City Hall Tug-o-War
- Joel Arndt
- 15 May 2016
How to avoid playing tug-o-war with City Hall
Walk up to a cluster of socializing entrepreneurs and small business owners from Hamilton and ask, “So how ’bout our City Hall!?”
You’re bound to get a visceral response, no matter what each person in front of you thinks about our municipal administration.
Working with City Hall has been a muddy game of tug-o-war. Entrepreneurs pile up on one side, wanting to set up shop in old vintage buildings. City Hall digs its heels in, insisting that the old regulations and bylaws that built the old buildings must be adhered to.
In all fairness, City Hall has been adding person power to the One Stop Business Centre and is slowly cleaning up licensing and zoning policies. Entrepreneurs are getting used to the fact that there is a lot of old tape wrapped around City Hall that even staff are frustrated with.
Opening five restaurants in Hamilton has forced Erin Dunham to accept some of the realities of working with City Hall. She was three restaurants into the start-up game before she realized that her presence at City Hall helped the process along.
“Be super diligent. Be the squeaky wheel,” Erin says, “Be there every day or every second day and get them the information they request as soon as you can.”
Otherwise, she warns that what should take one month could take eight months.
One of Hamilton’s longest running festivals, Festival of Friends, is a perennial success. But that isn’t without a lot of help from volunteers and a lot of conversation with City hall.
Loren Lieberman organizes the festival each year. He says nurturing a good rapport with his Councillor has made things easier. His advice to start-ups is to do the same.
“Develop a good relationship with your ward Councillor. Get them to believe in what you’re doing,” says Loren.
Although, Loren doesn’t appreciate the fact that you have to know the right people to get the right attention. This sentiment is shared throughout the business community.
Getting to know your Councillor is advice that Chris Godwalt offers as well. He opened Cafe Oranje on King Street in 2013. Chris has a long story with City Hall which includes having to install a grease trap that he’ll never use.
The short of it is, before Chris opened the cafe, he needed a permit for renovations. But an old permit to install a grease trap for the previous tenant had to be closed first. City Hall said the old permit couldn’t be closed until the grease trap was installed. Cafe Oranje has absolutely no need for a grease trap.
When Chris finished renovations, when all the inspections were passed and he paid for his business license, City Hall couldn’t tell him when he would actually receive the license. Cafe Oranje was incorporated in May of 2012. Its doors opened in August of 2013. It was licensed to do business in February 2014.
That’s the strangled version of his story. After everything Chris has been through, what is his advice for working with City Hall? Research, research, research.
“Tread carefully. Ask questions. Do what you need to do and ask forgiveness later,” he says, “That’s the best and most secure way of moving forward and I hate it, because it goes against everything that I believe in.”
“Meet with people who know what you don’t. What are the expenses, issues? What can you do ahead of time? Ask questions, then shut up and listen to answers. Go in with a spirit to listen and to learn.”
Chris often meets with new business owners, guiding them through red tape and pointing them to the right people. Like the people at the Small Business Enterprise Centre (SBEC) in City Hall. They were a “phenomenal help” to Chris as he set up shop.
The SBEC and the One Stop Business Centre help small business owners with every- thing from finding financing to permits, planning, building and zoning. Director of the One Stop Business Centre, Bill Janssen, explains the importance of doing your homework when starting a business.
“Get in [to the SBEC] early, while the business idea is developing,” he advises, “It limits the surprises along the way that slow down the process.”
For the first time in decades, working with City Hall looks less like tug-o-war. The real winners are those who drop the rope, walk over to the other side and start talking. They’re the one’s who have lasted. They haven’t always made friends, but they’ve been successful. And in this case, when one side succeeds, so does the other.
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