HWDSB has jumped the shark

After reading about the plight of Grade 12 Hill Park student Brett Bailey, I’m convinced the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, and their politically correct staff, have finally jumped the shark, like Fonzi did on that old television show.
More galling is the fact that Brett, by all accounts a hard working young man, has been employed at his father’s restaurant, Hillbilly Heaven, for quite some time already, and he has a right to get credit for co-op work placement as is required by the school board in order for Brett to graduate from high school.
The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board should give their heads a shake and reverse their politically correct decision against this work placement and get back to doing something for the students they are mandated to serve, instead of playing political games — using hard-working students like Brett Bailey — as their political pawns, in their make-believe war on racism.
Mark-Alan Whittle
Hamilton Mountain

HWDSB has jumped the shark

Automatic shovelling tool

Re “I don’t need to watch television on my refrigerator” (Jan. 29)

Connie Woodcock is waiting for a smart, automatic device that can shovel her driveway. Don’t most husbands automatically shovel their driveways whenever their wives asks them to, thereby making most husbands “smart” appliances, and useful to have around? They can be traded in too.

Mark-Alan Whittle, Hamilton

(Glen’s a classic model, but doesn’t always respond to Connie’s voice commands)

City spending is on unsustainable path

re: State of the city address

Hamilton city council has a spending problem, no doubt about it. More telling is the amount of accumulated debt, which is $355 million for 2011, and will be $745 million for 2012 and will reach $1,042 billion by 2020.

This is unsustainable, given our shrinking property tax base. This year, over 14,000 Hamiltonians are collecting social service payments and another 14,000 are collecting ODSP. This too, is unsustainable.

On top of all this, council is still in the entertainment business, that cost property tax payers millions to bail out this year, due to mistakes made by the brain trust charged with running the three entities that make up HECFI.

Obviously this is not sustainable, no matter how much tax money is poured down a black hole. Even the city council live feed hardly ever works properly, despite the vast improvements in technology we have grown used to over the last 10 years.

Having lived in Hamilton most of my adult life, I can honestly say I’m not impressed with this council, compared to all the other I have observed over the years. Hopefully other fed up taxpayers have long memories and will say so at the ballot box in 2014.

Mark-Alan Whittle
Hamilton Mountain