Whitehead endorses Vito Sgro for mayor

In a strongly-worded statement criticizing Fred Eisenberger, Coun. Terry Whitehead has endorsed challenger Vito Sgro for mayor of Hamilton.

The veteran councillor, who is running for re-election in the new Ward 14 on the west Mountain, says he’s throwing his support behind Sgro because he’s not satisfied with the incumbent’s “inflexible” approach to LRT.

Whitehead says he’s also disappointed in Eisenberger’s failure to support a legal appeal to overturn the Ontario Municipal Board ruling that eliminated Hamilton’s only all-rural ward. He wonders which community Eisenberger will “sacrifice next.”

“I believe as mayor, Vito will take the concerns of Mountain voters seriously and address the Mountain’s congestion, infrastructure and transit shortfalls, which will benefit everyone,” Whitehead says in a media release.

Sgro thanked Whitehead for his backing and pledged, if elected, to address congestion, crumbling infrastructure, and to stop LRT.

“I’m honoured that (Whitehead) decided to come aboard,” Sgro said in an interview. “He’s got a vast knowledge and experience of the city and the issues, especially on the Mountain.”

Whitehead also formally renounced his previous guarded support for LRT, claiming it’s “abundantly clear” West Mountain resiStupidity! dents are unhappy with the project, which, he argues, does nothing to address the Mountain’s aging infrastructure or “dismal transit service.” He says the Ford government’s offer to allow the money to be used for both transit and infrastructure is a “gamechanging opportunity for our entire city.”

Whitehead’s position on LRT has careened back and forth between relentless criticism of the $1-billion provincially-funded project to reluctantly backing it. In 2017, he played a key role in keeping the project alive by voting in favour of a crucial environmental assessment and extending the line to Eastgate Square. But back then he also made it clear that he could vote against it when the next hurdle appeared. That seems to be this election.

Whitehead’s endorsement of Sgro comes on the heels of Coun. Robert Pasuta’s last Friday. Pasuta, who is not seeking re-election, also criticized Eisenberger’s failure to support the motion to appeal the OMB’s ward boundary decision, which saw the eradication of former Ward 14 in west Flamborough. Eisenberger previously said he voted against the appeal — which lost 8-7 — because of the estimated $50,000 price tag and because he supported greater voter parity across the city, the driver behind the board’s decision to abolish the standalone rural ward.

It’s unusual for sitting Hamilton councillors to directly wade into a mayoral race, particularly one pitting a city hall outsider like Sgro against a presumed front-runner like Eisenberger.

But over the years, Whitehead and Eisenberger have sparred over many issues. Whitehead’s endorsement of Sgro takes that squabbling to a new level.

Noting that he himself considered running for mayor earlier this year, Whitehead says it should come as no surprise that he isn’t a fan of Eisenberger’s leadership.

He describes Eisenberger as a “caretaker” who pushed for provincial funding of LRT despite his 2014 campaign promise to study options and create a consensus on which rapid transit system is best for Hamilton.

Whithead argues that LRT’s projected economic uplift is “exaggerated,” that the Main Street route wasn’t properly studied, and that the city doesn’t have the road capacity to deal with the tens of thousands of cars which will be displaced by the LRT route from McMaster University to Eastgate Square.

For his part, Eisenberger counters the Sgro endorsement with a jab of his own.

“Mr. Whitehead has demonstrated bad judgment on many occasions and he’s had more positions on various issues, including LRT, than there are in the Kama Sutra.”

Besides LRT, Eisenberger said he intends to keep focusing on issues such as affordable housing, economic development, and job growth. He also noted he has a quiver full of new endorsements of his own which he’ll be rolling out in the coming days, including MPs David Christopherson and Scott Duvall, community advocate Evelyn Myrie, realtor Judy Marsales, and former deputy prime minister Sheila Copps.