Most of my time over the past few months has been spent in meetings about the City’s 2024 budget process. We went from an outlook of 14.2%, to a draft budget of 7.9%, and finally landed on 5.79% on February 15. I voted in favour of the budget.
The breakdown of that 5.78% increase, for the average taxpayer, is a 1.64% increase for municipal services, a 1.60% increase for housing and homelessness supports, and a 2.55% increase for costs downloaded to us by the Province.
Unfortunately, and despite the police board turning down motions by Dr. Menezes and I to shave about $5m from the board’s $215m budget, City Council was not willing to vote down the budget presented by the police board. It was a sad moment. While every other department across the city was asked to find additional savings this year, the police board was made an exception by the majority of Council.
That being said, the number of Councillors who voted against the increases to the police budget of $16.7m over last year, jumped from 5 last year to 6 this year. I hope, when this conversation comes around next year, there will be an opportunity to add to those numbers and increase accountability in this process. I have received hundreds of messages, emails, and calls asking for me to hold the police board to the same standards as every other City service and I’m proud of the efforts we made this year.
More locally, I’ve been hearing from residents across the city about the Jamesville project. As you likely know, CN Railway appealed the decision of CityHousing Hamilton and the City who were planning to proceed with the project. That has meant a delay while waiting for a hearing date, set for late spring, and a lengthy set of discussions between CHH, the City, the developer, and CN. While I’m not part of those negotiations, and cannot direct them, Council will get a say in the matter if a settlement is reached and any potential settlement would be presented to City Council for consideration (e.g. to accept, propose modifications or reject). I’m very aware of the concerns raised by neighbours, including the desire for less above ground parking and more greenspace, saving additional trees where possible, permanently preserving the Sunset Cultural Garden, and finding a way to add in some ground level retail space, among others.
Height and density have also been brought up as community concerns but, more than anything, what I hear is that people want to see demolition begin soon and building start this year. So do I. Since no one from the North End registered as a party to the appeal to represent the neighbourhood at the hearing, I will continue to do what I can to ensure the final project addresses as many concerns as possible and will report back to the neighbourhood when there’s anything that I can share publicly. For those who don’t know, I’m bound by confidentiality, so I need the consent of all parties to speak about the details publicly or involve neighbours in the discussions.
It’s possible, given the current building climate and construction costs as a result of the delays from the CN appeal, that the developer will request changes to be made to the overall design. This could be an opportunity, in my view, to try to achieve some of the community benefits the neighbourhood has been asking for in exchange for some increased density on the site. I’ll keep everyone posted as soon as I have more information that I’m permitted to share publicly.
Finally, we have set up our new Ward 2 Heritage Council and it will be having its inaugural meeting in the coming months. We’ll also be announcing dates, soon, through our social media and newsletter, for this year’s town halls and community councils, including some specific meetings in the North End. If you haven’t signed up to get our monthly newsletter updates, sent out at the end of every month, join by visiting ward2hamilton.substack.com.
If you need the Ward 2 Team, for anything, please reach out to us on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 8am to 4pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8am to 8pm, and Saturdays from 10am to 2pm. Joey, Liesl, or Hasnain would be happy to help you! The best way to reach us is by sending an email to Ward2@hamilton.ca or by calling our office phone number at (905) 546-2197. If you’d like to reach me directly, send me an email at Cameron.Kroetsch@hamilton.ca.
Ward 3 Councillor Tammy Hwang, Ward 11 Councillor Mark Tadeson, and Ward 2 Councillor Cameron Kroetsch in Council Chambers to kick off Black History Month on February 1, 2024
