Do you want to see what the election results look like poll by poll?

A sign from the Open City Workshop in Edmonton, AB says it all. (Mack Male (mastermaq) / Flickr)

Are you interested in learning how to participate in making Hamilton an Open Data City?

Do you want to be more informed?

Are you interested in contributing your skills online?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, join us this Saturday, 11am, at the Mulberry Cafe as we take the next step towards making Hamilton an Open Data city.

Everyone can contribute, you don’t have to be a web programmer or computer nerd.

RSVP on Facebook

What’s Open Data?

Open Data is the philosophy and practice of providing public data in an accessible electronic format that is free from copyright, patents, and other restrictions. The principles of open government data are best summarized in the Eight Principles of Open Government Data developed by the Open Government Working Group.

Government data shall be considered open if it is made public in a way that complies with the principles below:

1. Complete: All public data is made available. Public data is data that is not subject to valid privacy, security or privilege limitations.
2. Primary: Data is as collected at the source, with the highest possible level of granularity, not in aggregate or modified forms.
3. Timely: Data is made available as quickly as necessary to preserve the value of the data.
4. Accessible: Data is available to the widest range of users for the widest range of purposes.
5. Machine processable: Data is reasonably structured to allow automated processing.
6. Non-discriminatory: Data is available to anyone, with no requirement of registration.
7. Non-proprietary: Data is available in a format over which no entity has exclusive control.
8. License-free: Data is not subject to any copyright, patent, trademark or trade secret regulation. Reasonable privacy, security and privilege restrictions may be allowed.

How will mapping old data help to open new data?

Transferring electoral data into an open format and using that data to visualize the results will show City Councillors and the Mayor what’s possible by allowing citizens to access public information in real-time. By using data that’s of interest to both the entire general public and especially elected officials, we significantly increase our chances of getting City Council to pass a strong motion adopting an actual Open Data policy.

At present, we have a concept that is difficult to explain with words alone. A visualization combined with citizen delegations will give Councillors a full picture of what Open Data means and prevent the idea from being dispatched into the abyss of bureaucracy.

What can we do with these maps moving forward?

The City of Hamilton’s voting location application did not include many addresses. The limitation was it didn’t use geographic data to calculate voting location – it used an old table not much different than a paper telephone directory.
We can use our maps to provide the City a comprehensive voting location application that operates on every platform. To not have any electoral data in mobile format in 2010 was disgraceful. To think the City will continue using an outdated table on an outdated website in 2014 leaves me without the words.

What else could we do with Open Data?

The possibilities are endless. We could track traffic patterns, and have a map that informs people of accidents and delays. We could map the demographics of the city to improve public policy to better address poverty. We can use the same demographic information to attract new businesses to open in Hamilton.

My idea:

Getting access to the data from the City’s electronic voting system in Council Chambers and have a record of every single vote taken by Council. Imagine knowing where your Councillor stood on any issue.

Every time a Councillor speaks, a command is sent to start counting down their five minutes of speaking time. (Not that they actually keep to their time.) The system logs which Councillor is speaking and notes if its their first, second, or third time speaking to the issue.

This data can track who speaks most often at Council, how long they speak, and what issues they speak to.

On the Internet, Council could be streamed with live voting results provided on the same webpage. You want to know how Council votes on a decision but don’t have access to cable or the Internet? You can sign up for mobile text message alerts for every vote, or just the vote you’re most interested in.

The possibilities with Open Data are endless and cost-effective.

Ryan McGreal offered up a great idea last year on RTH:

One Idea to Get Started

My own contribution to such an ecology of open government applications must necessarily be modest, not only because of the nature of open source development but also because there are a lot of programmers out there who are a lot smarter than me. Nevertheless, here’s one obvious idea that shouldn’t be hard to implement: a live HSR bus map.

The city is purchasing new GPS systems for all its buses and will have them installed by the end of the year. If the city provides real-time GPS data for its bus fleet in a web-based API, someone can create a Google Maps mashup that places the buses on the map in their actual current position and lets users click on a bus to see its identity, route and schedule.

Again, the city could hire a consultant to produce such a tool. It would probably end up costing a lot of money, not working very well and having extremely limited responsiveness to the feedback of the user base.

