Councillors vote against letter for 2030 games bid

The city is poised to pull the plug on a prospective centennial Commonwealth Games bid even before seeing what it would cost.

Councillors on Wednesday narrowly voted against a staff suggestion to send a “non-binding” letter of interest in hosting the 100th anniversary of the international games, which were first held in Hamilton as the British Empire Games in 1930.

City staff had proposed studying the costs and benefits of hosting the event — which typically costs about $1 billion shared by various levels of government — and reporting back to council with hard numbers next year.

Councillors voted 7-6 against the study. But the final decision remains up in the air because three council members were missing for Wednesday’s vote — including mayor and games supporter Fred Eisenberger.

Opposition to the games was led by Coun. Sam Merulla, who repeatedly invoked memories of the Pan Am Games in 2015 and the “stadium fiasco” in urging colleagues to avoid the “distraction” of another major Games bid.

Merulla argued the city must focus on priorities like paying to fix crumbling infrastructure.

Coun. Terry Whitehead, on the other hand, argued the games could be a way to leverage needed infrastructure funding from the provincial and federal governments.

“This is about transportation and housing (funding),” he said.

Whitehead urged council to at least study the issue before making a decision. “We’re just asking for the facts.”

Council will vote next Wednesday on whether to ratify the decision.