Hamilton – Steel Town or Steal Town

Senior management at the City of Hamilton could be a SCTV skit of idiots if their actions weren't causing devastating hardships for thousands.

Heree are 3 recent examples of the utter contempt senior managers and their council allies have for ordinary working people in Hamilton. And this is just one week of these sunshine list scumbag’s actions - multiply this by years and you understand why the city is in such shit shape for everyone but developers.

1) The city's senior manager claims to not have known about a process whereby the city could raise taxes on pipelines owned by profitably corporations like Enbridge. 

It took students from a non-profit community org to point it out during the budget debate.

The manager of Hamilton’s Financial services (and a “senior policy advisor” to Doug Ford’s government) Mike Zegerac basically waved it off saying "“It’s not a revenue-generating opportunity,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to shift the tax burden across tax classes.” 

So the city senior managers could’ve been reducing taxes for pensioners and others, but couldn't be bothered and preferred to keep taxes low for pipeline corps.

2) By-law enforcement head Monica Ciriello has overseen the City allowing a landlord to refuse to fix broken water mains in a building leaving 7 occupied units without water since prior to Christmas. 

Her department deliberately chose to file papers in ways that allowed the landlord to appeal and has sided with the landlord in delaying the repairs another 45 days. 

This is the same Monica Ciriello who was a candidate for the Tories in 2019 and campaigned on Hamilton being crime ridden. Clearly her politics are driving her decision to enable and support corporate landlords driving out what the Tories see as the "poor" and "undesirable" that her party thinks cause crime.

Monica oversees a department that is a running joke in Hamilton when it comes to supporting residents and homeowners challenging developers and renovictors for bylaw infractions. It’s a department that just won't enforce the bylaws or finds a way to ensure the landlords can drag it out. 

3) The city manager for construction/development, Carlo Ammendolia has been forced to admit taking lunch with a now deceased, reputed mob boss. Apparently to discuss "permits". Funny how hard it is to get any permits or meetings for someone wanting to build a new porch or alleyway garage, or tiny home. Yet senior managers have time for a lunchtime chat with the mob.

Time for these 3 to be fired for cause. No payout, no compensation. They won't need it – after all they'll all end up working for developers or consultants.

Rick Wyman, Hamilton

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