Cameron Kroetsch

Two city-wide priorities, and how to achieve them

• Accountable annual budgeting: he says the city budget lacks actuals, year-over-year comparisons and multi-year trends, and that no other body he sits on budgets the way the city does.
• A mental health crisis response: he points to Toronto’s Community Crisis Service and says Hamilton has three emergency services where it should have four, with trained crisis responders so police are not the default.

Two changes to improve City services

• Better coordination between city divisions, citing the James Street North Art Crawl road closure and non-standard small-business applications that stall.
• Routine, programmatic audits of city services and major projects on a set cycle through the Auditor General.

Two changes to improve quality of life in Hamilton

• Better, maintained and expanded public spaces: parks, recreation centres, green spaces and arenas; he says the mayor’s budget cut recreation funding that deferred projects for another decade.
• More 24/7 city services and a better 3-1-1 system, citing his office’s evening and Saturday pilot.

Two priorities for Ward 2

• Street safety and pedestrianization, using Ward 2 area-rating money for projects such as school-area crosswalks and downtown activations.
• Improve public spaces in lower-city neighbourhoods, including modernizing Central Memorial Recreation Centre, expanding Beasley Park and replacing the Eastwood Arena rink if it fails.

Three words for a four-year term (looking back from September 2030)

Thoughtful, available, driven.