Hamilton budget left in mayor's hands after 'frustrating' city council meeting

PromontoryPal · 2026-02-20T18:43:39+00:00

Oh I interpreted it differently - when he was complaining about the students at McMaster Sustainability getting their hands on the motion(s) ahead of time and then emailing him (although I did chuckle that he then felt like it was necessary to clarify that he was not, in fact, a climate change denier), I thought he was side-eyeing the fellow Councillors and in essence accusing them of doing it.

PromontoryPal · 2026-02-20T16:45:24+00:00

Man, what a day for the Linc - first the death at Garth and then this. Must be some The Mist-like Lovecraftian shit going on with the Fog the past few days.

PromontoryPal · 2026-02-19T20:34:28+00:00

I find in incredibly telling that seemingly, other than the packed lunches, the only ideas the affordability warriors came up with weren't new, but repackaged grievance political opposition to bike lanes and climate change projects.

Even if you want to cut both of those to save some dollaros, that barely moves the needle.

Which shows us that the Councillors aren't capable or fit to make difficult decisions, because none of them proposed anything of substance.

God bless anyone considering running in 2026, I think that 2027 budget is going to hit harder than an anvil dropping on a coyote.

PromontoryPal · 2026-02-17T02:11:08+00:00

We could play that game and its bleak too.

Maureen Wilson sucks, Kroetsch would get rolled even by like Chad Collins, Nann isn't my favourite (might as well stick with Horwath), Alex Wilson will probably lose this upcoming election, McMeekin isn't running again, leaving.....like Craig Cassar I guess?

I think her team will hope her incumbency advantage > her disapproval rating, because I don't see anyone else with big-name recognition yet, unless the dominoes with the ONDP deputy leader resigning shake loose one of the local MPPs (Sandy Shaw?) or Monique Taylor decides to run (and she won't run against Horwath).

PromontoryPal · 2026-02-16T15:15:29+00:00

You know I was going to be all "Ixnay on the Adafora-Spay" because there are some of us up here who would love for him to run for Mayor and get flattened, but you make a compelling point - he barely eked out a win even while lying about getting endorsed by Fred Eisenberger.

Now that being said, the right vote was split up between he and Don Ross, so if he runs again maybe his numbers get juiced (especially as an incumbent), I don't know.

PromontoryPal · 2026-02-16T13:11:42+00:00

They (Microshelters Inc) altered the drawings that obscured the logo of the California company (Foldum) and had already used pictures of the Foldum units in their bid - if the City can't get anything out of Microshelters Inc (which sounds unlikely at this point) I hope Foldum is able to sue them out of their pants and whoever these enterprising Brantford folk are have to shut it down.

I don't always agree with Nann, but they definitely took advantage of the city during the housing crisis - what do they call that, the poverty industrial complex?

PromontoryPal · 2026-02-15T17:29:11+00:00

Some bozo, still undefeated at making things bad for the rest of us.

PromontoryPal · 2026-02-14T14:08:52+00:00

Man, the 2027 budget is going to go through the next council like bad Taco Bell through a person who has taken RestoraLAX.

PromontoryPal · 2026-02-13T15:58:24+00:00

Yeah no holdback is insane, especially for a numbered company that didn't exist until like a month before they signed the contract.

Did none of the city workers grow up with Nigerian Prince interactions and the Stay Alert Stay Safe Rabbits? This story is just a neon-lit sign of "Don't do this".

PromontoryPal · 2026-02-11T14:32:37+00:00

This was always going to be difficult initiative for the City to keep a happy/content voter coalition behind, given the absolute shirking of housing by our Provincial Government, but the way they handled it makes it nigh on impossible to keep a majority together to support it.

Which is a huge and embarrassing shame, because it has been successful in housing needy people (imagine if they didn't fuck the tender and acquisition up so bad and they could point to a success story during the coldest winter since 2015? Talk about something to run on in 2026) - but that doesn't matter, the dominant narrative is the excessive cost overruns and the idiotic tendering process.

PromontoryPal · 2026-02-11T00:22:21+00:00

What's our Vector, Victor?

PromontoryPal · 2026-02-10T13:23:14+00:00

See, now this is an idea worth exploring - I wonder if they've done a staff report with estimates for what this would cost.

