Image : Councillor Kroetsch chairing the inaugural meeting of the new Public Health Sub-Committee with newly appointed citizen members

Happy New Year! I hope everyone in the North End was able to enjoy some time relaxing with family over the holidays.
I had a chance to connect with some of you at events and public meetings over the past month and I continue to appreciate your feedback, engagement, and the love you have for your neighbourhood. Every time I speak to North Enders, I’m reminded of the work so many of you do, every day, to make Hamilton a better place for everyone who calls it home.

Part of my work at Council at this time of year is focused on the 2025 City Budget. This year’s budget is being guided by a completely new process. This new process is due to the “Strong Mayor” powers that were granted to Mayor Andrea Horwath by Doug Ford in 2023. In essence, the budget belongs to the Mayor now and she’s the one who will present the budget in collaboration with City staff and she can now veto any amendments brought forward by Councillors to make changes to the budget. It’s going to be an interesting process and I’m looking forward to seeing how it unfolds. The budget will wrap up sometime between February 12 and March 9 and I’ll be making my comments public, including any amendments I wish to bring forward, by early February at the latest. At my town hall on the budget at the end of last year, residents asked about where they could find budget documents and how they could offer their feedback. The entire budget schedule and all relevant budget documents can now be found on the City’s website at hamilton.ca/budget2025.

For those who may not be aware, the results of both North End Surveys were shared through my newsletter in January. I wanted to summarize them for you here to give you a sense of where things are heading with both Eastwood Arena and Strachan Linear Park. In summary, about 200 people filled out each of the surveys. Many survey respondents want to see Eastwood Arena refurbished and for it to continue to be used to support non-ice programming. Many respondents also want to see an eventual return to ice programming. City staff are going to analyze the results and provide some information this year to ensure there are short, medium, and long term plans in place for the arena.

As for Strachan Linear Park, there was a great deal of feedback from survey respondents about the different amenities that could take up this unique space. Among the top picks were native pollinator gardens; a dog park; picnic tables, benches, and garbage cans; and a new fence along the rail line. City staff will provide more information about the costing for these things and I hope to bring forward some more information soon.

There will be further opportunities to engage on the future of both Eastwood Arena and Strachan Linear Park before any final decisions are made. I look forward to hearing from you and to moving these projects forward together.

As always, if you want to follow along in between editions of the North End Breezes, including looking at the detailed results of the surveys, please subscribe to my newsletter and check out past issues at ward2hamilton.ca/newsletter. Please also look out for my Midterm Report, which is available on my website at ward2hamilton.ca/reports. It outlines the progress I’ve made since being elected Ward 2 City Councillor. I hope the information is helpful and gives you a sense of where things stand with the campaign commitments I made and the work ahead in the second half of this term.

If you’d like to connect with me or the Ward 2 Team please reach out at Ward2@hamilton.ca or through our office phone number at (905) 546-2197. The Ward 2 Team is in the office Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 8:00am to 4:00pm; Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:00am to 8:00pm; and Saturdays from 10:00am to 2:00pm.