They’re allowed to do so with the Salvation Army’s permission.

This isn't what it looks like to build an inclusive community. No one wants people to experience homelessness, but they do. The City is outspending every other level of government to help them and we're still falling short. Decisions like this do more harm than good. We all deserve better.

I'm glad there's a renewed arena in our downtown core. Many Hamiltonians, myself included, want to be able to see concerts and events in our downtown, without having to travel to do it. That doesn't mean we should be trying to hide the very real issues experienced by those who are struggling.

There was no urgency to do this work, clearly, as the scaffolding wasn't put up. The timing of this installation directly coincided with the first concert held at the TD Coliseum. The only reason the fence was urgently put up in the middle of the night was to hide members of our community.

The application for this permit by HUPEG was for "walk through scaffolding". As everyone can plainly see, it's a fence. And, to add insult to injury, it's a fence with black cloth across it, cloth that served no functional purpose for facade and building improvements on the day it was installed.

About a century ago, Hamilton was home to KKK rallies. Members of our community organized with the KKK regionally and we were known as a hotbed of white supremacist activity. It’s unacceptable for this to continue. It’s a stain on our city and everyone who calls it home.

I don't know what the Chief will cut, or what Councillors Spadafora or Pauls had in mind, but I'm hoping we will finally see the end to the mounted unit as part of these cuts. Very few police services still have them and they are not a required or essential part of policing. It's time for it to go.

I am disappointed, however, that their motion left the decision about what to cut up to the Chief. As I said in the paper, it's well within our role to cut things in the budget, line by line, especially things that are not operationally essential to policing.

If not for our motions, and the complaint I endured as a result of them, this wouldn't have happened. Thanks to Councillors Spadafora and Pauls for piggybacking on our motion this year to reduce the budget by more than $1.2m. I'm hopeful we will continue to find meaningful savings next year.

Since 2024, almost every motion we put forward, despite being rejected by the previous Board outright, has moved forward to become policy or show up as a reduction in the budget. As Member Menezes said at the meeting - dissent is important. Without it, we wouldn't be here.

My commitment remains undiminished - to make Ward 2 a better place for its residents and for all Hamiltonians, to speak up when it's needed, and to keep engaging as much as humanly possible. Everyone in our downtown community deserves to feel safe, valued, and connected. Hate has no place here.

Despite these over the top personal attacks, or perhaps because of them, I will be running again next year. I will continue to stick to my principles, to build platforms and priorities with my neighbours across Ward 2, and to continue to engage with the community, in person and online.

The goal is to silence me and everyone else who speaks up and challenges the status quo. I'm talking about this because Ward 2 residents elected me on a promise to be more accessible and engaged. These obvious attempts to bully and silence me are just that. As a community, we can't let this go.

While these direct attacks are awful, the subtle stuff is almost worse in some ways. It’s harder to explain, more difficult to share, and comes in greater heaps than the obvious hate speech, slurs, and threats to my safety. And I’m not the only one on the receiving end of this hate.

He was apparently upset because I used to wear a mask at Council meetings during and after COVID. This all happened right outside my home. This week I got an email calling me a "woke faggot" for questioning why there was fencing put up at the Salvation Army.

This summer, on two separate occasions, a well known member of the development community, harassed me in the street, the first time following me, another time yelling at me in front of dozens of people. I told him he was being a jackass and walked away.