Tuesday, April 25, 2017
28 comments:
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Collins was the reason Eastgate was removed originally. According to him, his opposition has only increased with the passage of time and release of additional detail.
ReplyDeleteHow do you detour his opposition?
Mr jim graham asks, regarding Councillor Collins:
Delete"How do you detour his opposition?"
Simple.
If the province and the Hamilton City Council can reach an agreement for extending the LRT to Eastgate and the majority of Hamilton City Council votes yes for this, Councillor Collins will have some decisions to make.
Either get on board or get out of the way will be the choice for Councillor Collins. And Mayor Bratina.
Councillor Collins can help drive the discussion of the LRT in his ward, or I expect he will be detoured by the majority of council.
Charles McGill
"Either get on board or get out of the way will be the choice for Councillor Collins."
DeleteCouncillor Collins chose to lead.
Excellent choice.
Charles McGill
yes, exactly as you predicted. Maybe we were all wrong about you?
DeleteI will admit that the Eastgate addition makes this make more sense. But I am very concerned about the consequences of mismanaging this whole thing. I don't have a lot of confidence in metro linx and I have zero confidence in this city council. I don't think we could succeed with these players at the table. I wish I could be more positive but go around the council table and think about these people and how they will interact with this project. I think we'll be bankrupt by mismanagent and political immaturity.
ReplyDeleteSorce
Maybe I should say that we may succeed eventually but not without excessive costs and embarrassment. Name me one very good leader on council
DeleteSorce
Sorce is concerned:
Delete"I think we'll be bankrupt by mismanagent and political immaturity."
With luck, he has no reason to worry about LRT causing the City to go "bankrupt".
Heres the good news and the facts.
During last Wednesdays presentation to council, LRT Co ordinator and Director paul Johnson was asked for a straight up point blank no nonsense answer to which party would be responsible if the LRT experienced cost over runs, the province or the City.
His straight up point blank no nonsense answer: 100% guaranteed its NOT the City.
So there you go.
No bankrupt city.
James Taylor
how about our friend Lloyd from Ancaster?
DeleteAs transcribed by RTH following an appearance on the Bill Kelly Show:
"...but if I just point-blank ask them...Do you support LRT? Nine out of ten it's going to be no"
"the people of Ancaster will probably rarely if ever ride the train, so there is nothing in it for my community as far as getting to work, or getting around town"
"I'll talk to lawyers saying..why are you building that stupid train down King St.? And then I explain it to them, they go..oh okay...and so I guess we haven't done a very good job"
"It's $1 Billion dollars being invested and 2500 jobs. Focus on that right now,and let's deal with the micro issues-like where the buses will run,- deal with that stuff later."
"You won't see benefits of this for at least 10 years...it won't benefit us during the next election, because if you saw the poll, 55% were opposed to LRT"
"I know I'll get criticized for this in a lot of areas, but in my heart of hearts, I think it's the right decision. If not I'll find out next October"
I believe Lloyd is trying to lead us, albeit where we do not want to go, a premise he clearly accepts.
I wonder who these lawyers are he references? And what does he whisper to them that he wont share with us? Any insight?
To answer your question, I believe Collins and Jackson have provided real value in the discussion.
Collins line of questioning regarding expropriations was impressive and enlightening. He has been after a list for years, and Metrolinx has essentially ignored him. An elected Councilor. Collins picked his spot-cameras rolling with all present and accounted for-and the tune quickly softened. Imagine how you or I would be treated. He was controlled, but unrelenting. I was impressed.
And I think Jackson has done a good job on the labour component. He has been the only consistent voice on Council in this regard. Again I found it humorous how when the cameras rolled with both ATU and Labour Council reps in attendance, suddenly Green, Merulla and Ferguson are concerned about those lost HSR jobs. I see in today's Spec. where Tuck claims contract provisions would preclude Metrolinx from assuming "fixed route transit service in urban Hamilton" If this is Jackson's only concern, I will bet it is a fight he is going to win.
Its a bad plan but at least its a plan unlike the traffic circle joke that actually discourages transit use
DeleteI still believe that this council is not up to the job of leading on this matter. they have proven it time and time again and most recently with a marathon meeting that led to more kicking of the can. I think the city will be somewhat sheltered from excessive costs through reasonable contractual provisions. But no contract will withstand indecision, unreasonableness, inaction, grandstanding, undermining and the list goes on. When that kicks in, and it will, we'll be bankrupt trying to tame it. And just wait if the streets start getting torn up and each councillor will try to kiss up to the electorate Can you imagine the nonsense? There are no leaders here. The only who comes close, is Whitehead and perhaps Eisenberger, but often times at cross purposes.
DeleteSorce oakav+
During the 2010 election campaign I stated clearly that an A-line configuration was preferable to the B-line because it potentially connected the waterfront, two GO stations, the downtown administrative centre, St. and Joseph's hospital with the mountain growth lands, airport employment lands and the airport. I presented a plan to staff in 2009 to this effect, promoted it during the campaign and as you may recall, I won the election. Eastgate Square might have something to say about LRT riders using their parking lot among other problems. The current plan whose cost to residential taxpayers is unknown solves no transit problems and has as its only selling point that Hamilton would now have one of those shiny trains like other places. Once the road excavations begin and neighbourhoods experience volumes of rerouted traffic, those who supported this indefensible waste of tax dollars will answer to an angry electorate.
