finally CHML gets a spot on TV. Congrats Mr. Kelly.

Your comments confuse me, Matt. Are you referring to Cable 14's monthly show with Mayor Bratina? It's hosted by John Best. Bill Kelly isn't even involved in the show.

Cable 14 has been airing CHML's Bill Kelly show for quite some time, but this new show doesn't involve the radio station.

I'm glad the Mayor will be on a regularly scheduled call-in show on TV. David Miller did this for years on CityTV back when he was mayor of Toronto, so it's nice to see it being adopted here too. This is a great supplement to the local coverage Cable 14 already offers on its "For the Record" show hosted by former mayor Larry DiIanni, which has a regular rotatation of council members as guests.

It was a joke referring to Bratina's frequent, almost exclusive appearances on CHML.

Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratina endorses Liberals

http://www.thespec.com/news/election...orses-liberals

Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratina took the unusual step today of endorsing a party in Thursday’s provincial election.

He is behind the McGuinty Liberal party.

“The surest way to continue the progress of the last four years and ensure the fulfillment of commitments to GO service and the uploading of social service costs is to return the McGuinty government with a majority,” he said at a Stoney Creek Chamber of Commerce meeting today.

“Neither Mr. Hudak nor Miss Horwath have had any communication with my office” about their parties’ stance on uploading and GO service, he said.

“I’m convinced these initiatives will be lost if this government is not returned.”

What a surprise.

Looks like Bratina's endorsement had no effect, Hamilton Mountain, Hamilton Centre and Hamilton East-Stoney Creek are all NDP ridings now.

Ted McMeekin has been elected. He'll likely be Hamilton's single cabinet minister.

FWIW, Dreschel is skeptical of his chances.

Only A Token Voice Left For Hamilton At Queen’s Park (Andrew Dreschel, Hamilton Spectator, Oct 6, 2011)

For all his on-the-ground skills, McMeekin is not the man to crack the ranks of any new cabinet.

He’s been there and, frankly, was dumped in early 2010 in favour of Aggelonitis, a rookie elected in 2007.

McMeekin, who was first elected in 2000, took his demotion with good grace.

The thinking was McGuinty wanted to replace a 60-ish old warhorse with a young, fresh and energetic 41 year old, someone who could give the tired Liberals a new look.

But Aggelonitis is gone and Hamilton is no longer fertile ground for the party.

There’s simply no percentage in McGuinty bringing McMeekin back or rewarding a city that has all but turned its back on his party.

um Dreschel seems to be forgetting the importance of city council, not to mention the minority government. Bratina's endorsement, plus other liberals in council like Collins and Powers should keep our voice heard at QP. And I'm not all that aware of what Aggelonitis ever did for the city.

More to the point it obviously won't be lost on the liberals where their support is. Look at the electoral map: every urban centre vying between red and orange, every suburban centre vying red and blue, rural areas blue and the north orange. Even if Toronto gets the focus, Hamilton won't be neglected by any means.

Not to forget there's every indication that McGuinty has a soft spot for Hamilton. Having attended McMaster, he is well familiar with the city like few other pols who aren't local.

It would be hard to miss the fact that Hamilton is at the crux of the finally emerging Golden Horseshoe. The Premier has acknowledged Hamilton's status as an underperforming city within the region.

Consider that his major policies serve to reinforce the form of the Golden Horseshoe by corralling new development into major nodes connected by higher order transit, and forcing sprawl development into a band between the nascent Greenbelt and the Lake. ( I think the Greenbelt may turn out to have been the biggest victor in this election. Who knows what would have happened to it under the Tories.)

Also, as an NDP preserve, Hamilton must surely be on their radar as a place where they could gain some ground in the future, more easily so than the Conservatives. The past four years of the Ted and Sophia show shows strong evidence of this sensibility. Why would this change now just because they lost one seat?

Finally, has anyone considered that we may be on the brink of a period of regionalism that may see amalgamation on a scale that would make the previous reorganisations look like preamble? How big a stretch would it be to see the formation of a Golden Horseshoe Region, or two or three smaller regions that it their totality form the GH. It was only Hazel McCallion that kept Mississauga out of the GTA amamgamation, and her tenure is just about up. How could her exit not lead to some form of reorganisation?

Councillor Terry White introduces motion limiting Mayor Bratina's power to speak to upper levels of government. Calls for a government relations team that would handle lobbying instead of just the Mayor. Council will vote on its prioroties before taking anything to the upper levels of government.

Motion passes, Bratina, Powers and Pearson opposed.

Wow, I've never heard of anything like that.

Great leadership by consensus
 

Maybe Big Bad Bob should confer with city staff who do the day to day operation. He has kinda overstepped their comfort zone, but that is leadership to lead. All major decisions are already decided by a vote.
Making a decision in this city don't come easy,
The lunatic fringe will delay it for decades. Like the Red hill it was 50 yrs yes half a century.
Please if he has to confer on everything with the alder people don't expect anything to be done during this term.
I see the best way to limit a leader is decrease his power or authority of office. Why do we need a mayor we could have a council like survivor, watch out next is vote peole off the island.