Monthly Archives: October 2011

Posted by on 31 October

Mayor Bratina likes Mayor Ford’s media policy, says he wishes to see it in Hamilton

As the City of Hamilton finalizes its new media policy, Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratina revealed that he plans to include ideas in the policy given to him by Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. Mayor Ford is presently boycotting The Toronto Star and does not speak to many of Toronto’s media outlets that he disagrees with.

Mayor Bratina’s comments came last Tuesday on Hamilton radio station 900CHML.

Bratina spoke on-air before his State of the City Address:

[audio:http://blog.joeycoleman.ca/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Bob_Bratina_Mayor_Ford_Media_Policy_Comment.mp3|titles=Bob Bratina on Rob Ford's media policy

"He [Mayor Ford] explained what his attitude toward the media and that will probably be part of our communication strategy when we come out with that later on this year.” – Mayor Bratina

The City’s media policy is under review at the request of the Mayor’s chief of staff Peggy Chapman who stated she desires to remove independent media from City Hall.

“What I’m trying to bring in is a press gallery. What that means, and it’s going to bother a few people… is I will recognize you and give you as much access to the mayor, as need be, or information that I have – and especially at council, if you have a boss. If you’re a journalist that has a boss that I can complain to, if I think that information is incorrect. If you don’t have that, it’s, you know- how do we control, um, the information? I don’t mean control like I want to control what’s being said, but my first priority is the public. I would hope in media your first priority is the information to the public too. But that’s not my responsibility. My responsibility is information coming from City Hall, to the public. And how do we get that”

– Peggy Chapman on The Bill Kelly Show, CHML, Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Ms. Chapman’s statements lead Hamilton’s local independent media outlets to issue a joint declaration calling for press freedoms at City Hall.

The joint statement by local community media was signed by The Hamiltonian publisher Teresa DiFalco, RTH associate editor Adrian Duyzer, Urbanicity editor and publisher Martinus Geleynse, blogger Matt Jelly, H Magazine publisher Dave Kuruc, RTH editor Ryan McGreal, CFMU 93.3 program director James Tennant, community organizer Matt Thompson and myself.

The Hamilton Spectator published the full statement on their website and expressed their own concerns about the proposal.

The City Manager Chris Murray took control of the issue after the joint statement stating that city staff would be reviewing the policy and independent media would be consulted during the process. The consultation has yet to occur.

Mayor Bratina’s embrace of the Mayor Ford school of media relations directly contradicts Mayor Bratina’s statement during the media policy discussion following the joint statement.

In an email June 10, 2011, Mayor Bratina wrote:

“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.”

At present, the policy review is awaiting the hiring of a new communications manager in the City Manager’s Office. The new communications manager will have the final say on the policy before it is presented to City Council.

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Posted by on 24 October

Speaking at McMaster on Tuesday: Open data changing communications

Note: You are welcome to attend, there is room for about 5 people in addition to the class. Details at bottom of post.

I’ll be speaking to a 4th year Communications Studies class at McMaster University on Tuesday afternoon about journalism and open data.

This is the third year speaking to this class and my presentation will be very different this time. I’ll be focusing on how the growth of open data and hackivism is changing communications practice (journalism is a subset of communications) and forcing transparency upon government, corporations (including corporate journalism), and public individuals.

Open Source philosophy is now being applied to government by a generation that interacts with knowledge on platforms such as Wikipedia where more knowledge and more information is always a click away. The closed window of government is unacceptable to them. I’ll speak to what this means for communications practice.

Many of the students in the program are hoping to enter public relations practice. They are entering a field on the verge of a major disruption – sites such as Churalism.com are about to change the dynamic between journalism and public relations. Developers are  working to connect the churalism.com engine to Google News feeds and public relations release wires. Once achieved, every news story will be automatically compared to public relations copy and rated for its originality.

Rewritten press releases will become a thing of the past.

I always enjoy speaking to classes about journalism and I find the McMaster communications students ask insightful and challenging questions.

Last year, one of the students asked a question that I didn’t know how to answer. I’m hoping this year another student does the same.

The presentation will be in University Hall room 103. I’m schedule to start at 1:30pm.

There is room for about 5 people to sit-in on the presentation. It’s free and you’re more than welcome to ask me questions afterwards.