Why pay for second-rate software when the city can encourage its own citizens and residents to create and improve a similar application simply out of a joy for creation, sharing and participation in the public weal?

Imagine our City Council making its first Act of the new term the implementation of an Open Data policy.

Let’s stop imagining and make it happen. December 1st is only a month away.

I’m slowly but surely taking the electoral results from the City of Hamilton website and transferring them into Google Spreadsheets. From the Spreadsheets, I’ll be able to query the data to analyze the results poll-by-poll.

Ward 2 is the first poll that I’ve inputted data for. I’ll write about this Ward in detail tomorrow morning. In the meanwhile, here’s a teaser bar graph of how the top six candidates fared against each other in each of the 11 regular polling districts and advance polls:

Novak captured the North End poll but placed sixth overall in the Ward. It’s for this reason I’m charting the top six. (Combined with an inability to use Google Docs to chart 19) The only polls not included are the institutional polls. Due to their small size, they did not align with the scale above. I’ll chart them as well in the morning.

I’m live at Hamilton City Hall covering the election results as they come in.

Who will be elected Mayor? Which Councillors will return, who will be the new faces. Find out first:

I’m predicting Eisenberger will be the victor tonight.

Eisenberger’s supports are more pro-Eisenberger than anti-someone else. They are motivated to back him and loyal. The incumbent at a time when a strong anti-incumbent undercurrent is taking hold, he’s managed to hold his own in the opinion polls and keep a strong campaign organization behind him.

He’ll also benefit from increased voter turnout in Ward 2 due to the high number of candidates.

Di Ianni peaked too early. If the vote were three weeks ago, I would have predicted him to win. As memories of the divisive nature of the Pan Am debate fainted, so did the “blame the Mayor” mentality.

Bratina’s platform contained too many generalities. Over the weekend, I heard from many people that decided that didn’t know what Bratina stands for.

It’s going to be a close race. My prediction, Eisenberger holds the lower city and central mountain. Bratina and Di Ianni split the rest.

A little story first: Growing up as a kid, I saw myself become a weatherman or sports statistican. At age 6, I started reading both the weather forecast and sports section of The Hamilton Spectator every day. I can’t remember when I caught the political bug, but as many of you know, I’ve had it for a long time. In 1997, I started serving on Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board committees. In 2000, I ran in the municipal election for School Board Trustee. Today, I endulge the bug as a journalist.

Maybe I should have stuck to weather, heaven knows it’s easy to predict a hurricane than the Hamilton election. I should probably leave it there, but I won’t. I’m going to dare make predictions with the full knowledge that I’m likely to get some wrong and wear it for the next four years.

The mood of voters in Hamilton is much like the development cycle of a hurricane, sometimes it peaks way offshore and makes landfall as little much than a long afternoon thunderstorm.

The rage of Hamilton voters was a category 5 hurricane back in August and September. The storm peaked when it was learned that Ward 9 Councillor Brad Clark skipped the important August 10th Pan Am stadium vote in favour of attending a Michael Buble concert in Toronto.

The anti-incumbency storm remains, but does it still have power? To be honest, I don’t know. I think it will be a factor, but only in a few races.

Ward 1

Brad McHattie is facing off against Tony Greco again. In 2006, McHattie beat Greco with nearly double the votes at 5,068. Greco has increased his sign count this race, but most of those signs are appears on small businesses. Small businesses do not translate into voters.

Prediction: McHattie
Margin: 60%

Ward 2

The big ballot in this race will be Ward 2 where 20 people are on the ballot for the seat left open by Bratina’s run for mayor.

I’m predicting Matt Jelly will run this race tonight with a recount to follow. Jelly’s name recognition combined with a large base of volunteers will be the divisive factor in his favour. Jelly’s tireless activism prior to the election, combined with a well managed campaign have propelled him to be the most visible candidate in this race.

Voter turnout in this ward will be high with numerous campaigns conducting “get out the vote” operations. Advance poll turnout was lower than the city average. I sum this up to people being undecided about their choices and waiting until this weekend to make up their mind.

Ward 3

Bernie Morelli looked vunerable last month. The Pearl Company issue appears to be sticking to him. His opponents, however, have not run strong enough campaigns to knock this long sitting incumbent from his seat. Morelli will survive unless the anti-incumbent mood is much stronger than anyone has detected.

