By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday July 4, 2014
McHattie launches 100-day tour of city’s neighbourhoods
While you’re daydreaming about summer vacation, the city’s politicos have a very different v-word on their minds.
Votes.
It’s been less than a month since Ontarians went to the ballot box, but local candidates are already ramping up their campaigns in advance of October’s municipal election.
Take Dundas, for instance, where, within days of councillor Russ Powers announcing his retirement, several candidates — including his longtime executive assistant — have unofficially thrown their hats in the ring. So far, more than 30 candidates are vying for a spot on council.
The competition for mayor is also heating up, with contender Brian McHattie unveiling his “high energy plan to escalate the mayoral race in a manner no other candidate has attempted before.”
Would he skydive? Fight a bear? Create a million jobs?
As it turns out, he’s hitting the pavement.
At a sunny announcement in Sam Lawrence Park Wednesday, the Ward 1 councillor told a small crowd of reporters and volunteers he intends to visit each of the city’s nearly 200 neighbourhoods in the next 100 days.
That’s at least one stop every single day for the next three-and-a-half months.
“I want to understand each neighbourhood — what it’s like to live there, what it’s like to raise a family,” he said. “What it’s like to be a Hamiltonian in those neighbourhoods.”
McHattie said he’ll attend community events and canvas door to door in order to meet residents and hear their ideas for the city’s future. He’ll also use the tour as an opportunity to reveal more details about his campaign platform. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)