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Hamilton Spectator (Ontario, Canada)
January 6, 2005 Thursday Final Edition
Council's nickel-and-dime response is a crying shame
by Bill Dunphy
Reach into your pocket -- or purse if you're so inclined -- and see
if you can find yourself a nickel.
Pull it out. Hold it in your hand. Roll it between your fingers. Flip
it up in the air and catch it again.
Have a good look at it, it's probably been a while since you've even
noticed one.
A long time ago, nickels weren't round, they were 12-sided. An even
longer time ago, you used to be able to buy things with a five-cent
piece -- a loaf of bread. A haircut. A bus ride.
These days, you'd be hard pressed to find anything you can buy with
that nickel except for a piece of pink bubble gum or a grand total of
two minutes on the parking meters behind City Hall.
It took city council 20 times that two minutes yesterday to decide
that five cents -- one nickel -- per Hamiltonian is just the right
amount of money to donate to the southern Asian tsunami relief
effort.
Five cents apiece. A nickel from each of us to all of them. A total
of $25,000.
That averages out to about 16 cents per victim of the devastating
tsunami waves that swept 150,000 people to their deaths on Boxing
Day.
Councillor Tom Jackson praised the mayor, city manager Glen Peace and
city staff for moving so swiftly in developing a response to the
10-day-old disaster.
And he heartily approved of the nickel-a-person donation.
Recalling his very first week on council, back in 1988, Jackson noted
they'd voted to send $5,000 to aid victims of an earthquake that
killed up to 40,000 Armenians.
"I think $25,000 is very commensurate with what councils have done in
the past," Jackson said.
Councillor Bill Kelly defended the donation as appropriate.
"I would dearly like (the city) to donate 10 times -- 100 times! --
this amount, but you have to deal with reality ... Our job is to get
people to rally behind this, to act as a funnel, as it were, for
donations."
In the nine days prior to having this $25,000 donation to rally
behind, Hamiltonians have been donating at an average well above
$50,000 a day.
Still, Councillor Sam Merulla echoed the notion that the city
donation would act as some kind of goad or spur for others to give.
"It's a challenge to the business community to not only match what we
are doing as a city on the backs of the taxpayer, but also (to)
exceed that," Merulla said.
Yesterday, Dofasco and its employees announced $110,000 in donations
to relief efforts.
It's doubtful they knew of the city's efforts prior to organizing
their donation.
In addition to the $25,000 donation, city staff recommended allowing
the Red Cross to set up a fundraising booth at this Sunday's Mayor's
New Year's levee, that the city lend its name to a CHtv fundraising
event slated for next Tuesday, and that staff draw up a list of
resources (skilled people and equipment) that might be made available
for relief work, should anyone ask for it.
A few councillors expressed reservations about the staff's
recommendations, suggesting that the donation was a pittance or a
token.
Several raised the notion of adding $1 per person to the property tax
bill to fund a $500,000 donation -- but that idea failed to catch on.
One idea did seem to pique the councillors' interest, although it was
not included in the staff report and not championed by Mayor Larry Di
Ianni, who mentioned it in passing as an idea that would be the
subject of "more discussions in the coming weeks."
The idea -- to adopt or twin with a specific Sri Lankan village and
offer it short- and long-term aid -- came not from staff, or from a
councillor, but from Noor Nazim, a member of the city's Strengthening
Hamilton's Community Initiative. Nazim has been tirelessly struggling
to organize relief since the day the tsunamis first hit.
Councillor Bob Bratina -- the fifth speaker at the emergency session
and the first to pronounce the word tsunami correctly -- plucked the
idea from obscurity, and suggested setting up a task force to
investigate that idea as well as several other useful suggestions
that arose on the council floor. He carried the day.
After the meeting, the mayor said he welcomed the task force and
promised his office would take responsibility for kick-starting its
work. And he offered cautious encouragement for Nazim's idea.
"His suggestion isn't to be dismissed, that's why I'm happy it was
referred to this task force ... it may just be a project that people
in this city can rally around."
