Amid concern of youth violence, Hamilton council asked to help struggling support centre

A city council concerned with youth violence in Hamilton will face a tough decision Wednesday whether or not to reconsider giving extra money to a resource centre aimed at keeping youth off the streets.

City councillors voted Tuesday not to give Good Shepherd $230,000 by the end of this year for its Notre Dame youth resource centre. The money is on top of $950,000in regular cityfunding for the program.Without it, the charity warns, the centre faces closure.

This is what we've been doing.This is what we've been talking about.- Brother Richard MacPhee, Good Shepherd Centres

Good Shepherd wantscity council to reconsider. In a year of heightened attention on youth and gang violence in Hamilton, it would be prudent, said Brother Richard MacPhee, executive director of Good Shepherd Centres.

"A lot of the reasonthat kids turn to gangs is because they don't have a place to belong," MacPhee said."If you don't give kids choices, particularly if they come from a broken family or situation where akid is on the streets, he or she is going to look for a place to belong. A place like NotreDame House is an alternative for that lifestyle."

There has been some high-profileyouth violencein Hamilton this year. ShariekDouse, 18, was shot and killed in the North End in August. That same week, an 18-year-old charged in the stabbing death of 14-year-old Jessie Clarke the year before appeared in court.

Earlier this year, two people shot at each other in broad daylight in central Hamilton, although the culprits aren't known. In September, one teenager shot another with a flare gun at a Tim Hortons near the stadium.

As a result of these incidencesand others, Mayor Fred Eisenberger convened a roundtable to talk about youth violence. Good Shepherd is part of that.

I don't thinkyou're going to find someone with a bigger heart for poverty reduction and youth. Our priorities are aligned. But the question is what other programs are we going to cut?- Coun. Matthew Green

MacPheesays this highlights why the youth resource centre needs to stay. "This is what we've been doing," he said. "This is what we've been talking about."

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The centre provides services such as meals, advocacy, recreational and therapeutic programming, and access to mental health, addiction and health services. The 20-bed Notre Dame youth shelter is not in jeopardy.

Matthew Green, a Ward 3 councillor, voted to defer the $230,000 to budget time in the spring, which Good Shepherd is too late. Green says he knowsthe program isuseful.

But Green saysNotre Dame House already gets nearly $1 million per year $750,000 in regular funding, plus $200,000 in "one-time" money since 2006 and other programs need it too.

"There are a lotof great programs in the city," he said. "This is one of them and we do fund it."

"I don't thinkyou're going to find someone with a bigger heart for poverty reduction and youth. Our priorities are aligned. But the question is what other programs are we going to cut?"

Good Shepherd got $230,000 more in 2014 because the city had a budget surplus, staff say. That's not the case this year.

Stop changing streets until LRT

Also at Wednesday's meeting, Coun.Terry Whitehead will move to temporarilystop to major changes to Hamilton's lower-city roads.

Whitehead wants to stop making design changes to streets until Metrolinx and the city havea traffic plan for light-rail transit (LRT).

About 17,000 vehicles will be diverted whenLRT construction closes King Street in 2019, Whitehead says. And "one-off" changes to local roads make it hard to plan.

He wants the city to stop "road diets" or other moves that impact traffic flow.

"If you lower the capacity now, that will only frustrate the needs of this community," he said late last month.

Photo radar, Aberdeen Avenue and more

Here's what else city council is expected to do:

• Ratify a decision to look into putting photo radaron the Red Hill Valley and Lincoln Alexander Parkways.
• Receive a letter from Mayor Charlie Luke from Norfolk County urging the province to help find a new owner for U.S. Steel if U.S. Steel Canada can't find a solution. It also asks the province to review trade agreements to make sure steel making in Canada isn't "vulnerable to predatory and unfair practices."
• Hear an update from Joe-Anne Priel, head of social services, on the Social Assistance Management System (SAMS), which hascaused turmoil among social service recipients and workerssince the province launched itlate last year.
• Ratify a decision to ask the province to remove some properties from the greenbelt and add others.
• Ratify a decision to study making Aberdeen Avenue more pedestrian and cyclist friendly in late 2016.
• Coun. Judi Partridge of Ward 15 wants toask the province and Metrolinx to expand GO bus service in Waterdown to connect riders to McMaster University and other stops around Hamilton. The village has a new GO bus dispatch facility at Clappison Corners.
• Discuss how the citysavessurveillance video and other security measures.
• Hear a motion from Mayor Fred Eisenberger around improving the city's livestreaming capacity for meetings.

The meeting is at 5 p.m. CBC Hamilton reporter Samantha Craggs will tweet during the meeting. Follow her at @SamCraggsCBC or in the window below.