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.