ReplyDeleteMr. Bratina, is it lonely up on that pedestal?
DeleteYou couldn't build concensus, you couldn't get anything done, you were only mayor for 1 term, and it was forgettable, aside from the mistake of the stadium placement, scandal for funding of an assistant and censure. Concern trolling for an almost-always empty parking lot at Eastgate (where's the concern for parking in the west end? Oh right, you don't visit there) is a straw man argument.
~Mountain Man
"waterfront, two GO stations, the downtown administrative centre, St. and Joseph's hospital with the mountain growth lands, airport employment lands and the airport"
DeleteThe waterfront with no major residential or commercial centres,
One empty GO station no one uses at the waterfront
St Josephs which has the majority of patients and visitors living nowhere near the A-line,
Mountain growth land is code for more sprawl
Airport employment lands where theres still no jobs and probably never will be but is really about more sprawl
And an airport no one uses and no one would take a bus too any way cause its way too expensive to fly out if assuming theres even a carrier
And Mayor Bratina wonders why this plan went no where?
The James Street merchants didnt want LRT going up James. So it was cancelled.
Mountain councillors Whitehead and Skelly dont want any slowing of traffic up James so that would never happen. They already kiboshed that one.
Corktown Dave
"Platform schmatform"
DeleteVerbatim
"Mayoral candidate Bob Bratina says he’d slow down development of the contentious Airport Employment Growth District — commonly called aerotropolis — because of unanswered questions about the financial risk to taxpayers. He also says he’d push for the creation of an inventory of under-utilized land in what he calls the north industrial corridor, stretching along the waterfront from Ferguson Avenue to the Skyway bridge, to attract or help expanding businesses because the risk to taxpayers would be zero.
Delete“We see companies closing up and leaving,” Bratina said Wednesday.
“Why are we to believe that all of a sudden if we dig a pipe at the airport they will go there? We don’t know that. What we have here in this heavy industrial zoning is an opportunity for big heavy industry, which has been the backbone of Hamilton, to return here again.”
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/2134685-go-slow-on-aerotropolis-bratina
Verbatim
Four years ago this week:
Delete"Councillors are not impressed with mayor Bob Bratina for comments he made last week, saying the city will have to choose between all-day GO service or light rail transit. Bratina says the premier told him that. Premier Kathleen Wynne said the ontario government has already committed to all-day GO service and it is completely unrelated to its plans for LRT."
http://www.chch.com/bratina-being-taken-to-task-over-lrt-comments/
Zinn
Metrolinx estimates that Hamilton's three GO Train stations will be used by a grand total of 900 passengers daily by 2031 under expanded service.
Deletehttp://www.metrolinx.com/en/regionalplanning/projectevaluation/studies/GO_Transit_Rail_Parking_and_Station_Access_Plan_EN.pdf
Extending that service from Aldershot through Stoney Creek is estimated to cost the province north of $2 billion. That's the anticipated cost of having one of those shiny trains like other places, even if it solves no transit problems (more Hamiltonians work in Burlington than in Oakville, Brampton, Mississauga and Toronto combined). Is that the kind of "indefensible waste of tax dollars" you're concerned about?
~ Wren
Bob BratinaApril 25, 2017
Delete"...those who supported this indefensible waste of tax dollars will answer to an angry electorate."
Just like what happened to you Mr Bratina?
Mike Stark
If it brings the fairweather LRT councillors on board, or at least enough to vote it through, then yes.
ReplyDelete~Mountain Man
Well said Bob
ReplyDeleteI thought Mr. Bratina was a very good mayor who was treated very poorly because he is a decent person with decent values.
ReplyDeleteSorce
I think politicians are now finally realizing that LRTis not a believable option. Now they are scrambling to make the Eastgate thing work. I have zero confidence in them. If 1 Billion is on the line and you;'re scrambling at the last minute to try to pull something out of the firer, best to pour some gas on it and make sure it is charred. City council has failed us again.
ReplyDeleteSorce
Is there a Michael's at Eastgate?
DeleteSorce
Maybe you can check it out for yourself the next time you're driving to Tim's (I guess it's just "Tims" now) for your coffee.
DeleteShaw
"Business effected by LRT construction turning to legal arena" CTV News Kitchener, 11/28/16.
ReplyDelete"Union says contract forbids privatized Hamilton LRT operation" Hamilton Spectator 4/25/17
Are "we" on the hook here? You betchya. Where will Paul Johnson be when the Statement of Claims are served?
Can you imagine if the "fascist 5" were held personally accountable for their advocacy? Still singing the same tune? I doubt it.
Maybe we could get Charles McGill to assume all associated liability and demonstrate the courage of his convictions.
Never mind.
After the City of Hamilton's roaring success with its Red Hill Valley Parkway lawsuit, the sky's the limit.
DeleteBuffalo Soldier
10 to 5.
DeleteIan Paisley
I don't think this is a reliable solution. It may be a lure to get us to commit. Once the swork starts, it will be easy to say we can't go to Eastgate because this , that and the othe tthing. Ever watch Property Brothers? Soon as you start taking down a wall, the costly surprises arise and next thing you know, you're not getting the rec room.
ReplyDeleteThe Captain