http://www.miltoncanadianchampion.com/opinions/article/290502

DEAR EDITOR:

A few months ago I found myself really frustrated at the pace of construction on Derry Road.

As a result, I started petitioning the Region of Halton to expedite the construction of the CN Rail underpass between Bronte Road and Scott Boulevard on Derry Road. I set up a website to reach residents who wanted to e-mail their councillors to express frustration over the Region’s infrastructure plans. When I finally took the petition off-line last week, a total of 374 residents had sent e-mails via my website at http://zhamid.ca .

I’m happy to report that regional council passed the budget December 16, allocating $2.4 million for the design work to be done in 2010. The construction, subject to the future council’s vote, can start in 2012 and will take 18 months to complete. This means we may get an underpass on Derry four years sooner than it was originally planned. I would like to thank all 374 people who signed the petition. I would also like to thank Halton’s public works department staff for including the design work in the 2010 budget, Regional Councillor Colin Best for championing it, Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr for supporting it, regional council for passing it and the Champion for covering it.

The subdivisions west of the rail tracks are completely cut off. I shudder to think what would happen if there were a medical emergency and an ambulance got stuck waiting for the train to pass.

Let’s hope that we never have to find out.

ZEESHAN HAMID, MILTON

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My letter published on Aug 28th, 2009 on the Milton Canadian Champion:

DEAR EDITOR:

On August 13 our children came down with a really high fever.

It was already late, so we took them to Milton District Hospital. We ended up taking two cars so one parent could come back with a child if the other took longer to get discharged.

It was my first trip to the Milton hospital. Imagine my shock when after many hours of waiting we were handed a $28 bill for parking.

This was in the middle of the night when the entire parking lot was empty. Talk about shamelessly adding insult to injury.

Charging people for parking for emergency treatment makes no sense. First, if it is an emergency then patients do not have an option to forego treatment. There should not be a fee in place that discourages people from getting proper medical care that they require.

Secondly, in an emergency people do not have an option to take a bus or ride a bike to the hospital. They almost always have to drive in a town like Milton.

Thirdly, thanks to the pathetic nature of our wait times, patients cannot control how long they spend at the hospital. My wife was ready to leave with the kids many hours before we were actually discharged.

It’s also highly unfair for poorer patients who now have to deal with the stress of their parking charges going up as they wait to see a doctor.

Finally, I thought medical treatment was supposed to be free in Canada. It may make sense to charge for parking for non-emergency treatments to encourage alternate means of transportation, including carpooling.

But charging for parking for emergency trips is actually charging to be seen by the doctor, since at that point the patient likely has no other choice.

In my opinion this is nothing more than penalizing people for requiring emergency care. How does charging this much money in such a small town in the middle of the night for a medical emergency make sense? I can park in downtown Toronto during rush hour for less money.

I know that Ontario’s Ministry of Health does not provide funding for hospital parking lots, leaving it up to the hospital or local community.

However, as a community have we really decided that it is compassionate or fair to charge people rushing to the hospital for emergency care?

I wonder if this type of charge will encourage poorer patients to forego emergency visits altogether, resulting in their conditions getting worse. That may require an ambulance trip which actually costs many times more.

I can’t think of a single good reason for charging emergency room patients for parking.

ZEESHAN HAMID, MILTON

I got a few comments on this.  One was about being grateful that I was able to get quality care for my children (no comment on that. I have sent my complaint to the hospital on the poor care we received).  Second was about money raised from the parking charge going to a good cause.

Neither of these make good arguments (consult my posts on logic and arguments :)). The rebuttal is that the parking charge is for parking, not receiving care.  So that point is moot.  Besides, parking charge does not go into the operational cost of the hospital, which is paid by OHIP anyway.  About the second point, with that argument I should be able to charge people for entering 401 to raise money for a homeless shelter.  Afterall, who would disagree with a homeless shelter?

