Including the volunteers running the forum, there was a total of about 16 people present. That number also includes three of the candidates for our ward (me, Arlene and Danya). There were 15 such forums across the City and the organizers tallied the total number of participants at 150 (see the Spec article here: http://www.thespec.com/news-story/4873081-people-s-platform-takes-shape-as-groups-across-hamilton-gather-to-debate-campaign-issues/). Two were completely unattended. That means that our forum was actually one of the larger ones, which you might expect since Dundas is generally very civic minded.
Still, it's somewhat discouraging to see that such a large effort is yielding such limited interest. To be judged a true success, I would have liked to see at least twice as many people there. With only 14 participants, we weren't even able to cover each of the six main policy categories.
The discussions we had were still very constructive and worthwhile but I'm left thinking there are still so many voices going unheard. To their credit, the people behind it remain very enthusiastic but I can't help but wonder what they would need to do to get fuller participation. Admittedly, it's a tough sell. Free time is limited and spending it indoors on a gorgeous fall day isn't everyone's first choice.
Anyhow, I did at least have a chance to take a very quick tour of Art in the Park at the Driving Park (ooh, encaustic!) when one of the organizers sent me on an errand to drum up some more participants.
Plus I also got to spend some quality time in one my favourite buildings in town: Parkside! I've said it before and I'll say it again, we have to find a way to hold onto this place - it's far too valuable to lose!
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| Love this foyer! |
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