I hope to start a little earlier, so don’t be late :)

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Posted by on 24 October

Hamilton School Board trustees have nothing better to do

I’m going to summarise the situations at The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board in one sentence:

The Board of Trustees of The Hamilton-Wentworth School Board is a gong show.

From improper closed door meetings to complaints against each other, it’s a wonder anything gets done around the Board.

Tonight, they’ll waste thousands of taxpayers dollars on their accusations against one another about ethical violations.

There are two root causes for the dysfunctional nature of the Board of Trustees:

  1. The same personalities have been on the Board together for over a decade.
    Hamilton voters rarely vote out incumbents and incumbents rarely step down. The core group of trustees and committee members at the HWDSB does not change, small disputes eventually build into large disputes, small personality differences fester until they blow up into frivolous vendettas and character assassination.
  2. The Trustees themselves are a relic of a time when education decisions were made locally
    The Mike Harris Conservative government stripped local school boards of their taxation powers and moved budgeting decisions to Toronto. The funding formula imposed by Toronto gives Trustees little flexibility in spending and curriculum decision are also made by the Ministry of Education.This leaves Trustees with the power to make some local policies, hiring the Director of Education, and decide on which schools to close to meet funding formula requirements.

What is the role of the Public School Board trustee in the post-Mike Harris era?
There is no easy answer to that. They could be an advocate for their local community, but Toronto doesn’t listen to individual trustees. Have a problem at your school? You can call your trustee, but a hotline manned by a school board staffer be just as effective.

The Trustee as a bollard against government cutbacks and under-funding?
The Hamilton-Wentworth District School trustees decided in 2002 to pass a deficit budget instead of continuing to cutback programs. The Board was promptly divested of its budgetary powers and a provincial supervisor appointed by the Ministry of Education. They can’t serve this purpose either.

Why have Trustees at all?
The question will eventually be raised, is there any value to continuing with local Boards of Trustees? In the case of the Hamilton public board, unless Trustees get their act together, the answer will be obvious.

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Posted by on 17 October

You don’t have a right to know, this week’s edition

POST UPDATED I

Hamilton’s City Council will be holding an unexpected special meeting on Wednesday to discuss “Proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the City of Hamilton”.

The meeting was announced to the media at 11:14am this morning.

Beyond that, there are no details. Why? Cause they don’t have to tell citizens even vaguely what property or properties they are discussing buying and/or selling.

As is practice with the City of Hamilton, it’s secret by default, open only when necessary and only after trying to keep it secret anyway.

It is proper for Council to discuss “Proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the City of Hamilton”, Council should inform the public what the lands in question are.

Either City money is about to be spent or City property sold-off.

Both are important decisions with direct impact upon the public. Neighbourhoods are changed, communities built or destroyed, and the city finances impacted.

People should have the right to involve themselves in all stages of decision-making.

Secrecy breeds speculation as the information vacuum is filled. What lands are on the table Wednesday?

The City Hall rumour mill continues to have West Harbour among the chatter. I put my speculation on West Harbour only because it’s the largest piece of real estate the City is looking to offload at the present time.

The City should be transparent and announce which properties are being discussed in-camera and commit to public feedback prior to making an rushed decision during this special Council meeting.

UPDATE I:

The City Clerk replied to my request for further information stating:

“The matter before Council on Wednesday may potentially be both acquisition and sale of land.”

Council will convene in open session soon after their in-camera discussions end on Wednesday.

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Posted by on 12 October

Council muzzles the Mayor – is legal? A look at the legislation

Introduction

Hamilton City Council is putting the muzzle on Mayor Bob Bratina after nearly a year of unilateral decisions

Council voted, in committee yesterday, to muzzle the Mayor and require another Councillor present during any lobbying session with senior levels of government.

