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  #161  
Old Posted May 3, 2013, 5:29 PM
CaptainKirk CaptainKirk is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pearlstreet View Post
Thats incredible! Hahahahaha I keep replaying it too.
If you haven't seen this, then you'll like this one too!

Some 905 mayors appeared on TVO's The Agenda on April 17, discussing LRT.

Watch Mayor Bratina get absolutely schooled by them all, and in particular Mayor Morrison of Caledon. What an embarrassment he is.

For a quick laugh, fast forward to her comment at 12:35

http://ww3.tvo.org/video/190463/905-...get-you-moving
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  #162  
Old Posted May 9, 2013, 12:54 AM
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Bratina will face his second integrity investigation.
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  #163  
Old Posted May 9, 2013, 12:48 PM
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  #164  
Old Posted May 9, 2013, 1:47 PM
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Councillor Powers of Ward 13 (Dundas) has now decided he doesn't support LRT based on 'affordability.'

Bratina spent more time during this past council meeting claiming that Hamiltonians don't want LRT, that it's too expensive, etc. He also backtracked saying that he's always understood that Council supports B-line LRT but that he won't support it because Hamilton doesn't have the ridership to warrant such an expense. He tried to clarify his stance but continually referred to B-line BRT, not LRT.

Other councilors spent time talking about 'exit plans' and 'exit ramps' whereby the City of Hamilton could bail out of their commitment to LRT if it isn't funded 100% by the Province and through a means that doesn't burden the Hamilton taxpayer.

I hate this Mayor. I hate this City Council. They will screw this opportunity. Mark my words. We'll end up with a couple bus lanes and higher taxes or user fees of some sort.

Last edited by Dr Awesomesauce; May 9, 2013 at 2:09 PM.
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  #165  
Old Posted May 9, 2013, 4:09 PM
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I agree that this council will squander this chance.

But we're less than 18 months away from the 2014 election. Maybe there's still time for them to ruin this opportunity irrevocably, but maybe not. I hear so many people who are fed up with this council, let's ignore it and focus on throwing it out. It's not too soon to start recruiting candidates who are interested in the future of the city, who have some imagination and are not afraid to take on an incumbent.
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  #166  
Old Posted May 9, 2013, 4:24 PM
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Looks to me like the entrenched bureaucracy at City Hall is an impossible mountain to move. The best new councilors on earth will fail unless various city managers are sent out to pasture.
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  #167  
Old Posted May 9, 2013, 5:09 PM
HillStreetBlues HillStreetBlues is offline
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You may be right. How do we make that happen, if that's what you think needs to be done?
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  #168  
Old Posted May 9, 2013, 5:17 PM
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To be honest, my comment comes from frustration. The upending of public-sector bureaucratic inertia is very difficult. There are obstructionist managers, like Public Works Manager Davis, who seems to care little about real solutions to simple problems.

A new dynamic mayor along with some new councilors would be a start.
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  #169  
Old Posted May 9, 2013, 5:31 PM
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On the supportive side, we have city manager Chris Murray who remains professional and does not get caught up in the bullshit. We have councillors Farr and McHattie leading the LRT task force and the support of the Chamber of Commerce and their new, pro-urban CEO.

We're not screwed yet. Toronto is getting 5 lines of totally free public transit despite their administration being even more of a circus than ours.
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  #170  
Old Posted May 9, 2013, 5:45 PM
HillStreetBlues HillStreetBlues is offline
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Farr and McHattie are probably representing their constituents' wishes pretty well. Wards 1 and 2 residents seem the most interested in sustainable development and city-building. Is it possible to get councillors with similar forward thinking elected on the mountain? In Ancaster?

You guys who spend a lot of time on this forum mostly seem to live in the lower city, but not all. Could there be enough support outside of the city centre for pro-urban councillors?
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  #171  
Old Posted May 11, 2013, 4:12 AM
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^I think that's highly unlikely. The suburban councillor isn't interested in city building and never will be. Their constituents fled the city for one reason or another and care only for their bottom line, not in making the city a better place to live. I don't think you can change that. Cynical, I know.

And I still laugh at Councillor Powers removing his support for LRT. I guess he feels he hasn't been getting enough attention of late. It's as if he's saying 'Hey, look at me! I'm important! I disagree with this and so do my constituents! It's too expensive! I'm a responsible politician.' The reality is, Russ, you're ignorant and irrelevant and shouldn't be sitting in the council chamber at all, at least not the one at 71 Main W.

The amalgamated city is a whole other ball of wax, I know, but when you look around the chamber you have to wonder how it all came to be that certain councillors have become so integral to the well-being of this city. It's a situation that can only result in the worst possible outcome for all involved.
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  #172  
Old Posted Sep 18, 2013, 1:42 PM
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  #173  
Old Posted Sep 18, 2013, 4:29 PM
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Mayor Bob Bratina steps down from police services board

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilt...oard-1.1859246

Mayor Bob Bratina is set to step down from the city's police services board.

