Hamilton City Council now directly controls the city’s municipally owned downtown entertainment facilities following a Council decision to disband the HECFI board.
Hamilton Entertainment and Convention Facilities Incorporated (HECFI) was created in 1985 when the provincial legislature amended the City of Hamilton Act.
The City Clerk’s office provided me a scanned copy of the 1985 Act in PDF format:
CITY OF HAMILTON ACT 1985 on Google Docs.
HECFI Board member Vito Sgro, a well-known Charted Accountant and political organizer, is supporting City Council’s decision to take over governance of HECFI.
In an email to City Councillors tonight Mr. Sgro says the mess at HECFI was worse than he expected when appointed by Council in spring 2011 to the HECFI Board.
His support of Council’s decision is the first statement of support from a sitting member of the now defunct HECFI Board.
Mr. Sgro sites sat on the Hamilton Port Authority board and chaired the Port Authority’s Audit Committee. His term on the Port Authority started in 2005 and ended in 2008.
Mr. Sgro joined the Board with at the same time as well-known Hamilton Realtor and former MPP Judy Marsales.
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This post is a corrected version. I incorrectly stated that Mr. Sgro was a present member of the Port Authority Board. His term ended in 2008. The error was reported using the MediaBugs plugin. Read the MediaBugs log
“The journalism industry ships lemons every day. Our newsrooms have a massive quality control problem. According to the best counts we have, more than half of stories contain mistakes — and only 3 percent of those errors are ever fixed.” - Scott Rosenberg (Bio) opening his recent post ‘How Newsrooms Can Win Back Their Reputations‘ on PBS Mediashift
More than half of media stories contain errors? It’s not the Internet that’s killing journalism – it’s journalism. It’s not the errors that are the primary problem. The failure to correct the public record is why the public holds my profession near the same level of disdain as they do politicians. I make mistakes, I’m human. I work to not repeat my errors and, more importantly, I strive to correct any damage done by my errors.
I’m asking for your help.
Have you seen an error on my site? Do you want to help correct it?
I invite you to “report my error” when you see one and thank you for assisting by doing so.
(Wouldn’t it be embarrassing if one is found in this post?)
The “report my error” button is at the end of each of my posts. Clicking it will “pop-up” a dialogue window with a range of options for categorizing the error:
It’s simple and the error is tracked on http://mediabugs.org to improve transparency. The increased transparency ensures that I reaction in a timely fashion to investigate and correct the error.
WordPress Plugin: Post Revision Display
To make my corrections more transparent, I’ve installed “Post Revision Display” on my website. Below the report an error widget is a listing of all earlier versions of the article. Click on the earlier version to review changes. You’ll note that I often reword sentences, correct spelling and grammatical errors, and add information to my stories. When I correct an article, it’s visible in the history. Revision history is one of my favourite features of Wikipedia, I’m glad to finally be able to do it on my personal website.
My next step is creating a corrections page to catalog all my errors and to further my transparency. I will also note when I make errors on Twitter. Twitter is a more challenging platform for managing corrections. I cannot modify previous tweets and risk the incorrect information being spread by retweets. My previous policy of posting a CORRECTION tweet and not deleting the incorrect tweet did not reflect the evolution of Twitter from when I joined three years ago.
When I started using Twitter, the third-party client was almost unheard of. Most of my “followers” would visit my Twitter page or only be following a handful of accounts. Readers would see the correction in proximity to the error.
Now, few people use Twitter.com – they use third-party clients and follow hundreds or thousands of accounts. It is unlikely they will find my error below a correction. It is for this reason that I now delete incorrect tweets with a correction noted in my feed.
Creating a page on my personal website will ensure that I’m not sweeping errors under the carpet and that a proper record is kept.
I struggle with a learning disability – Dysgraphia. It is the reason that I make many grammatical and spelling errors. It’s also why words are often missing – at random – in the first few hours following the publication of my articles. Reading my work, I “see” the word in the sentence. It’s missing but my mind remembers that I “said” it when writing and automatically places it in the sentence.
There’s a certain irony to my success writing for two of Canada’s top national media outlets while having great difficulty with the written form.
I’m glad for any assistance people give by noting these errors – I strive to correct them. I share the information about my learning disability as I gives context into these errors.
I thank you for supporting my journalism by reading this website.
I excitedly purchased my PRESTO card shortly after GO unveiled the fare payment system for public use. I rushed to the Hamilton GO Centre to get my card.
With disappointment, I learned that I could only use the card for GO train trips and not for bus-train trips.
Finally, in October, I was able to use my PRESTO card for the first time. I decided to take the Hamilton bound rush hour GO train instead of my usual QEW Express bus solely to fulfil my wish to use the PRESTO card.
