[ScreamingViking]

The old shoe has dropped:

Bob Bratina says he’d be ‘veteran hand at the till’ if elected mayor
Former Liberal MP, mayor and broadcaster says he’s running

https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...b-bratina.html

Teviah Moro
The Hamilton Spectator
Mon., March 28, 2022


Bob Bratina is jumping into the race to become Hamilton’s next mayor.

The former Liberal MP, who was mayor before entering federal politics, announced his plan to run for the top municipal job Monday.

He told CHML he’d be a “veteran hand at the till” for what’s shaping up to be a council with at least a few fresh faces after the Oct. 24 election.

Bratina, who was mayor from 2010 to 2014, said the “instability” that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused, including soaring gas prices, compelled him to make his announcement.

“So there are a whole lot of issues with affordability that are confronting Hamiltonians,” he told radio host and Spectator columnist Scott Radley.

Bratina touted low tax hikes during his time in local office, while landing benefits, such as the new West Harbour GO Station and new football stadium.

“If you apply the basic principles of running a household to a city, you can make sure that the money that you are spending is well spent — value for tax money.”

Bratina announces his intention to enter the race after another well-known contender, former chamber of commerce head Keanin Loomis, publicized his campaign in January.

Mayor Fred Eisenberger, who is serving the final months of his second consecutive term, has yet to say whether he’ll seek re-election.

“I have not decided at this time but I would not bet against it!” he told The Spectator via email in January.

Eisenberger, who was also mayor from 2006 to 2010, has been a steady proponent of Hamilton’s long-planned LRT project, which has $3.4 billion in federal-provincial construction dollars committed to it.

Bratina, on the other hand, announced last May he wouldn’t seek federal re-election because of the Liberal government’s decision to contribute $1.7 billion to help reboot the once-cancelled light-rail initiative.

“Well, the LRT discussion is in the hands of city council, and, as the mayor under our system, I have one vote,” he told Radley during Monday’s broadcast.

But he added, “we need to look at a Plan B in case” pressures like inflation and rising interest rates “force the government to make other decisions.”

The former broadcaster’s time as mayor was punctuated by conflict, including a council vote in 2012 to censure him over his role in a $30,000 raise for his chief of staff.

“It was a time on council of personal attacks,” he told Radley. “When we stuck to the business of the city, things worked very well.”

The first day candidates can submit nomination papers is May 2. The nomination period ends Aug. 19.