He is expected to give a press conference to announce his resignation from the board on Wednesday around noon.
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  #174  
Old Posted Nov 12, 2013, 2:53 PM
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Dreschel: Integrity commissioner clears Bob Bratina

http://www.thespec.com/opinion-story...s-bob-bratina/

The integrity commissioner has cleared Mayor Bob Bratina of threatening city manager Chris Murray during a heated council meeting.

Earl Basse's report, obtained Tuesday, says Bratina's tone and comments to Murray during the April 24 discussion on light rail transit were "angry" and "not appropriate" but did not contravene council's code of conduct.

Basse's finding was based on the fact that Murray told him he did not feel intimidated or threatened by the mayor's actions, nor felt his professional reputation had been injured.

Basse notes that the mayor also apologized to Murray after the incident.
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  #175  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2014, 1:30 PM
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Controversy around state-of-city speech event dogs Bratina
(Hamilton Spectator, Andrew Dreschel, Jan 8 2014)

Bob Bratina hasn't even opened his mouth yet and already his Wednesday state of the city address is generating controversy.

First it was because Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation is contributing $2,100 to the breakfast speech.

Now it's because the mayor is using about $5,000 from his office budget to help cover costs for the revenue-generating event organized by the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce.

That's given rise to warring claims over Bratina's use of tax dollars. Councillor Sam Merulla says it's against city rules; staff says it isn't.

Bratina is delivering the address at a morning meeting on the 21st floor of the Stelco Tower downtown. Tickets are $50.

The chamber is hosting the event but the panoramic venue was suggested by Peggy Chapman, the mayor's chief of staff, when it was being planned in the fall.

Chamber president Keanin Loomis said he responded by saying he would love to stage the event at the Stelco Tower but couldn't afford the additional costs for renting tables, chairs and a sound system.

"They offered to cover them," recalled Loomis. "Peggy said to me 'We have a budget for these types of things.'"

The issue first came to light before Christmas when Bratina and Loomis were defending OLG's sponsorship on Bill Kelly's CHML talk show. Social media activists seized on it and soon Merulla weighed in.

Merulla argues Bratina's $5,000 contribution constitutes a sponsorship and therefore contravenes city policy limiting elected officials from making donations of more than $350 to a single organization in a year.

Merulla says the mayor needs council approval for greater amounts. He compares it to Bratina's unauthorized $10,000 donation from his office budget to the United Way in 2011.

"It's a brazen, blatant breach (of the rules)," Merulla said.

Chapman disagrees. "It is not a sponsorship," she said by email.

"These are considered meeting expenses. Under our policy we can spend on such things as room rentals and equipment if it is related to communicating with constituents."

Chapman says she proposed Stelco Tower because they'd been there for a Ticat event and the mayor had previously hosted an event there.



Read it in full here.

Watch Joey Coleman's livestream here.
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  #176  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2014, 2:56 PM
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From Joey's twitter: "Mayor Bratina asked if he'll lobby to end tax breaks for parking lots. Says we don't have enough parking. Then, our parking is too cheap."

You can't make this stuff up.
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  #177  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2014, 5:13 PM
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Get rid of this guy already.
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  #178  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2014, 5:27 PM
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Take another look at amalgamation: Bratina

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/43...ation-bratina/

Hamilton should take another look back at the impact of amalgamation even as it looks to the future with a new confidence, says Mayor Bob Bratina.

The mayor focused much of his state of the city address on Hamilton's "dynamic urban transformation" and potential success that will come with "a new confidence" in the coming years.

But Bratina, who last raised revisiting the divisive restructuring debate in the previous election campaign, startled some listeners by adding it was "very reasonable, and perhaps critical" to again look back more than a decade to evaluate how Hamilton's reluctant amalgamation has served citizens.

To that end, he invited residents to check out a 3 p.m. academic presentation on the costs and achievements of municipal restructuring at the Sheraton from University of Western Ontario professor Timothy Cobban.

Bratina wouldn't immediately answer questions about the amalgamation study, saying he would wait until after the presentation.

But in his speech, he linked the study to the need for "a new dynamic" between municipal and senior levels of government, calling amalgamation a prime example of the problems associated with "top down" governance.

Bratina has yet to announce whether he'll run for office again, but the surprise amalgamation reference will inevitably be seen in an election context, said current councillor and 2014 mayoral challenger Brian McHattie.

"That was what stood out for me. Do we really want to revisit amalgamation again?" he said after the speech. "I thought in this context it was inappropriate."

Liberal Hamilton MPP Ted McMeekin, who praised the speech for highlighting major and ongoing accomplishments in the city, added there's nothing wrong with learning from the past.

"But it can never be about looking back to go back," he said. "That sort of nostalgia is not healthy."

More to come.

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  #179  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2014, 6:11 PM
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I believe this is the first time he's brought up deamalgamation since the last election campaign.
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  #180  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2014, 6:47 PM
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De-amalgamation talk is a waste of air. All 3 provincial parties have said they would not entertain any de-amalgamation of Hamilton.
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