Ward 4

Anti-stadium crusader Sam Merulla could have run for mayor this year and won. People are angry about the stadium and he’s that anger personified.

Considering Merulla’s previous attempts to run for “higher office” (aka the NDP nomination in Hamilton East-Stoney Creek), he must be disappointed that he didn’t foresee how bad the Pan Am fiasco would become. This was his year to run for mayor and he missed.

Let’s called his run the “Mother of all focused in the wrong direction priorities.” Okay, I can’t invent good media soundbites – thankfully, Merulla will take care of that for the next four years.

Ward 5

Having been out in Ward 5 numerous times during this race, this being the Ward I ran for Trustee back in 2000, I can’t help but shake a gut feeling that Jaswinder Bedi could upset long seated Chad Collins.

Bedi will capture the Riverdale community easily. Voter moblization will be high in this community. Collins will lose some votes to Frank Rukavina in the southern reaches of the riding. Combined with an anti-Pan Am fiasco backlash against Collins, my gut says Bedi by a hair. (More on this race here: #HamOnt Votes 2010: Is Chad Collins facing a serious challenge?)

Ward 6

Tom Jackson will return to his council seat. He’ll capture more than 50% of the vote again this time.

An honourable mention for Chris Behrens whom I’ve met a few times out on the campaign trail. Let’s hope he (and many of the other candidates) secure a seat on a citizen committee to contribute over the next four years.

Ward 7

Scott Duvall will barely hold onto his seat.

Ward 8

Terry Whitehead will return to Council for another term. Between him and Merulla, let’s hope the mayor enforces five minute speaking limits this time.

Ward 9

Brad Clark will have  time to indulge his passion for Michael Buble during the next four years. While Clark has overall been an effective Councillor, his mistake August 10th will be the primary factor in making him a lightning rod for anti-incumbent anger.

Advance voter turnout in his ward is up more than 50%, never a good sign for an incumbent Councillor, meaning people have made up their minds well in advance of today’s voting day.

I predict Geraldine McMullen will be taking the keys to the office in 71 Main St W.

Ward 10

Maria Pearson will continue to represent the other Stoney Creek seat.

An honourable mention for Bernard Josipovic whom I’ve met a few times out on the campaign trail. Let’s hope he (and many of the other candidates) secure a seat on a citizen committee to contribute over the next four years.

Ward 11

Ethics-challenged incumbent Dave Mitchell survived his 2005 breach and was reelected in 2006. Advance voter turnout in Ward 11 is up over 50%. Getting supporters to advance polls is one of the skills Brenda Johnston campaign manager Stu Beattie is a master at achieving. (He’s also managed to secure Spectator coverage of the campaign – something that’s nearly impossible to achieve)

Brenda Johnston will spend the next four years taking the long drive to City Hall.

Ward 12

The Lloyd Ferguson of Ancaster’s political dynasty will continue his tenure at City Hall.

Ward 13

Russ Powers will continue his political career at City Hall.

Ward 14

The hardest prediction of the night. Robert Pasuta is acclaimed. One of these most effective Councillors, Hamilton’s lucky to have him taking time away from his farm to listen to other Councillors enjoy the sounds of their own voices.

Ward 15

Former Spectator community relations manager Judi Partridge will represent the growing communities of Ward 15.

Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator

Hamilton’s second longest service member of City Council may be defeated tonight.

Chad Collins is facing his strongest competitor since 1995 when he was first elected to Hamilton City Council.

Jaswinder Bedi has been running a strong organized campaign in Ward 5 against the man whose power rivals that of the mayor on Hamilton’s City Council.

Bedi enjoys the endorsement of the Hamilton and District Labour Council and a united Riverdale community.

Collins on the other hand is wearing the millstone of both incumbency and being one of the Councillors responsible for turning the Pan Am stadium debate into a fiasco.

In January, Collins used his control of Council to remove Confederation Park from the list of potential stadium sites to be considered.

Collins told The Spectator he’d rather lose the Pan Am games than allow for the stadium in his Ward. Collins nearly got his wish when the Tiger-Cats and the City of Hamilton clashed over the stadium location.

The tainting of the process by Collins, in what was described in the opinion pages of The Spectator as “as one of the stupidest council decisions of this term.”