How do you put a price on leadership like that?
January 6, 2005 Thursday Final Edition
Council's nickel-and-dime response is a crying shame
by Bill Dunphy
Reach into your pocket -- or purse if you're so inclined -- and see
if you can find yourself a nickel.
Pull it out. Hold it in your hand. Roll it between your fingers. Flip
it up in the air and catch it again.
Have a good look at it, it's probably been a while since you've even
noticed one.
A long time ago, nickels weren't round, they were 12-sided. An even
longer time ago, you used to be able to buy things with a five-cent
piece -- a loaf of bread. A haircut. A bus ride.
These days, you'd be hard pressed to find anything you can buy with
that nickel except for a piece of pink bubble gum or a grand total of
two minutes on the parking meters behind City Hall.
It took city council 20 times that two minutes yesterday to decide
that five cents -- one nickel -- per Hamiltonian is just the right
amount of money to donate to the southern Asian tsunami relief
effort.
Five cents apiece. A nickel from each of us to all of them. A total
of $25,000.
That averages out to about 16 cents per victim of the devastating
tsunami waves that swept 150,000 people to their deaths on Boxing
Day.
Councillor Tom Jackson praised the mayor, city manager Glen Peace and
city staff for moving so swiftly in developing a response to the
10-day-old disaster.
And he heartily approved of the nickel-a-person donation.
Recalling his very first week on council, back in 1988, Jackson noted
they'd voted to send $5,000 to aid victims of an earthquake that
killed up to 40,000 Armenians.
"I think $25,000 is very commensurate with what councils have done in
the past," Jackson said.
Councillor Bill Kelly defended the donation as appropriate.
"I would dearly like (the city) to donate 10 times -- 100 times! --
this amount, but you have to deal with reality ... Our job is to get
people to rally behind this, to act as a funnel, as it were, for
donations."
In the nine days prior to having this $25,000 donation to rally
behind, Hamiltonians have been donating at an average well above
$50,000 a day.
Still, Councillor Sam Merulla echoed the notion that the city
donation would act as some kind of goad or spur for others to give.
"It's a challenge to the business community to not only match what we
are doing as a city on the backs of the taxpayer, but also (to)
exceed that," Merulla said.
Yesterday, Dofasco and its employees announced $110,000 in donations
to relief efforts.
It's doubtful they knew of the city's efforts prior to organizing
their donation.
In addition to the $25,000 donation, city staff recommended allowing
the Red Cross to set up a fundraising booth at this Sunday's Mayor's
New Year's levee, that the city lend its name to a CHtv fundraising
event slated for next Tuesday, and that staff draw up a list of
resources (skilled people and equipment) that might be made available
for relief work, should anyone ask for it.
A few councillors expressed reservations about the staff's
recommendations, suggesting that the donation was a pittance or a
token.
Several raised the notion of adding $1 per person to the property tax
bill to fund a $500,000 donation -- but that idea failed to catch on.
One idea did seem to pique the councillors' interest, although it was
not included in the staff report and not championed by Mayor Larry Di
Ianni, who mentioned it in passing as an idea that would be the
subject of "more discussions in the coming weeks."
The idea -- to adopt or twin with a specific Sri Lankan village and
offer it short- and long-term aid -- came not from staff, or from a
councillor, but from Noor Nazim, a member of the city's Strengthening
Hamilton's Community Initiative. Nazim has been tirelessly struggling
to organize relief since the day the tsunamis first hit.
Councillor Bob Bratina -- the fifth speaker at the emergency session
and the first to pronounce the word tsunami correctly -- plucked the
idea from obscurity, and suggested setting up a task force to
investigate that idea as well as several other useful suggestions
that arose on the council floor. He carried the day.
After the meeting, the mayor said he welcomed the task force and
promised his office would take responsibility for kick-starting its
work. And he offered cautious encouragement for Nazim's idea.
"His suggestion isn't to be dismissed, that's why I'm happy it was
referred to this task force ... it may just be a project that people
in this city can rally around."
How do you put a price on leadership like that?