Full text of the motion:

23. Government Relations Contact Team

(a) That Hamilton City Council is committed to improving our best practices in government relations;

(b) That Council and the Fairness to Hamilton Campaign Committee shall maximize utilization of staff and elected officials with proven competencies in government relations;

(c) That Council shall meet annually in an in-camera Council workshop pursuant to Section 239(3.1) Ontario Municipal Act to educate, train and
improve the knowledge of elected officials and senior management in government relations best practices;

(d) That Council shall annually debate and approve a list of municipal priorities for discussions with both senior levels of government;

(e) That Council directs that all meetings, discussions or teleconferences with senior levels of government regarding items on the approved list of
municipal priorities shall be conducted by a Government Relations Contact Team which shall be restricted to the Mayor, Chair of the Fairness to
Hamilton Campaign Committee and the City Manager;

(f) That Council direct that all communications received by elected officials or city staff from any representative of a senior level of government regarding potential funding shall be copied to the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor, members of the Fairness to Hamilton Campaign Committee and the City Manager within 48 hours of receipt.

The Motion carried:

Yeas: Clark, Collins, Duvall, Farr, Jackson, Johnson, Merulla,Partridge, Pasuta, Whitehead
Nays: Bratina, Pearson, Powers
Absent: Ferguson, McHattie, Morelli

A vote to ratify the recommendation of Council sitting as committee will held tonight at Council.

Is the Motion legal?

To answer this question, we must refer to the laws governing the Mayor’s powers. We’ll start with the law creating the Mayor’s position and which Council cannot overturn:

The Ontario Municipal Act

The Act (online here) defines the powers of the “Head of Council” (nowhere in the Act is the term “mayor” used):

Role of head of council

225.  It is the role of the head of council,

(a) to act as chief executive officer of the municipality;
(b) to preside over council meetings so that its business can be carried out efficiently and effectively;
(c) to provide leadership to the council;
(c.1) without limiting clause (c), to provide information and recommendations to the council with respect to the role of council described in clauses 224 (d) and (d.1);
(d) to represent the municipality at official functions; and
(e) to carry out the duties of the head of council under this or any other Act. 2001, c. 25, s. 225; 2006, c. 32, Sched. A, s. 100.

Substitution

226.  A municipality may, with the consent of the head of council, appoint a member of council to act in the place of the head of council on any body, other than on the council of another municipality, of which the head of council is a member by virtue of being head of council. 2001, c. 25, s. 226.

Head of council as chief executive officer

226.1  As chief executive officer of a municipality, the head of council shall,

(a) uphold and promote the purposes of the municipality;
(b) promote public involvement in the municipality’s activities;
(c) act as the representative of the municipality both within and outside the municipality, and promote the municipality locally, nationally and internationally; and
(d) participate in and foster activities that enhance the economic, social and environmental well-being of the municipality and its residents. 2006, c. 32, Sched. A, s. 101.

The Act does not give further direction for the role of the Mayor and does not prevent the kind of procedural direction that Council is passing in the motion guiding the Mayor’s lobbying activities. The motion does not say the Mayor cannot lobby for or represent the City, it says how he is to do so. As Council, and not the Mayor individually, are the municipality; the motion is allowed under the Municipal Act.

City of Hamilton Procedural Bylaw

The City of Hamilton’s Procedural Bylaw governs how Council exercises its powers and the role of the Mayor within the City. Council can amend the Bylaw, but only after a long process. The Mayor Bratina muzzle motion must meet the test of the current version of this bylaw.

ROLE OF THE MAYOR

The Mayor is responsible to act as the Head of Council, as detailed in the Municipal Act, 2001 providing leadership to other Members of Council.

(a) To act as the Council’s corporate representative when dealing with other government agencies and the private sector consistent with the vision and direction expressed by the Council of the day.

(b) The Mayor and the City Manager must work in close liaison as the pivotal link between the policy-making body of Council and the administrative organization of the City.

(c) The role of Mayor is considered as statutory and policy-related, to act as the Head of Council and to co-ordinate political representation on behalf of the City when required at meetings, receptions, functions, and community activities, and to direct administrative functions to the attention of the City Manager.

There is nothing in the Procedural Bylaw that grants the Mayor exclusive domain in the conduct of external affairs. The Bylaw states the Mayor is Council’s representative. Council can tell their representative how they will represent.

Conclusion

The motion is legal and within the powers of Council to adopt. The question is, will they stick to their motion or will there be a face-saving compromise?

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Posted by on 12 October

HWDSB should lower their flag with City Hall’s

The flag at Hamilton City Hall is flying at half-staff today as the City mourns one of our greatest and most selfless citizens.

The flag directly across the street at the headquarters of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board remains at full-staff.

