Neighbourhood crusaders stand up

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Speaking out at city hall meeting tonight
By Deirdre Healey
The Hamilton Spectator(May 30, 2006)
At first glance, you would never think Jim Howlett has gone toe-to-toe with political giants and won.

He is a 45-year-old mechanic, whose hands are stained black from decades of building race car engines in his back yard machine shop.

The father of three owns a suit, but is more comfortable in sneakers and shorts.

And he loves to talk and crack jokes, often at his own expense.

But his soft exterior changes when it comes to standing up for his Hamilton beach neighbourhood.

Over the two decades he has lived along Beach Boulevard, Howlett has led dozens of battles against industrial mammoths, city officials and even the federal government.

He is president of the Beach Preservation Committee, and his neighbourhood is like his fourth child. He sees it as vulnerable and in need of protection. But like a proud father, he is also quick to acknowledge its potential and accomplishments.

"When I moved here, it was apparently thought of as Hamilton's worst community, a place with lots of violent crime, where you never wanted your kids to go," he said. "But I thought it was misnamed. I thought it had lots of potential and I wanted to be a part of that."

Howlett is one of five neighbourhood crusaders who will have the chance to share their accomplishments and future challenges at tonight's City Hall meeting.

These are the ordinary people who have dedicated their spare moments to rallying neighbours and lobbying politicians, because they are passionate about making their communities better places.

"A lot of people don't take the time to get involved, but these people have an issue, follow it through and see they can effect change," said Ben Ciprietti, a Burlington councillor in the 1970s who co-wrote a book at the time aimed at helping residents create change at the municipal level.

"People are most affected by what happens at the municipal level and communities need these people," he said.

Howlett has trouble at first explaining why he sacrifices so much of his personal life for his neighbourhood.

All he can come up with is "it's the right thing to do."

His answer continues after looking around at the homes surrounding his.

"Some people here have pretty tough-looking houses, but they are really good neighbours," he said. "If something were to happen in the middle of the night, you could call your neighbour and they would be there."

It's that sense of community that motivates Howlett to attend three meetings a week, after working 18-hour days in his machine shop.

Ann Buckle is another crusader who has devoted countless hours meeting with city councillors, neighbours and government officials, to make her North End neighbourhood a better place.

She moved to the area 10 years ago and fell in love with it despite the constant acts of vandalism and the break-ins happening in the lower-income area.

Like Howlett, she saw potential in the waterfront neighbourhood and between her full-time job she worked to curb the crime by lobbying for a stronger police presence.

While members of the North End Neighbourhood Association have changed over the years because of a transient population, Buckle has stayed.

She has spent the last four years fighting to keep heavy traffic out of the residential area to protect the many children who play there.

"I get a lot of personal satisfaction out of it," Buckle said. "I was raised to leave things better than you found them."

At age 60, Jerry Polmanter has dedicated almost half his life to working for positive change to his north east neighbourhood.

He moved to the area in 1977 to enrol his four-year-old daughter in one of the few junior kindergarten classes offered in the city and immediately got involved with the local neighbourhood group.

He helped develop programs for children to keep them busy and out of trouble.

While his children are now grown, Polmanter has become more involved than ever and is now chair of the Keith Neighbourhood Renewal Project.

"When you see the looks on the children's faces, when they are enjoying the programs, it makes all the hard work worth it."

dhealey@thespec.com

905-526-3468

Beach home to eclectic mix of rich, poor

The Beach Preservation Committee's biggest success is that it exists at all.

Once upon a time, well-meaning bureaucrats decided the best thing for the sand spit between the Burlington Ship Canal and Woodward Avenue was to move the people out.

Expropriate. Turn it into park.

That idea died in the late '70s and the beach has been rebounding since.

"We're still here," says Jim Howlett, president of the citizens' committee.

About 1,600 residents call the beach home, says Howlett. It's an eclectic mix of artists, Bay Street brokers, sailors, working poor, retirees and others.

"We're getting a lot of interest from Toronto folks wanting to come down" he said.

Now the residents' major concerns are air pollution and toxic soil left on the harbour side of the land after dredging years ago. They want removal and remediation to modern standards.

John Burman, The Hamilton Spectator

Photo #1-Barry Gray, the Hamilton Spectator
Jim Howlett has helped transform his beach neighbourhood into a community of caring, sharing citizens.
 
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