Mayor must show renewed leadership on LRT
The city’s leader should champion the cause and meet with those still wary
Almost six months after helping rally city council behind the Light Rail initiative, Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger is still not any closer to declaring a final victory on the transit file.
Eisenberger’s political heroics over those crucial ‘Seven Days in April,’ when Team LRT stared down a well-organized and entrenched opposition, undoubtedly have the makings of a great documentary on successful crisis management. However, for LRT to gain real traction in local hearts and minds — traction immune to the caprices of rogue councillors and wider political machinations — the mayor needs to demonstrate that he is just as good at crisis prevention.
Transitioning to the LRT-era is unlike any infrastructural undertaking in our city’s history. The process is loaded with challenges and potential pitfalls, the likes of which could turn what many are hoping is Hamilton’s ‘Train of Destiny’ into a crippling dysfunctional eyesore; and a permanent reminder of the costs of political shortsightedness.
We can approach this the way we did Tim Hortons Field and without much thought or nuance simply ram an 18-km train through the heart of the city. The war for LRT will have been won, but the peace, consisting of an included, informed, and inspired transit-minded citizenry, will be far from secure.
Alternatively, the mayor can turn the coming train into a much-needed city building exercise. As ‘Conductor-In-Chief,’ he, more than any other politician can incorporate all Hamiltonians into our unfolding transit revolution. He can unite communities from east to west and north to south, give residents a sense of ownership of the future, and reassurance that through it all our municipal government’s dealings remain transparent. Only then will we have a truly transformative and unassailable transit system going forward.
To accomplish this requires boldness and political initiative, but also passion reflective of a leader who not only cheers on the forces of change, but also harnesses them in a way that no citizen is excluded from important decisions on progress. Eisenberger’s problem is that he has never led in this fashion, especially on transit.
The mayor has always been more willing to serve as an associate member of Team LRT, than leading the charge as its rightful captain. Other than penning an endorsement in The Hamilton Spectator a decade after the idea for transit modernization first appeared on his desk, he has mostly weighed in from the sidelines, allowing less prominent political figures to lead. Consequently, LRT has come as far as it has not through the visionary execution of an enlightened political leader, but rather through a continuing cycle of confusion resulting in frequent political crises.
On the campaign trail next year, Eisenberger’s strategists will counter with the argument that we need a team player to see through the city’s transformation: a leader concerned neither with securing individual legacies, nor headlining LRT ribbon-cutting ceremonies. To secure their flank they’ll make sure to remind voters of the mayor’s recent crisis management record. Still, Eisenberger and his vision for the city will be exposed. The only thing more appealing to voters than a leader who can manage a crisis well, is one who knows how to avoid it altogether.
Eisenberger still has time to prove he can do both.
First, a mayoral whistle stop tour is in order. The idea is not a novel one, and while Eisenberger may dread the thought of parading around the city wearing a conductor’s hat, such a tour is long overdue. If LRT is meant to link communities, what better way to begin doing that than the Mayor visiting neighbourhoods along and beyond the proposed rail line. Over barbecue and balloons for the kids, he can provide LRT updates, seek on the ground feedback from residents, and build relationships with future riders. The message to Hamiltonians would be clear: “We’re all in this together.”
Second, Eisenberger needs to organize citizens’ committees with a media presence. More formal than barbecue and balloons, these would offer forums for substantive engagement at critical junctures in LRT’s implementation. The mayor would have a platform to directly explain his positions and concerned Hamiltonians the opportunity to effectively grill him on the record. Public accountability would be served.
Finally, the mayor must ensure that the city’s dealings with Metrolinx, the provincial agency overseeing LRT, are made fully transparent. Municipally, the need for public scrutiny does not diminish simply because the funding is coming from Queen’s Park. If anything, among Hamiltonians skeptical of freebies, it increases. A regularly updated public digital archive of all LRT communications, documented discussions and decisions would minimize the possibility of bureaucratic shortcuts and political scandals, either of which could spoil the city’s appetite for planned future phases of transit modernization.
Standing at the dawn of the LRT-era, it’s hard not to celebrate the arrival of the future. The mayor, however, now must make it work.