Advance voter turnout in the Ward is update 69% – the highest increase in the City.

While the additional 400 votes are barely a dent in the 7355 vote margin of victory Collins enjoyed in 2006, they are an indicator that Bedi’s campaign is able to push voters into the polling booth.

This is a race that I’ll be watching closely tonight.

An interesting thing happened this week, Ward 1 Councillor Brian McHattie publicly declared his support for a candidate in another Ward.

That was peculiar enough – rarely does an incumbent candidate get involved in races occurring in other wards.

The fact they he stated his support of Martinus Geleynse was not an endorsement – while acknowledging that it would appear that way – was peculiar as well.

Turns out McHattie is publicly supporting Matt Jelly as well.

If McHattie were not an elected official, this would not be surprising – I’m finding many people who are looking at the two young candidates and supporting both.

The fact that McHattie’s support of Geleynse came out publicly first, and Jelly second, is to Geleynse’s benefit. The question is: did McHattie intent it to play out this way?

LAST UPDATED 1430 EDT on 22 OCT 10

The City of Hamilton is using a professional lobbying firm to manage its lobbying efforts to secure additional federal funding for the Pan Am stadium which faces a funding shortfall of over $50-million.

The firm representing Hamilton is StrategyCorp. StrategyCorp is one of Ottawa’s most successful lobbying firms with both Conservative and Liberal political insiders on staff.

Interestingly, the contract is not between the City and StrategyCorp.

The Federal Registry of Lobbyists shows the contract between StrategyCorp’s and Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP.

Gowlings is operating as the agent for the City of Hamilton, with lawyer David Estrin listed as the contact at the firm.

Estrin is a partner and senior environmental law specialist at Gowlings who has been acting as the City’s outside lawyer for Pan Am planning and environmental issues.

Estrin previously served as the City’s lawyer during the Red Hill Valley Parkway development.

I’ve emailed City Manager Chris Murray’s office asking both for the cost of the StrategyCorp/Gowling contract and why the city has secured the services of an environmental lawyer.

Dalia El-Farra, Corporate Communications Program Manager in the City Manager’s office, is looking into the questions and I will publish the answers as soon as I receive them.

“The retainer with StrategyCorp is to an upset limit of $25,000,” El-Farra wrote in response to the first question submitted asking for the cost of the contact.

An upset limit means StrategyCorp can bill up to the limit.

The lobbying efforts of StrategyCorp produced three meetings with government officials in September. Two meetings were held separately with Federal Secretary of State (Sport) Gary Lunn and Lunn’s senior special advisor Andre Hannoush. One meeting was held with both Lunn and Hannoush present.

The two separate meetings occurred on September 20, 2010 and the joint meeting was held three days later on the 23rd.

Documents filed for both meetings state the topic of discussion was “infrastructure” and “sport.”

What does the fact these meetings occurred tell us?

Not much beyond that the federal government is hearing Hamilton’s case.

City Manager Chris Murray reported to Council last week that he is optimistic that Hamilton will receive additional support from the two senior levels of government.

ADDITION RECORD:

1430 EDT 22 Oct 10: Added the upset limit of the StrategyCorp contract as provided by El-Farra.
1430 EDT 22 Oct 10: Added information about David Estrin’s position as Hamilton’s outside lawyer for Pan Am planning and environmental issues. Further noted his experience representing the City during the Red Hill Valley Parkway development.

A few astute followers of my journalism noted a Google Map showing the location of vacant buildings in Hamilton on thespec.com a few weeks ago and enquired if I was back at The Spectator.

I’ve been working on a freelance basis for their website thespec.com the last two Saturdays updating wire content, moving the position of articles, and a few other tasks.

It’s a decent arrangement for both parties. I’m well compensated for my work and thespec.com line-up of stories is kept fresh throughout the day.

The extra funds are allowing me to invest in the equipment I’m using to cover Hamilton events on my own during the week.

It’s a win-win.

The best part, I work from home. No need to brave the elements.

I’ll be freelancing for thespec.com again this Saturday. If you see any interesting wire stories (Canadian Press, Associated Press, New York Times etc.) let me know.

It should go without saying: my arrangement with thespec.com is freelance, the views and analysis offered on my personal website are in no way necessarily reflective of the views of thespec.com.