MUNICIPAL ELECTION
As the city prepares for the Oct. 22 vote, we reflect on Hamilton’s past mayors and legacies
1982 — 2000 Bob Morrow
After serving as mayor for 18 years, Morrow was defeated in 2000 by then-Ancaster Mayor Bob Wade in a stunning upset.
The loss was unexpected. In previous elections, Morrow had won handily, often winning in excess of 75 per cent of the vote. But the 2000 election was the first time Hamiltonians had voted as a new, amalgamated “megacity,” which saw a complete overhaul of the local governance structure. While Morrow took the old City of Hamilton, he did not win the newly amalgamated boroughs.
Morrow, who remains one of Hamilton’s most beloved mayors, was the leader who signed the historic deal with the Hamilton Harbour Commissioners to reclaim parts of the waterfront lands (a legacy that still reverberates today). He was also fined $5,000 after the Ontario Human Rights Commission ruled he discriminated against the LBGTQ+ community by refusing to proclaim Hamilton’s first Gay Pride Day in 1991.
Morrow died on Feb. 5, 2018.
2000 — 2003 Robert Wade
First elected to Ancaster Town council in 1978, Wade served as mayor of the Town of Ancaster for 16 years before becoming the first mayor of the newly amalgamated city of Hamilton.
Wade was not regarded as an especially flashy or charismatic mayor. However, he was also beloved for his steady leadership, political decency and trustworthiness. He navigated the urban-suburban postamalgamation squabbles around the council table and stickhandled several major events around the city, including the World Cycling Championships and a visit from the Queen.
Wade stepped aside after three years in the mayor’s chair, retiring from local politics after more than 25 years.
2003 — 2006 Larry Di Ianni
After serving two decades as Stoney Creek councillor, Di Ianni took the mayor’s chair against his primary rival, NDP MP David Christopherson. Di Ianni won with wide support across the city with a campaign that championed several high-profile issues, most notably the endorsement of the Red Hill Valley Parkway, winning 52 per cent of the vote compared to Christopherson’s 39 per cent.
Despite a strong track record as mayor, Di Ianni’s run for reelection was grievously hurt by scandals. Just months before the 2006 vote, he plead guilty to six offences under the Municipal Elections Act relating to errors in his campaign donations in 2003. By association, Di Ianni was also tainted by an OPP investigation into the city’s licensing department (which focused on unfounded allegations that Ward 4 Coun. Sam Merulla took a bribe from an Ottawa Street North bar owner to get a licence approved).
When voters went to the polls on Nov. 13, 2006, Di Ianni ended up losing the mayoralty to Fred Eisenberger by only 452 votes.
2006 — 2010 Fred Eisenberger
Eisenberger’s first term as mayor was mixed. There were successes — including hiring an integrity commissioner, investing an extra $1.5 million in economic development and saving the Lister Block.
But it was the Pan Am stadium negotiations that became Eisenberger’s Achilles heel. Eisenberger’s insistence that the west harbour should be the site of the Pan Am stadium was largely blamed for his 2010 defeat, especially after he refused to negotiate with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and occasionally, the provincial and federal governments.
2010 — 2014 Bob Bratina
Bratina — an unpredictable, lonewolf presence on city council — won a tight three-way race against former mayors Eisenberger and Di Ianni in 2010. His mayoralty, which came at a time of economic and cultural growth for the city, was nonetheless punctuated by conflicts: he is the only mayor in Hamilton’s history to be censured by council, for lying about who initiated his chief of staff’s $30,000 raise. In another integrity investigation, Bratina was cleared of bullying allegations against then-city manager Chris Murray.
Bratina decided not to run for a second term in 2014, choosing instead to run successfully for the federal Liberals in Hamilton East-Stoney Creek (a position he still holds). Reflecting on his four-year tenure as mayor in 2014, Bratina was confident that he could have snagged another term. Had he run, he told The Spec, he “probably would have won as mayor again.”
2014 — present Fred Eisenberger
In 2014, Eisenberger defeated his council colleagues Brad Clark and Brian McHattie, wining a second chance at the city’s top job.
During the 2014 campaign, Eisenberger carved out a middle ground on LRT, which became — and remains — a wedge issue. While Clark opposed LRT and McHattie supported it, Eisenberger took a middle-of-the-road stance stating he would strike a citizens’ panel to study the city’s transit options. While his critics accused him of leading a mushy, policy-weak campaign, the move was ultimately successful: Eisenberger won with 40 per cent of the vote.
Since his 2014 win, however, Eisenberger has become a champion for LRT around the council table. His major rival in 2018, Vito Sgro, opposes the multibillion-dollar project — making October’s election somewhat of a referendum on not only Eisenberger’s mayoral performance, but once again, on LRT.