Over the past few years, Hamiltonians have seen a number of high-profile and extremely expensive mistakes come out of city hall.

There was Sewergate, the Red Hill Creek asphalt situation and the cyber attack. Now we've seen the auditor general issue a scathing report about the tiny homes fiasco that saw the project go way over budget.

How is this happening again and again? What's going on at city hall that this could happen?

Fred Eisenberger was a city councillor and mayor. He's seen behind the curtain and knows how things work, what checks and balances are in place and how staff works with elected officials.

Cities are huge, complicated corporations and mistakes will happen, he says. It's inevitable.

But when they do, how much of the weight of these costly errors should be carried by council?

"All of it," he says.

And in a strong-mayor-power world where the wearer of the chain of office has unique clout, should the buck ultimately stop with him or her?

"Absolutely."

A decade after the Tim Bosma trial, the story continues to horrify and fascinate those in Hamilton who lived through it and followed the case.

The tragedy is self-explanatory. A young husband and father took his truck for a test drive with a couple of guys who said they were interested in buying it. But he never came home - they murdered him instead.

When news of the other actions of the perpetrators came out, it somehow made an already ghastly story even worse.

Ten years after the trial, Hamilton Spectator columnist Susan Clairmont – who wrote a piece in the paper looking back at the tale and the participants – joins Placeline Hamilton to talk about the whole thing.

She also answers some questions about what's happened since that you probably haven't heard before.

The Art Gallery of Hamilton will soon be expanding to allow for more of its huge collection to be displayed regularly. Its collection is the third-largest in Ontario and worth more than $1 billion.

That will likely be a surprise to many around here.

Everyone is familiar with the McMichael Gallery and the Art Gallery of Ontario. Yet somehow the AGH in our own backyard has flown largely under the radar.

Shelley Falconer is CEO of the gallery. Why does she think getting Hamiltonians to become aware of their own gallery has been so challenging?

She talks about that, and more, on this episode of Placeline Hamilton.

When the Professional Women's Hockey League brought its Takeover Tour to Hamilton and nearly filled TD Coliseum, a conversation-slash-debate was launched.

Oak View Group, which manages the renovated building, has said it will be bringing a hockey team to town. The American Hockey League has always been mentioned. But some now wonder if the PWHL is a better fit.

What is the ideal scenario for Hamilton?

It comes down to a discussion on a number of points. Men's hockey vs. women's hockey. More dates vs. fewer dates. Ticket prices. Which would feel more meaningful to local fans? And on and on and on …

Teri Pecoskie is now managing editor of The Spectator but she covered hockey in town for years prior to that. Don Robertson runs the Dundas Real McCoys but has been involved in all levels of the game in this city over the years.

They join Placeline Hamilton to talk about the future of the game here.

It's been roughly three months since Rob Cooper was elected and sworn in as a member of Hamilton city council. That made this the perfect time to chat with him about figuring out how to navigate city hall and talk about the things that frustrate him in his new role.

(Hint: at the top of the list is strong-mayor powers)

A few more months from now, everything will be old hat to him. Right now, though, the gig is fresh and the eye-opening has just begun. So what are those things that he feels he can do to make a difference and where does he feel his power has been taken from him?

Everybody has a favourite Christmas gift (or Hanukkah, or some other celebration ... we're not leaving anyone out here).

So, we here at Placeline Hamilton asked a number of well-known Hamiltonians about their favourite of all time. Listen as they explain why they remember that gift - in many cases, many years later.

Year after year, EQAO scores show our kids are having a tough time with math. It's a vexing problem for schools and a concerning one for these students' futures.

By why is it such an issue? Who's to blame? Is it fixable?

Vanessa Vakharia (aka: The Math Guru) is one of Ontario's best math tutors. She talks about what's going on and what can be done. If you're a parent of a kid in school, you're going to want to hear this one.

There are plenty of opinions about what's going on in Hamilton and down at city hall. Placeline Hamilton is a place where you'll hear a variety of them. Including this episode.

Kojo Damptey is an instructor at McMaster, an activist in the local community, a musician and has been a political candidate.

With the early draft of the city budget set to be released, he talks about his thoughts on taxes, spending, council, the mayor and even battles between the left and the right. And whether real solutions for the city's problems can be achieved with a council has philosophically divided as the current one seems to be.

This is a huge week for soccer.

On Friday, the World Cup draw will be held. It'll determine not only who has a tougher or easier run to a championship, but also who Canada will play. This is particularly intriguing to those around here, since a number of games will be played just down the road in Toronto.

On this episode of Placeline Hamilton, Canadian soccer Hall of Famer John McGrane chats about the incredible price of tickets, whether the reported $380-million price tag to co-host is worth it, the impact on soccer in this area - and how much you might make if Canada was to host Italy in the first game in Toronto and you had a ticket you wanted to sell.

The reviews were almost unanimously positive when Paul McCartney re-opened the renovated TD Coliseum the other day. People loved the concert and people seemed to really like the re-imagined building.

But that's just the start.

It's long been argued that this facility is supposed to be a catalyst that will bring the entire downtown back to life. It'll be the thing that leads to cleanup and spawns development.

Can that really happen?

Lou Frapporti of the Hamilton Urban Precinct Entertainment Group (HUPEG), which is part of the private-sector consortium behind the renovation that has pitched this vision for years now, answers that question on this episode of Placeline Hamilton. Unsurprisingly (spoiler alert), he says, yes.

How?

The answer - part of it, at least - is laid out in the conversation.