2014 Mayoral Election
 

Who’s going to take on Bratina?
By Andrew Dreschel

Mayor Bob Bratina’s recent musings about seeking a second term of office have jump-started rumours about who may take a stab at unseating him.

Though there are still two and half years to go before the 2014 municipal election, the community and City Hall are already buzzing with speculation.

Some of the high-profile names to surface who are not members of city council include former Liberal MPPs Marie Bountrogianni and Sophia Aggelonitis, both ex-cabinet ministers and esteemed for their personable brand of politics.

Richard Koroscil, the recently retired president and CEO of Hamilton airport, is also being bruited around as a possible candidate.

Koroscil, a former chair of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, is currently a director of Metrolinx, the provincial organization that manages transit planning for the Toronto-Hamilton area.

But the name heard loudest and most persistently is Mark Chamberlain.

Chamberlain, an award-winning entrepreneur and businessman, is a highly regarded community leader known for his commitment to social causes, including poverty reduction and job creation.

This is not the first time Chamberlain has been seen as possible mayoral material. The same happened during the unsteady early days of Fred Eisenberger’s administration.

His response to the latest round of rumours is more or less the same as back then.

“It’s not on my radar right now. It’s something I haven’t given any thought to at this stage,” says Chamberlain.

“There are too many other urgent and immediate things on my plate to focus on.”

You can read what you will into qualifiers like “right now” and “at this stage.”

That takes us to City Hall where councillors Chad Collins, Lloyd Ferguson, Tom Jackson and Terry Whitehead are all part of the mayoral scuttlebutt — much as they were during the Eisenberger years.

Of the four, it’s probably safe to say that Ferguson and Collins are giving it serious consideration, though both are playing it cool.

http://www.thespec.com/news/local/ar...ake-on-bratina

Today's Spec poll

Since Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratina publicly mused about running for a second term in 2014, the local rumour mill has been churning about who else might run for the job. It's very early - two-and-a-half years remain the current term. But of the following people being mentioned, who do you think would be the best candidate? Read the column ttp://tinyurl.com/7sycmv9 and take our poll.

• Councillor Terry Whitehead
• Councillor Tom Jackson
• Councillor Lloyd Ferguson
• Councillor Chad Collins
• Former Liberal MPP Sophia Aggelonitis
• Former Liberal MPP Marie Bountrogianni
• Recently retired airport CEO Richard Koroscil
• Entrepreneur and philanthropist Mark Chamberlain

http://www.thespec.com/

A female Mayor would be good, I'd pick Bountrogianni over Aggelonitis. But if we can't break the political glass ceiling than Mark Chamberlain would be ideal.

Chamberlain would be infinitely better than Aggelonitis or Bountrogianni. I doubt he would want the hassle unfortunately.

Put me down for Chamberlain or Collins.

I've got the feeling that a decent candidate will knock-off Bratina without too much difficulty.

Otherwise, I don't have much of an opinion on any of those individuals at this time. We'll just have to see how things play out over the coming months.

While i have a certain admiration for Chamberlain for what he has achieving for the city vis-a-vis Trivaris at MIP, I can't shake the feeling that he is a bit of a poverty carpet-bagger. Regardless, I certainly appreciate his commitment to the betterment of the city. I think neither he nor the city could afford to have him leave the role he holds now.

A candidacy by Aggelonitis or Bountrogianni is entirely dependent on the results of the next provincial election, almost certain to happen before the next municipal election (mind you, Horwath seems to have settled comfortably into the role of McGuinty's lapdog so that minority may last longer than I originally thought).

The Hamilton Magazine Weekly Poll is a fun one this week: Who would you rather have as Mayor, Bob (Bratina) or Rob (Ford)...So far, 55% are in favour of Bob over Rob!

You can vote here: www.hamiltonmagazine.com

Even though it's just an internet poll, it's a bit disconcerting that Rob Ford has 46.88% support at this moment.

^I like his rosey complexion and jolly demeanour.

McMeekin hints at mayoral run
Andrew Dreschel

http://www.thespec.com/opinion/colum...at-mayoral-run


Ted McMeekin for mayor.

The Liberal MPP roars with laughter when I ask if it’s true, as an anonymous source told me, that he intends to run in 2014.

Then he draws breath and becomes serious.

“I really miss the municipal scene and I would never rule anything out.”

McMeekin, ex-mayor of the former town of Flamborough, hastened to add that he loves his current job as minister of agriculture and rural affairs.

But he says not a day goes by that he’s not encouraged by somebody to consider running for mayor.

“I’ve had hundreds of people ask me, anecdotally and in passing.”

Nothing If Not Consistent
 

With just 572 days to go before 2014 nominations open, I imagine we can look forward to a new council that's at least 75% identical to the one we have... possibly upwards of 85% identical. (Provided that they have sufficient starpower, an external candidate for the top spot would potentially only convince uppity councillors to cling to their seats.)

Dreshel has to give up on doing anything he can to derail Bratina. The election is years away and he won a huge victory, every ward but two went to Bratina. I see him winning again. The only councillor I'd like to see as mayor is Lloyd Ferguson.

DiIanni should run against Whitehead, that's the ward he won. A good pocket of Italian population and whenever I see Whitehead at Westcliffe Mall he's lucky if he has a 70-year old bored senior giving him an earful.

Bratina is gonna need more than a platform/shmatform if he's going to woo back any voters.

Take a look at this map.

Ward 2 didn't vote for him. ie, the only ward that had any experience with him voted for him. He beat a previous mayor that had lost once before, and an incumbent that was in the middle of a very public, very long fight with the Ti-Cats.

Bratina lost in three wards. Eight of the wards, he won with 39% or less of the vote. While he won handily, I wouldn't call that a "huge victory."

Add in (ugh) PeggyGate, how he's been talking in the media, a censure from council, and an inability to get anything passed, I think he'll have a difficult time in 2014.

ok I got it wrong, Bratina only won 12 of 15 wards. DiIanni won his home ward and 8. Fred won the NDP stronghold with the promise that he will increase their home values with a WH stadium.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...bratinamap.jpg

Bratina was a late comer and took on two incumbents. A decent win. He will likely win again.

Bratina got a huge win.... from almost all parts of the city.

Chretien won a majority twice with just 35% and 38% of the popular vote. there has only been 2 Prime Ministers that ever won over 50% of the vote, Dieffenbaker and Mulroney.

Eisenberger on the move

By Andrew Dreschel
http://www.thespec.com/opinion/colum...er-on-the-move

Fred Eisenberger is calling it quits.

In a surprise move, the former Hamilton mayor is stepping down as president and CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute (CUI) at the end of the year.

Eisenberger only started with the Toronto-based not-for-profit think tank in early 2011, shortly after losing his bid for re-election to Bob Bratina.

He has no immediate plans for new employment, but hasn’t ruled out running for elected office again, including mayor in 2014.

“It’s not something I’m planning on, but it’s certainly not something I’m discounting either.