How was Stoney Creek arena closure mistakenly added to mayor’s budget?
Mayor says a proposed Stoney Creek arena cut — which provoked public outcry — went against her budget instructions to staff.
Mayor Andrea Horwath says she was as “surprised” as anyone to see the closure of the Stoney Creek Arena included in the fine print of a city budget proposal — the budget she herself announced publicly a week ago.
Mayor Andrea Horwath says she was as “surprised” as anyone to see the closure of the Stoney Creek Arena included in the fine print of a city budget proposal — the budget she herself announced publicly a week ago.
Horwath told councillors at a meeting Wednesday, she found out about the unpopular proposal — which she officially nixed late Tuesday following public outcry — at the same time as the rest of council last Friday. She emphasized her budget directive to staff was “unequivocal” about not having “any kind of change” when it came to ice time or hours of use for arenas.
In an earlier statement, Horwath said the arena cut was “inappropriately embedded” in the budget proposal.
For several hours last week, some councillors — and the Hamilton Conservation Authority — were under the impression Hamilton’s popular outdoor water park Wild Waterworks would be a casualty of the city’s budget process.
But the arena is not the only apparent error to come out of this year’s contentious strong-mayor budget process. For several hours Thursday evening, some councillors — and the Hamilton Conservation Authority — were under the impression Hamilton’s popular outdoor water park Wild Waterworks would also be a casualty of the budget process.
However, apologetic city staff later called councillors to inform them the facility was not actually slated to be closed, after all. Instead, they said the water park was mistakenly added to a staff budget-cut list as a result of an “administrative error.”
Mike Zegarac, the city’s general manager of finance, apologized for the behind-the-scenes mishap at a budget meeting Friday, adding the proposed Wild Waterworks cut was not shared with the mayor because it was not meant to be adopted.
Coun. Brad Clark, who chairs the HCA board, said the error nonetheless caused a “lot of consternation” and “hours of heartache” for the conservation authority and councillors.
The budget-cut confusion prompted frustrated questions from councillors Wednesday about what the mayor knew about the “mayor’s budget.”
Downtown Coun. Cameron Kroetsch said the question he has heard from residents is, “Didn’t the mayor look at the budget before it was released publicly?”
Under contentious strong-mayor powers imposed by the province, Horwath is responsible for proposing the city’s budget.
The mayor announced her proposed tax budget last week at city hall, which included a 4.25 per cent rate hike — a reduction compared to a staff-proposed 5.5 per cent hike for the average residential taxpayer. However, specific details of many of the cuts were only made available to councillors and the public Friday.
Kroetsch said residents presume the mayor gets a copy of the budget with specific cuts related to her directive prior to its public release. So, hearing from the mayor that she only learned of the arena proposal at the same time as councillors and the public is causing confusion, he said.
Clark added in an interview, he would have expected the mayor to read the staff proposals before they came to council.
“If you, as the decision-maker, are asking for certain things to be done, then you make sure that it’s represented in the budget,” said the Stoney Creek Mountain councillor.
Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath told councillors at a meeting Wednesday she found out about the unpopular proposal to close the Stoney Creek Arena — which she officially nixed late Tuesday following public outcry — at the same time as the rest of council last Friday. She emphasized her budget directive to staff was “unequivocal” about not having “any kind of change” when it came to ice time or hours of use for arenas.
Horwath told The Spectator in an interview that she “absolutely” looked at the budget prior to it being released to the public, adding that while she gives the overarching budget directive, city staff do the work on the actual cuts. The mayor noted she rejected several proposed service cuts included in draft budgets prior to public release — including service cuts to arenas.
Coun. Matt Francis, whose ward is home to the Stoney Creek Arena, told councillors Wednesday there was “ample opportunity” for the mayor to change course earlier on the arena — but noted no comment was made for five days and it was only after “mass community pushback” that the decision was reversed.
But Horwath said upon discovering the arena’s inclusion as a proposed budget cut, she followed up with city bureaucrats privately and gave them time to address her concerns, rather than opting to immediately “cut staff off at the knees.”
In an interview, Francis said he was concerned about the budget errors. “With two mistakes like that, what else could possibly be missing now?” he said. “I think it’s a fair question to ask.”
Coun. Jeff Beattie made a motion Wednesday to have city staff compile a list of cuts that did not make it to the final report. The Stoney Creek councillor said he would like to see all potential budget-cutting scenarios considered by staff, as well as the rationale for any exclusions.
“Two have accidentally come forward — what else is back there that we could have access to?”
City manager Marnie Cluckie said staff will compile that information for a budget meeting Feb. 6.