Elections
Do you support the use of participatory budgeting to allow ward residents to propose and vote on local capital projects?
Responses to the question: "Do you support the use of participatory budgeting to allow ward residents to propose and vote on local capital projects?"
In This Page:
6 Candidate Responses (top)
| Mayor | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Brief Response | Full Response |
| Baldasaro, Michael | Yes | |
| Butt, Ejaz | Yes | Yes the public must be engaged |
| Eisenberger, Fred | Yes | |
| Lavigne, Crystal | Yes | Absolutely! however, make sure that the resident's are not just a select few. |
| McHattie, Brian | Yes | I’m proud to have brought Participatory Budgeting to Ward 1 several years ago, and just as pleased to have my fellow Councillor Jason Farr adopt the process in Ward 2. I would like to see Participatory Budgeting go city-wide.
|
| Pattison, Michael A. | Yes | This is the foundation of my very platform. I want to see more power given back to the wards. We have the opportunity over the next four years to almost double down on aging infrastructure, opportunities and payments.
This is my plan: First we look at our city’s tax bas. We can pay for all essential services, maintenance, interest payments and departments that it takes to run this city, defining and making efficiency adjustments along the way. Then we look at how much of our tax base we have remaining for all non-essential services. Every resident in every ward would have the right to rank from number 1 (most important) all the way down the line until every service has been ranked. While we are collecting all such data and making the cost saving changes to any service and/or departments, all remaining taxes would be proportionately divided to each ward as per their wards overall tax collection with one exception: our downtown would receive an extra percentage point to allow us to keep the vibrancy of our downtown on the upswing. This is not to favour the downtown but to make our downtown a thriving entity as this is truly the indicator of the vibrancy of Hamilton's business community and an issue all potential incoming businesses will assess. I want to see all urban, suburban and rural wards flourish. This can and will happen when we can pay for principle projects dedicated to each ward out of our essential services city budget then take the ward budget and use it in conjunction with each project to ensure the longest lasting, energy efficient, culturally enhancing, most effective operating and maintenance schedules. Any taxation left over would be put into a citywide trust, accumulating interest that is earmarked for the ward it comes from. Any interest gained on said monies would be put towards debt reduction for our city. The earmarked portion would be saved until a common or bigger project can be planned, vetted and brought to fruition. This allocated money can and should be made available every year to each ward but does not have to be spent. Once again the savings are grouped together bankrolling our interest with an annual return to each ward, and the whole procedure starts again. We have to be particularly cognizant of the potential benefits our economy is in line for with the Pan AM Games and the Junos right around the corner. It is a basic tenet of good business: when times are good save – always be prepared. |
Response Summary (top)
| Brief Response | Count | % of Total |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 6 | 100.0% |
| No | 0 | 0.0% |
| Maybe | 0 | 0.0% |
6 Candidates Have Not Responded (top)
| Mayor | ||
|---|---|---|
| Clancy, Mike | ||
| Clark, Brad | ||
| Francis, Warrand | ||
| Iamonico, Nick | ||
| Ryerson, Phil | ||
| Tavares, Ricky | ||
