Monday, December 27, 2010

Regarding 'downtown renewal'...


This article appeared online on Boxing Day. It's essentially a farewell to/from Ron Marini, who has been City of Hamilton's Manager of Downtown Renewal for the past decade.

While I want to be kind and generous, and I certainly can appreciate what Mr. Marini's been up against, both from within and without, I'm still shaking my head at both the gist of the article, and some of its more contentious points. I'm all for optimism and a general 'We can do it!' attitude, but considering what's been going on in Downtown Hamilton for more than two decades now...or more specifically what hasn't been going on, from a 'The Responsibilities of Local Governance' point of view...I'm wondering what it actually takes to have honest discourse unfolding...when the area's newspaper seems complicit in glossing things over by way of an admittedly well-intended fluff piece.

As someone opined, 'I guess that's Spec-journalism.' Prompting me to ask...especially on the heels of my two-parter about the Stoney Creek News...is that all that Hamiltonians deserve?

(More on this article presently.)

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I'm always interested in feedback, differing opinions, even contrarian blasts...as long as they're delivered with decorum...with panache and flair always helping.