A number of big decisions will be facing Hamilton City Councillors, when they resume meetings following March Break.
City Manager Hire
That includes the hiring of Hamilton’s new city manager with a recommendation going before the general issues committee next Wednesday.
Mayor Fred Eisenberger still isn’t saying how many people applied for the job, but he says the successful individual came out on top of a “good slew of candidates.”
Eisenberger adds that it was about 50/50 in terms of male/female and internal/external candidates.
Red Hill Valley Parkway External Review
A decision is also expected Wednesday about an independent external review into the withholding of a 2013 safety study that raised concerns about “friction” on the Red Hill Valley Parkway.
Several families who have lost loved ones in crashes on the highway have joined the provincial New Democrats (NDP) in demanding that review take the form of a judicial inquiry.
Opioid Crisis
Also next week, Hamilton’s Board of Health will be asked to further support efforts to establish a permanent safe injection site.
Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre on Rebecca Street operates a temporary site and has applied to the province for a permanent facility.
There were 60 Opioid-related deaths during the first half of 2018 in Hamilton, 28 per cent higher than during the
same period last year in 2017.
A motion is before the board of health that would direct the city’s medical officer of health to apply to the Ministry of Health
and Long-Term Care for approval to operate the permanent consumption and treatment site, and for full provincial funding of the capital and operating costs.