My letter to the editor, published in Milton Canadian Champion on July 31st, 2009:-

DEAR EDITOR:
I read Tim Foran’s column ‘Part-time council not realistic in this new ‘small city’ back in April, when he argued for a pared-down, full-time council.

I’ve been thinking about that issue for a while and must say I prefer that Milton council stay part-time, for now at least.

Town councillors make about $26,000 a year, a third of it tax-free. Compare that to the cost of full-time councillors in Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton and other cities and one realizes that Milton spends less money on all eight local councillors than larger cities spend on just a couple, especially once you include office costs, personal staff and expense accounts fulltime councillors get.

It’s cheaper, at least financially, to have part-time councillors.

Milton has one part-time councillor for about every 10,000 residents, while Mississauga has one full-time councillor for 60,000 residents. At that ratio Milton would only get one full-time councillor if a switch was made. Even if we double this, we will end up with a council size of three — the mayor and two councillors. This is hardly a representative council for a town as diverse as Milton.

In addition, it’s expensive to have full-time local councillors who do not draw their salaries from serving regional council as well. This means that Milton’s full-time local councillors should also be regional councillors. This is what cities like Burlington and Mississauga do as well. This will also put a cap of only three councillors in Milton.

Then there is the accessibility issue. I believe that one passionate part-time councillor can represent a neighbourhood of 10,000 people a lot better than a single full-time councillor representing half the town.

It also allows each part of the town to elect a councillor who understands issues and challenges faced by that area, and can therefore effectively represent that ward.

Finally, it is easier for newcomers to enter politics if their wards have 10,000 people or so. As a result, a few incumbents lose their seats in every Milton election. That is not true in larger cities like Mississauga, where incumbents win by large margins because it is so difficult to challenge them.

It may be possible to make regional councillors serve fulltime while local councillors work part-time. That may relieve some of Foran’s concerns. I’m not sure if it is necessary, but it’s a better compromise than an exclusively full-time council in a town with less than 100,000 people.

Milton will one day grow to a size where the sheer number of part-time councillors will make a smaller number of full-time councillors an attractive option. However, at less than 100,000 people, Milton is not there yet.

ZEESHAN HAMID, MILTON

My letter to the MiltonCanadianChampion, published on Jun 12, 2009:

DEAR EDITOR:

I work from home and therefore have the full flexibility of living anywhere.

I picked Milton as my home, largely due to its small-town character. Unfortunately, I’m afraid that the town is losing that charm very quickly because of taller buildings popping up all over the place.

Currently there are more than a dozen four-to-10-storey condominium apartments being planned or under construction in Milton. Heck, two 10-storey buildings are planned all the way out on Costigan Road, an otherwise low-rise area with an almost rural feel to it.

One only has to drive through Mississauga or Brampton to see what taller buildings in low-rise neighbourhoods do to the make-up of the area.

I have lived in several cities that handled high population density gracefully, without impacting the area’s appeal. While each city took a different approach, what was common in each case was each city planned its character up front and then implemented its vision well. I hope Milton will do the same.

I would like the Town to immediately pass a bylaw restricting building heights to only four stories in certain areas. The condominiums at the north-west corner of James Snow Parkway and Main Street show how condos can achieve good density while fitting well in the neighbourhood.

Thereafter, the Town should conduct proper planning to determine where taller buildings should go. These buildings should be concentrated in a small urban core and placed in a way that’s not only environmentally friendly, but is also aesthetically pleasing.

I feel that the Town has a good financial incentive to enhancing its charm. A more appealing town will attract more future residents, which is good for property values in the area and therefore good for the town’s tax-base.

I would like to see the town transform itself into a community that people pay a premium to move to, rather than a sprawl people pick temporarily because they can’t afford to live any other place in the GTA.

Milton is on the verge of transformation due to its explosive growth. We can handle it gracefully, turning Milton into a vibrant town that further enhances its current charm, or we can let the builders call all the shots, essentially making Milton indistinguishable from other communities in the GTA region.

I hope we choose the former, as the latter would destroy the town’s character forever.

ZEESHAN HAMID, MILTON