This surprised me.

When I was involved at the HWDSB a decade ago, there was a protocol in place that when the flag of one government was lowered to half-staff, the other followed suit.

The reason for the protocol was to properly display civic mourning without the conflicting symbol of a full-flag visually beside the half-staff flag as one drives into the Downtown core.

There is a better reason than protocol that the HWDSB should follow suit and publicly join the city in mourning the passing of Jimmy Lomax.

Mr. Lomax served the children of this city and contributed so much to our school system.In honour of his contributions to the child of our city, the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board should immediately lower its flag to half-staff.

In the future, both 100 and 71 Main Street West need to communicate their respective protocols to ensure their flags do not send conflicting messages.

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Posted by on 12 October

McMaster’s rankings in “world surveys”: perspective on the improved ranking position

Covering higher education is my specialization as a journalist. I’ve worked for both of Canada’s national news outlets that cover higher education and been a delegate to the World Summit for Innovation in Education held in Doha, Qatar.

McMaster University is one of the premier research universities in the world. This year, the institution jumped to 65 from 93 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. It also increased in the QS World University Rankings from 162 to 159.

McMaster University’s public relations department is quite happy and so they should be.

My role is to bring a little perspective to the discussion.

The THE rankings formula changed this year and McMaster was a significant beneficiary of this. The formula now weighs different faculty citations upon the normal production of papers within the discipline. Whereas Health Sciences researchers publish multiple times per year, the humanities publish less often. The liberal arts faculties were weighed with the same citations per faculty formula as the “hard” sciences.

This change is significant for McMaster and is the primary reason for the increase.

McMaster enjoyed a significant boost when the QS World University rankings changed their formula in 2007.

McMaster jumped in the first year of the new formula to 108 from 155 under the earlier formula. The institution started to decline in the following years: 

McMaster University QS rankings 2007 - 2011
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
108 117 143 162 157

Much of this “decline” is not a decline for McMaster at all. Other institutions are better able to change their institutional focus and priorities to better perform towards the benchmarks of the ranking formulas. They have less undergraduate students, there are privately funded (unregulated tuition) and enjoy larger endowments.

Institutions will react to the new THE formula and McMaster could see its ranking dropped during the next few years.

These rankings are not necessarily an effective benchmark for institutional achievement or progress. They reflect the priorities of academics and the worldview of members of academia.

This can conflict with public policy goals. The more undergraduate students enrolled at a university, the more drag upon its academic ranking. At present, the Ontario government is making increased enrolment a public policy goal.

Service to local community is not ranked by academics. Targeted recruitment in poor neighbourhoods is a public policy goal.

Service to the world community can increase institutional reputation. McMaster’s School of Nursing is well-known in the Persian Gulf and South Asia. The School assisted developing nursing education in those regions and the institutional reputation of McMaster is greatly increased by this work.

What the rankings do tell us is that McMaster University is a desired university for academics and this is great news. We need not focus too greatly or prioritize these rankings too much. They are benchmarks of interest, not public policy goals.

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Posted by on 11 October

Attn aspiring engaged citizens: Hamilton Police offering “Citizen’s Police College”

The Hamilton Police issued an interesting news release announcing the date of this year’s “Citizen’s Police College”

I wish I could attend – my work schedule conflicts – and encourage you to register if interested.

The course offers the opportunity for citizens to learn about the Police Service and gain a greater understanding of police work. The course goal is to inform citizen’s interested in better understanding the Police Service.

The course covers topics including:

  • Forensics;
  • Homicide;
  • Drugs and Vice;
  • Crime Stoppers;
  • Victim Services;
  • BEAR (Break, Enter, and Robbery) Unit;
  • Major Fraud; and
  • the Mounted Patrol Unit

The course is at Mohawk College and free for those who live, work, or study in Hamilton. (Citizens, those employed or full-time students in the city.)

Registration is now open. To register, email lsindrey@hamiltonpolice.on.ca or call Lindsay Sindrey at (905) 546-4900.

I highly recommend this course for any inspiring journalist, engaged citizen, or blogger in the local area.

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Posted by on 11 October

City Council to vote on LRT report Thursday

In an anti-climatic 106 page report, Hamilton city staff are recommending City Council continue pursuing studies towards the building of a rapid transit light rail B-Line and A-Line in Hamilton – provided Metrolinx funds a portion of the continuing work.

