A further excerpt from the Lauren McCrawley interview

March 5, 2022

Some more material from 'This is Our Hamilton's interview with Lauren McCrawley,  Chair of the Federation of Hamilton Neighbourhood Associations.

TIOH: Describe what kind of impact having over a hundred NAs speaking with one voice has on local governance. 

McCrawley: Where do I start?!? Well, I guess it would help to look at 'before'. Going back to pre-2012. While there were things like 'Community Councils' in several wards, and a pretty-entrenched group of NAs in Ward 2, the truth is that councillors were voted into office, people got in touch when there was a problem, something they wanted addressed, various councillors held 'community' meetings periodically. And of course, issues cropped up where, because people weren't really on top of them, because people weren't a part of the ongoing process of governance, there was barely lip-service consultation before final situations played-out. 

TIOH: And now?

McCrawley: All councillors work in concert with their ward's NAs. (Pauses) All...councillors...work in concert...with their ward's NAs. The previous default, pre-social media, was people who had concerns or complaints either phoning or writing their councillor. Then, with the Internet, there were emails, there was Facebook, there was Twitter, blogs, message boards, Comments sections on mainstream media news articles. But even with all that, no unified voice. Yes, twenty emails from constituents had a certain amount of clout. But when you get a phone call from an NA president and they let you know that there have been four hundred votes cast on the NA website and that seventy-five comments have been posted... Which do you think has the greater power to influence?

Here's the thing: there's a mindset...gradually fading, but it's still there...that councillors should be left alone to do their jobs. That they're the ones who are best qualified to make decisions. 

TIOH: And you don't agree?

McCrawley: No...and yes. Councillors are chosen to best address the needs of the welfare of their constituents. Some bring incredible talents to the job involving visionary thinking, creativity, innovation. Some bring abilities at marshalling other elements. Every member of Council consults with City Staff. But that's only one part of the formula regarding input. The other part is consulting with the very people who put them in their Council chair, their 'clients' for good governance service, and their employers. 

TIOH: The residents. 

McCrawley: Yes, the residents. 

TIOH: But you've admitted that residents by-and-large aren't 'experts'. So how do you reconcile this with them being so integral a part of their own governance?

The rest of the interview can be found at www.thisisourhamilton.ca