Don't review ward boundaries, Flamborough group says

A Flamborough resident and long-time opponent ofHamilton's amalgamation says he has a petition with more than 1,000 names on it asking that the city not review its ward boundaries.

Roman Sarachman, a Freelton-area home builder, says the city's planned review will likely result in shifting the voting balance on council away from the suburbs.

Currently, there are 16 votes eight from the old city of Hamilton,seven from the surrounding areas andthe mayor. If the city redraws its boundaries to deal with population imbalances between wards something it promisedduring the 2001amalgamation to look atin 10 years it could result in more old-city wards. So Flamborough would lose out, Sarachman said.

"We're going to be totally at the mercy of the downtown councillors," said Sarachman, who is part of a group called the Committee to Free Flamborough.

It's like a bad marriage. Nothing really works and you have 100 complaints about everything.- Roman Sarachman on Hamilton's amalgamation

It's a fear some have mentioned before. The city is hiring a consultant to map out the boundary review process now. And while most agree it won't just be solelybased on population, Flamborough wards have far fewer electors than some urban wards.

In Ward 14, for example, there were 17,634 people in 2011. In Ward 7 on the Mountain, there were 62,179.

And the urban/suburban voting divide has also been in play in recent decisions, such as whether to have a panel investigate area rating and transit. Even the vote to receive the plan to have a ward boundary review failed on an 8-8 tie.

But Coun. Judi Partridge of Ward 15 says a ward boundary review wouldn't necessarily upset the balance.

• City moves ahead on ward boundary review

"Looking at it doesn't mean that it's going to change," she said. "In any discussion we've had, there's been no appetite to go down that road."

Still, residents are worried about what a review means, she said.

"They get upset because they think it means they're going to lose one of their councillors."

Partridge and Coun. Rob Pasuta, who represents Ward 14, say they're not sure if they'll use the petition as a chance to present a motion.

"I haven't seen the petition so I don't know what we're dealing with," Partridgesaid.

Sarachman says his petition has 1,034 signatures. Another petition with a thousand signatures asks Mayor Fred Eisenberger and the province to review amalgamation.

Amalgamation has hurt Flamborough, Sarachman said. His group has surveyed people every five years, he said, and people are still unhappy with Hamilton's merger. He also points to the deamalgamation of some Quebec municipalities about nine years ago as what is possible.

There are a lot of reasons why amalgamationhasn't worked, he said."It's like a bad marriage. Nothing really works and you have 100 complaints about everything."

Partridge says it's time to move on.Those who want to revisit it "have never brought forward any kind of financial analysis," she said. "But the other point is it's not our decision. We don't have the authority."

Sarachman will present the report at a general issues committee meeting next Wednesday.