Civic Engagement and Municipal Government

Jim Sweetman spoke of the importance of citizens becoming active in how their local government operates. His work with the Hamilton Civic League is one of his main foci now that he has retired. The HCL is, "an inclusive, non-partisan league of Hamiltonians dedicated to increasing community participation in local democracy, supporting an informed, involved, engaged electorate, and promoting transparent, accessible, accountable local government". The league's activities include community values and priorities surveys, promotion through Cable 14 and a finance sub-committee.

Looking over the last six years Jim gave a breakdown of voter participation by wards. Our own club's Ward 13 had the highest voter turnout of around 46%. The city's Elections Office does not believe it is its job to increase voter participation rates so this is one of the goals of the league. The finance sub-committee uses public data from Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing in order to help assess the city's financial health.

The next steps include a complete community values and priorities survey and the publishing of the results. Then, to publish a councillor accountability scorecard followed by candidate debates. To see and complete the survey go to www.CivicLeague.org

Members had a number of comments for Jim including the constant issue of the need for parity which causes taxes to rise and the need for open data from the city so that there is more transparency in how it operates.