In summary, the status-quo with no final decision to move forward with LRT forthcoming until senior levels of government commit to a funding formula for capital costs.

The report will be considered by City Council during a special meeting on October 13, 2011 (Thursday).

The report states “capital cost of LRT on the B-Line ranges from $875 million to $1 billion.” Assuming senior levels of government fund 50 to 100 percent of the project, the cost to City finances will be $0 to $509-million. The city portion will be debt financed. The City of Hamilton’s present debt is $355 million. Without LRT, it is schedule to balloon to $931 million in 2014 and peak at $1.12 billion in 2019. LRT debt will be in addition to these forecast figures.

The city’s non-LRT infrastructure capital costs will range from $1.8 to $2.4 million. The estimated annual operating cost of LRT is $16.4 to $25.5 million.

Overall, LRT could result in a residential property tax increase of 1.4 to 7.9 percent or $42 to $230 per household. The report suggests the increase could be phased-in over several years.

A final report recommending the type of rapid transit for Hamilton will not be presented to Council until senior levels of government show their funding commitments.

The City will prioritize the planning on James Street and Centennial Parkway in anticipation of all-day GO Service to stations beside the CNR tracks at the northern ends of those streets.

In the short-term, staff are recommending the city lobby Metrolinx for funding to buy more articulated buses to address serious capacity issues on city bus routes. The city needs to complete the work required under the agreement reached when Metrolinx provided $3-million to the city for LRT studies. The report notes that if not completed, the city could be required to return all or part of the $3 million grant.

Most of the work is complete and the rest is scheduled for completion in December.

Senior City staff met with Metrolinx on September 22, 2011. City staff report that during the meeting, Metrolinx staff stated the City of Hamilton is at least two years ahead of other projects competing for funding, and that Metrolinx requires Hamilton decide upon a maintenance storage facility and complete the phasing study before Metrolinx will make a funding decision.

The proposed work schedule for LRT in 2012 is presented as:

An interesting aspect of the proposed LRT line is the stop at McMaster University requiring special mitigation measures to prevent the electromagnetic fields and vibrations from interfering with one of the world’s most powerful electron microscope in the world. (It was the most powerful in 2008 and may still be)

Thursday’s meeting will be revealing of any fault lines that have developed since Council last unanimously endorsed LRT. With no hard decision required Thursday, don’t expect too many fireworks. It’s a status-quo recommendation, that will get likely receive a status-quo unanimous vote.

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Posted by on 10 October

Statement by Mayor Bratina upon the passing of Hamilton’s Santa Claus Jimmy Lomax

The following is a statement issued today by Mayor Bob Bratina upon learning of the passing of Hamilton’s Santa Claus Jimmy Lomax:
Media Release: Mayor Bratina’s remarks regarding the passing of Jimmy Lomax
1 message

Chapman, Peggy <Peggy.Chapman@hamilton.ca> 10 October 2011 13:37
To: “DL – News Media (Local)” <dl-newslocal@hamilton.ca>
Cc: DL – Council & Support Staff <dlcouncil@hamilton.ca>, DL – SMT & ACs <SMTACs@hamilton.ca>

As Mayor of the City of Hamilton I want to express my personal grief at the passing of Jimmy Lomax.  The flag at City Hall will be hung at half-staff for an appropriate period of mourning in his memory. 

From 1958 until his retirement from Operation Santa Claus Jimmy, wife Susan and a small core of dedicated volunteers  saw to it that those in need, young or old, were visited by Santa and received a Christmas present. Over the years he touched tens of thousands of people and kept the spirit of Christmas alive for many who might otherwise have lost hope.  Jimmy’s own life was not without challenges, the greatest of which was the tragic loss of his son Ryan at age 15 due to Cancer.  Somehow he and Susan kept going until Jimmy’s own health issues forced his decision to finally step back from his beloved quest. 

Jimmy exemplified the best of Hamilton and Hamiltonians…a humble east-ender who found a way to make a difference in people’s lives. We have lost a great man and a great friend.  My sincerest condolences on behalf of our Council and myself to Susan and Jimmy’s family.

Bob Bratina,
Mayor, City of Hamilton
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