'How?' you ask...? Part Four, The Practicals, Cont'd

In Hamilton, a deeply-committed neighbourhood hub project is well underway under the auspices of SPRC, HCF and the City of Hamilton, amongst others. And we have individual organizations, agencies, groups that are actively involved in trying to bring awareness to residents, who spearhead efforts. The Hamilton Civic League. Environment Hamilton. Hamiltonians for Progressive Development, to name but a few. As well, we have at least two online entities that act as forums for issues, places where those who wish to investigate these issues can, for want of a better word, 'assemble'. Raise the Hammer. The Hamiltonian. And of course, we have social media, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Rounding things out, we have The Spec, urbanicity, CHML, CHCH and others.

All of these are what I would refer to as 'matched multipliers', 'energizers', as 'adjuncts' to what I've referred to as the fundamental element of a better model of local governance, neighbourhood initiatives and participation by way of their NAs.

(A brief note here: none of the 'Arab Spring' revolutions would have had their impact if everything had remained online, on Facebook and Twitter. The same goes for the 'Occupy' movement. Social media and everything connected to it is wonderful. But as much as this may have been the driving force behind these situations...as well as -arguably- the election of Barack Obama to the Presidency of the United States in 2008...in the end, it's people's physical engagement that matters most. I may seem either pedantic or 'retro' in this regard, but my belief is that what ultimately matters is breathing the same air with others, in the same room, getting down to basics, tapping into the pure human experience.)

I would ask all naysayers to consider these propositions:

-Imagine a local governance landscape that has a voter turnout rate of 80% at election time. Double what we currently get.

-Imagine these voters casting their ballots based on having created qualified opinions about the candidates. Instead of the vast majority voting according to 'name recognition'.

-Imagine attending seminars and workshops and town halls being natural things to do, and not examples of supreme dedication to the betterment of their quality-of-Life.

-Imagine residents far more involved in what goes on in their neighbourhoods, in their wards, in their city.

-Imagine the widespread cynicism and fatalism having been replaced by optimism and hope.

Now, if we were to see these kinds of defaults present in Hamiltonians, then we'd 'be in shape'.

Then we'd be able to invest in strategy, in technique, in executing our 'game'.

Then taking our place at the table with the developers, the organizations, with The City, being a bonafide 'player'.

Which we currently are most certainly, beyond-the-shadow-of-a-doubt, not.

Because going back to my analogy, we're *mostly flabby. Morbidly obese. Sedentary, without resiliency, with little endurance, poor recuperative powers...and even if we could gain full-access to 'the game', we'd get our asses kicked.

Which in reality, we do. Time and again. 

*I say 'mostly', keeping in mind that there are some stellar workhorses in Hamilton, some superlative talents, some wonderful stuff underway. But given the limitations of the analogy, I stand by my statement. Additionally, we have some outstanding NAs in the city. Doing great work for their communities. And they're unquestionably models for other neighbourhoods to examine, to learn from and be inspired by. But we've just scratched the surface of the potential inherent in our residents. 

I don't believe that our development 'salvation' can be found by awaiting The Next Great Councillor. Or The Next Great Mayor. Or hoping that a more benevolent breed of developer bestows magnanimous riches upon us.

I believe that the answer to how we can prevent having to repeatedly ask ourselves why we're constantly behind either The 8-ball or The Curve can be found in empowering ourselves by way of a concerted neighbourhood and community association effort.

That's how we'll get fit. That's how we'll have the oomph to ensure that our interests are properly being looked after. That's how we'll be a winning player in the game involving our livelihoods, our welfare, the very existence of our city, our Hamilton. After all:

'You don’t dive into substantive, contentious issues in the hope that you can generate civic engagement. You generate civic engagement so that you’re better equipped to address substantive, contentious issues when they begin to unfold.'

M Adrian Brassington