My excitement would turn to grief when faced with the complexity of PRESTO.
When I arrived in Hamilton, I quickly tried to “tap off” the system while heading for the HSR bus that was seconds away from the John and Jackson bus stop.
My “tap off” failed but I was unaware.
A couple of weeks later, I tried to use my PRESTO card and it told me “insufficient balance”. I also had a 10-ride pass for the route I took and used it instead.
Disembarking the train in Oakville, I went to the ticket counter to ask about my incorrect balance. The ticket agent informed me that I did not tap off correctly and charged the full fare to Niagara Falls.
I was not too bothered by this, it’s impossible to use PRESTO on the GO bus to Niagara Falls and I believed it would be a simple matter to correct the error. I was wrong - there was no appeal. Further, he informed that it was my responsibility to verify that the system registers my “tap-out” before leaving the station.
I tried a few venues figuring I had a strong case against the overcharge - after all, it was impossible for me to use PRESTO to Niagara Falls. After trying in vain, I gave up on the matter and promised to never use PRESTO on the GO system again.
Last week, I made my first trip into Toronto’s Union Station since the error in October. I earlier than expected as the new HOV lanes meant the GO bus took less than an hour into Toronto. With the extra time, I decided to try my luck with the Union Station Customer Service Centre.
It opened at 0700 and there was a line-up of people with PRESTO issues. I spoke to one of the supervisors at the centre and after some discussion, he agreed that it was impossible for me to have gone to Niagara Falls. After a lecture about how I was responsible for the error, he agreed to correct the situation and refund me the difference between Hamilton fare and Niagara Falls fare.
Listening to other people experiencing difficulties with PRESTO, I realized the system’s complexity is both a blessing and a curse. To work across many transit systems, PRESTO requires complexity. The problem is the complexity increases the opportunities for human error.
In my case, I was rushing to transfer to a city bus and the card reader was either malfunctioning or I failed to get my card read. Likely, it was the latter – my fault.
The woman beside me had her card frozen when she ran into a negative balance – she refilled online and returned to a positive balance. However, the card does not reactivate automatically. It requires a ticket agent to press a button.
Allowing a negative balance is a brilliant idea – it ensures people get home with their PRESTO card. It’s a feature deserving promotion as one of the benefits of the card. PRESTO can improve the feature by automatically reactivating upon loading a positive balance.
Multi-zone, multi-transit agency trips need simplification. A PRESTO mobile app would go a long way towards simplifying the experience. A mobile app, using push notifications, will tell cardholders when their balance is low or if my card doesn’t tap out after a set time.
I’ve been using my PRESTO card daily on Hamilton’s local public transit system. I love it, more importantly, it simplifies my travelling experience. I store my PRESTO card within my wallet. Whenever I board a bus, I simply pull out my wallet and swipe it at the reader.
The PRESTO card charges me ticket fare – $2 per trip.
More conveniently, I do not need a paper transfer to switch buses – my PRESTO card allows me unlimited travel for two hours after paying my initial fare. I’ve lost many paper transfer slips.
The card saves me time, money (not losing paper transfers), and is simple to use on the HSR.
I’m no longer purchasing paper HSR transit tickets – it’s PRESTO card or bust for me.
Dr. Bill Ayers is not welcome in Canada – that’s the message the federal government is sending his lawyers.
Dr. Ayers, a recently retired Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is invited to speak in Toronto on Thursday to an academic conference.
He is also an infamous American left-wing 1960s radical who co-founded the defunct domestic terrorist group Weather Underground.
Weather Underground conducted a campaign of bombing and terror during the last 1960s and early 70s. Dr. Ayers was charged for his activities. Prosecutorial misconduct resulted in the charges against Dr. Ayers being dropped.
Dr. Ayers is a noted scholar on the subject of elementary school reform and was invited to speak in his academic capacity.
In 2009, Dr. Ayers was detained at Toronto Island Airport when he tried to enter Canada to speak at the University of Toronto.
The Canadian government never stated why they refused Dr. Ayers entry. His terrorist past is the likely reason that he has been turned away on numerous occasions when trying to cross the border.
Dr. Ayers’ lawyers have tried since 2009 to gain an explanation from the Canadian government and working to secure passage for Dr. Ayers across our border.
Today, OCUFA issued a news release stating Ayers is not able to speak in Toronto due to the border issue.
Yes – he’s no threat to the Canadian public. He was not convicted of any terrorism offenses – again due to prosecutorial misconduct – and has become a contributing member of American society.
The Canadian government is able to legally bar Dr. Ayers – this is not in dispute. The Canadian government cannot be allowed able to bar him without informing him of the reason and allowing for Dr. Ayers to appeal.
