'How?' you ask...? Part Three-B, The Practicals

In truth, I can offer up no easy, prize-winning 'practicals' addressing what I raised here at The Spec. Not ones pertaining to any given situation. Each situation is different, each will require its own approach, its own strategy, its own checklist.

Sorry if this admission strikes some as a 'shaggy dog tale' ending to the series, considering the build-up.

But in fact, what I'm going to propose...and what I've been proposing for a long time...facilitates the above, makes it all possible. So indulge me as I propose an analogy.

Suppose you're looking at entering into an important match. (The actual sport we're talking about doesn't matter...I'm loath to place the analogy within any particular one for fear of bias-of-reaction.)

Supposing you're out of shape. Overweight. You lack flexibility, mobility, endurance. In a nutshell, suppose you're unprepared for the match.

Were the above to be true, placing an emphasis on strategy and technique, no matter how well informed, would be folly. You'd need to get in shape first. You'd need to do your prep work so that whatever you were able to come up with strategy-wise would be maximized.

The same goes for changing 'How Things Are Done in Hamilton' when it comes to projects that involve taxpayer revenue. Where we have a stake.

And just as looking after the simple stuff in the above analogy is paramount (diet, flexibility, endurance, strength), it is in the realm of local governance.

To me, the foundation of changing our landscape is the neighbourhood.

Specifically, the neighbourhood association, or NA.

To this end, some core beliefs of mine:

-Every community in Hamilton should have an NA. Currently, we're not even close to that state. Here's a map of traditional neighbourhoods in the city, and here's the most current manifest of NAs recognized by the City of Hamilton. Note that some wards don't have NAs, period. So there is no level of organization of residents beyond contact with the Councillor. Contact either by the resident when there's a problem or contentious issue, or by the Councillor when it's required, or deemed necessary.

-Hamilton needs a Congress of NAs, an Organization of NAs, a Federation of NAs, some kind of unifying group whereby the city's NAs are able to connect, to communicate, to share resources, to unify citizens, a means by which consensus can be built, and a far louder, more resilient voice can be brought to bear. A placeholder was created last year, and it can be found here. On the provincial level there's the Federation of Urban Neighbourhoods.

Next up: Why the heart of our hope lies in NAs