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Hamilton approves engagement charter - Guiding public participation


NRU
April 1, 2015
By Leah Wong

On Monday Hamilton general issues committee unanimously approved the vision and principles for a public engagement charter to guide how the city consults with its citizens in the future.

The charter was developed by the Hamilton Engagement Committee - a group comprising more than 40 residents from across the city-which was formed last spring to look at how the city could improve public engagement. The committee addressed its key responsibility through three working groups-public engagement charter, community visioning and infrastructure.

“This [charter] will send a strong and positive message in favour of collaboration that is needed so that Hamilton can successfully plan its future,” HEC member Christina Jean Pierre told committee.

The public engagement charter working group developed a set of core principles that should guide future consultations the city undertakes in order to improve transparency, create a more inclusive process and allow for more ongoing consultation.

“City staff and councillors already do public engagement, but traditional approaches to public consultation don’t necessarily produce the quality outcomes that are essential for excellent city building,” said HEC member Mel Walther. “There are [people] who feel disconnected from the city and some who encounter structural and systemic barriers to participate.”

Finding ways to get more residents to engage in municipal decisions has been a challenge for councillors. Ward 11 councillor Brenda Johnson said she’s found it challenging doing repeat door-to-door canvases of residents and not hearing from residents despite leaving notes on how they can get in touch. Suggestions for more creative ways to engage residents will be included in the new community vision project, which staff were directed to start work on.

The vision will serve as an update to Hamilton’s Vision 2020, which was crafted in the nineties, and guide the city through the next 25 years. As the city prepares to head into the development phase of the vision process, the engagement committee has set the ambitious public consultation target of getting 50,000 residents to participate.

“It’s about bringing all the voices to the table. Not just the loudest voices, but a large cross section of voices,” said corporate initiatives director Paul Johnson.

The community vision working group compiled a draft of key issues to be considered as work on the vision project begins, as well as a list of stakeholders who should be consulted. The range of issues the group has recommended considering concern environmental stewardship, community infrastructure, economic prosperity and social diversity.

Mayor Fred Eisenberger said happy residents are ones that are engaged and informed, and involving more residents in decision making will get people to consider the big picture issues in the city.

“The more people that we can get engaged, through whatever process we pick and choose, the better off we are going to be in terms of having happy citizens and understanding what our major issues are that we’ll have to deal with,” said Eisenberger.

The engagement committee’s third working group, which focused on infrastructure, developed materials that are meant to better educate residents on the state of the city’s infrastructure. Hamilton presently has an infrastructure deficit of around $3.3-billion.

“Hamilton’s infrastructure needs are greater than the money available,” said HEC member Lou Vecchioni. “Therefore it is essential that we engage with our stakeholders to help us prioritize when and how we spend our money.”

Hamilton is just one of many municipalities faced with a growing infrastructure deficit. The working group created a document to better educate the public on the value of the city’s infrastructure. The city owns about $17-billion of infrastructure-approximately $114,000 per household. The general issues committee approved the infrastructure engagement materials, which will aid in the development of the vision plan.

The engagement committee is mandated to meet until December 2015. Paul Johnson said that at the end of the year there will need to be a conversation about whether the committee should continue in its current capacity. Committee members will be involved throughout the visioning process.