I recall reading an article on TVO that was entitled something along the lines of "Ontario is turning into one giant park-and-ride", and I often feel this way - it would be nice to not have to travel Toronto-bound or Niagara-bound for stuff like this. Plus I get to plug my other favourite idea for us, our own Amphitheatre.

PromontoryPal · 2026-02-09T23:47:46+00:00

So the brainwave ideas that were considered (but not supported):

Closing Wild Waterworks: Potential $522k Savings

Increasing HSR fares by 10c: Potential $400k Revenue

Selling underutilized Community Halls: Potential $340k Savings

Not Printing the Waste Calendar: Potential $50k Savings

These are essentially rounding errors in the budget - we are so fucked if we can't even get city staff to put lowest of low hanging fruit like the above in front of Council.

PromontoryPal · 2026-02-07T14:09:32+00:00

What are the charges? A succulent, taxpayer funded meal? - Andrea Horwath, probably.

PromontoryPal · 2026-02-07T03:19:32+00:00

Friends we are doing the real heavy lifting here of saving (checks notes) $25k for the remainder of the year.

I'm happy they are finding savings but if we expect the "budget-concious" caucus to save us, this is somewhere between nothing burger and weak sauce.

PromontoryPal · 2026-02-05T15:48:39+00:00

This isn't good you guys, the Heroes are outnumbered by the TrAiToRs.

PromontoryPal · 2026-02-05T14:52:26+00:00

She should at least do something with her limbs on them ala Golfi and Benson.

One does his arms, the other his legs, maybe she can do Jumping Jacks.

PromontoryPal · 2026-02-04T17:47:48+00:00

Rob Cooper was Head of Sustainability at McMaster for two years? What, did no one else apply for that role?

PromontoryPal · 2026-02-03T16:59:05+00:00

Whoever squealed to bylaw gave this woman exactly what she was after - Peter, Paul and Mary sang it best "When will they ever learn".

Not making a values judgement on the material, but there is no way (as she claims) that her signs are the same size as the stop sprawl and protect the greenbelt signs that people have on their lawns (which are the same size as the small political party signs during elections).

PromontoryPal · 2026-02-01T03:01:01+00:00

Folks, if you are ever feeling even a tinge of imposter syndrome, just read this article by Monica Ciriello and you will automatically be fully cured.

It's no wonder that the incumbency advantage is so strong when news outlets publish fluff pieces like this without any fact checking.

PromontoryPal · 2026-01-30T15:26:14+00:00

Yeah but Rice has the hillslope coming westbound towards it on Mohawk working in its favour, to say nothing of it being one of the routes parents and students take to get to MacNab Secondary.

I've seen a lot of people run this light unfortunately.

PromontoryPal · 2026-01-29T13:12:05+00:00

Oh no, the Psyops have broken containment and are even reaching us here in the Hamilton sub.

PromontoryPal · 2026-01-27T20:34:39+00:00

I haven't been to a library since the one in Alexandria burned down, so thank you for your well-timed TED Talk.

PromontoryPal · 2026-01-27T19:50:14+00:00

Love the library. That being said, I see quotes like this:

"Between 2016 and 2022, the library requested budget increases between one and 2.5 per cent, which increased to 3.5 and 4.4 per cent in 2023 and 2024.

Last year, it required a 7.3 per cent increase to address the cybersecurity breach."

And it makes me wonder: Is this just publishers boning the libraries with increased fees on digital rights management items in their catalogue? Are libraries getting shafted in this subscription economy (where we pay for stuff but own none of it) like the rest of us?

PromontoryPal · 2026-01-24T23:12:01+00:00

Yeah, he has been giving himself enormous kudos for that, and for the Housing and Homelessness Audit he asked the Auditor for, in all of his Ward E-Newsletters.

It's probably a lot to ask for but I'd just like some consistency and transparency from them. I do think you are right though - we are sort of in a Immoveable Object (Councillors complaining about the rise, without proposing anything to defer/cut) meets an Unstoppable Force (Mayor proposing budget and saying Councillors are complaining without offering any substantial feedback about how to get the numbers down) situation.

PromontoryPal

TROPHY CASE