THE TWO MAYORAL MAJORS

Who is Vito Sgro?

The 53-year-old bachelor lives downtown and describes himself as the proud son of hard-working Italian immigrants and a Cardinal Newman graduate. He has two University of Western Ontario bachelor degrees in science and business.

The longtime accountant and one-time Revenue Canada auditor has also served on the boards of the Hamilton Port Authority and Infrastructure Ontario.

The latter role earned him some chatter thanks to the agency’s involvement in the construction of a long-delayed, problem-plagued stadium. Sgro is a longtime Liberal campaign organizer. Most recently, Sgro helped manage former city mayor Bob Bratina’s successful campaign to become MP for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek.

Who is Fred Eisenberger?

The 66-year-old is married with two children and a grandchild. He was born in Amsterdam and immigrated with his family to Hamilton when he was eight.

He is a Mohawk College graduate and has studied urban planning at both McMaster University and the University of Waterloo. Eisenberger served three times as alderman in preamalgamation Ward 5 and two terms as mayor, separated by a loss in 2010 that some blamed on a divisive battle over where to site a new football stadium.

He has also worked as a lobbyist and for the Canadian Urban Institute and served on the board of the Hamilton Port Authority.