My latest letter in the Hamilton Spectator
Background
There are two prominent local issues I refer to in the letter. The Red Hill Valley Parkway (controversial from its conception for its impact on the environment) was opened in 2007. A report submitted in 2014 to the City of Hamilton raised concerns about the asphalt surface, particularly its slipperiness. The report was not passed on to Council, and its existence only became public in 2019. Meanwhile, there had been hundreds of crashes, several fatal. An official inquiry is under way, and a class action lawsuit for $250 million against the City has been started.
The second topic is the release of billions of litres of raw sewage leaking into a creek, Chedoke Creek, which flows into an inlet of Lake Ontario. The leak passed through an open sewer gate. Why it was open has not been explained. It became a scandal that was called – what else? – Sewergate because Council knew about it, but hid the extent of the leak from the public.
I won’t go into details of the City’s planned work in our neighbourhood. I’ll just say there have been several times very recently where the City has done things with a big impact on people close by but has not talked to those who would be affected or even given them advance notice.
my letter
You might think that, after the fiascoes of Sewergate and the Red Hill Valley Parkway, Councillors and the Works Department would be putting an end to secrecy and lack of consultation. Alas, you’d be wrong!
I recently learned about an imminent City project that affects people in our neighbourhood. We did not hear about it directly from the Works Department or our Councillor, Arlene Vanderbeek. I called Councillor Vanderbeek. Even though the cost is substantial, $75,000, she said it counts as maintenance work. Had it been a “capital” project, we would have been consulted. I questioned why City staff did not tell affected residents earlier about the project. She said: “That’s how they do things.”
In response I asked: “But is that how they should do things?” I realise that for small projects, like filling potholes, it’s unreasonable to expect advance notice or discussion. My concern is the City’s apparent default attitude that they don’t need to communicate with the public. Yet the public are the people who they are supposed to serve – and who pay their wages.
Past blunders may well cost us millions of dollars. Had the City been open and transparent, these problems might have been avoided. Many citizens have the experience and imagination to help do things better. The culture at City Hall needs to change, with managers and staff seeing the public as partners in creating a great city to live in.
Harry Shannon, Dundas