Dr. Ayers is entitled to due process. We are a society of free and democratic ideals – we must live up to them.
The Kirkendall community is rallying around local submarine shop owner Albert Murphy who was viciously attacked during a robbery of his business on Saturday June 11, 2011. Murphy remains in hospital with serious injuries.
Outside his reopened business today, community members showed their support by decorating the storefront with messages of support and collecting donations
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Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratina wrote the following to Larry Pattison in response to a letter from Mr. Pattison expressing concerns about statements by the Mayor’s Chief of Staff.
The Mayor cc’d the signatories of the open letter expressing concerns about the statements.
The following is the Mayor’s statement in its entirety:
Dear Mr. Pattison,
One of my priorities as Mayor has been to bring more information to the public, not less. I was asked the day after the election what my first priority was, and answered “live streaming of all committee and Council meetings”. That was accomplished within two months of my taking office. This is important because media often picks and chooses what stories to cover and what angle to take. The closer the public can get to the daily business of their Council, whether by streaming, requests for information, broader and more thorough coverage through media, including blogs, etc., the better.
The offices of Mayor and City Manager were the first to publicly support the concept of “Open Data”. We are now reviewing all matters related to communications and public information. The public will have an opportunity to give input, and final decisions will be in the hands of Council.
Sincerely,
Bob Bratina,
Mayor, City of Hamilton.
–Briefly as I’m on a coffee break–
I’m saddened to learn that Peter Kormos is retiring.
I first met Mr. Kormos in one of the elevators in Queens Park at the age of 15 when I was visiting for the first time. I mistakenly thought he was Hamilton Mountain MPP Trevor Pettit.
Mr. Kormos enjoyed my mistaken identity, noted that both looked similar but had very different politics. (Mr. Pettit was a member of the Conservative Mike Harris government)
Mr. Kormos said, with a playful laugh, the difference between him and Mr. Pettit was his (Kormos) hair was real.
A decade later, in 2007, I returned to Queen’s Park as a member of the media covering a story.
My first day at Queen’s Park, Mr. Kormos came to introduce himself. He remembered meeting me a decade earlier.
I’m a student of political science and someone with a love of politics. I’ve observed Mr. Kormos since the day of the Bob Rae NDP government. He knew how to be effective and it is a great loss for the Legislature as a whole that he is retiring.
THE FOLLOWING IS SOLELY MY OWN OPINION
Debbie Spence, communications officer for the Planning and Economic Development department, sent an email to the signatories of Local Media Access at City Hall: A Joint Statement at noon today.
In the email, Ms. Spence writes that Chris Murray will be emailing the signatories next week in response to the request for dialogue and communication.
Ms. Spence writes:
“At this time I will be leading the staff review and revisions of the policy and gathering input internally and externally.”
I, for one, have extensive dealings with Ms. Spence as both a journalist and a community leader (Open Hamilton). Ms. Spence’s department is one of the most response to citizen and media inquiries.
I have full confidence in the staff review process being lead by a professional civic servant with a strong record of community partnerships and transparent dialogue.
I’m glad to see the positive response to the letter and look forward to see the interests of citizens (journalists are citizens) being at the forefront of an improved communications policy.
While the review is underway, the present City communications policy will stay in effect.
Why did I sign the open statement “Local Media Access at City Hall: A Joint Statement”
The answer is simple, it’s the right thing to do.
It’s been an interesting week at Hamilton City Hall after the statements by Mayor Bob Bratina’s chief of staff on 900CHML last week. (Listen to the full 14 minutes of audio here)
The statements included repeated references to allowing coverage of City Hall only by those with “a boss that I can complain to.”
It is a wrong criteria for allowing coverage of City Hall or any government for that matter.
The media is changing. Many local independent media outlets are starting across North America.
Hamilton has yet to have a local independent incorporate, we do enjoy a few blogs which are doing their best to navigate the new landscape. Hamilton is lucky as the fourth city that OpenFile arrived in.
The erosion of citizen rights is wrong and as a journalist, I would not accept my rights being eroded so why should I stand silently by as it is proposed to take away the rights of others.
I had a choice Monday when approached by a local blogger.
I could have easily reached for the false god of complete objectivity and said “I’m a journalist, this doesn’t impact me, sorry you’re on your own because I need to be seen as objective. You’ll have my support when this directly impacts me”
It would be completely hypocritical to stay silent because it doesn’t impact me.
As a citizen it is my duty to stand up for the this passage from the Charter of Rights and Freedoms:
2. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:
…
(b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;
It’s all of our duty to make sure citizens who engage in journalism out of passion can exercise their Charter Rights.