Posted Nov 30, 2009, 12:20 PM
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It's Hammer Time
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Hamilton
Posts: 19,884
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Ferguson ponders running for mayor
Andrew Dreschel
Ancaster councillor Lloyd Ferguson is considering running against Mayor Fred Eisenberger in next year’s municipal election.
“I’m getting — and I have for a while now — incredible pressure to run,” says Ferguson.
“I haven’t made a final decision yet. I’m still wrestling with it.”
Ferguson is the first person with a high-profile to publicly say he’s thinking of challenging Eisenberger, who has already said he intends to seek a second term.
“I think Fred is growing into the job,” Ferguson says.
“But sometimes you have to get tough and his style is always to try to get a consensus.”
Ferguson, 59, hasn’t set a deadline for making a decision, but he wants to let his “inner team” know as soon as possible.
He says they’re urging him to start polling to test public opinion.
Candidates can start registering for the fall 2010 election in January.
To conduct a citywide campaign, Ferguson figures he’ll need to commit and get rolling by spring.
East Mountain Councillor Tom Jackson is the only other incumbent routinely rumoured to be a possible mayoral candidate.
But Jackson is playing his cards close.
“I’m being encouraged to run,” says Jackson. “I’m humbled and flattered by it. But at this time I’m not thinking beyond representing Ward 6.”
Ferguson has represented Ancaster’s Ward 12 since 2006, when he replaced his brother, Murray, who was sidelined by a stroke while in office.
Before that, he was the general manager of Dufferin Construction where he was responsible for a $350-million budget and managing some 850 employees.
Ferguson says he’s being encouraged to run by various sectors, especially the business community.
If he does throw his hat in the ring, he’ll campaign on bringing a business perspective to running the city.
“The two biggest problems this city has right now is image and lack of employers. I would really make that my central focus — to attract businesses to invest in Hamilton.”
Ferguson would unquestionably bring considerable assets to the mayoral race. The Fergusons are, after all, something of a political dynasty in Ancaster and the name would likely carry weight throughout neighbouring Dundas and Flamborough.
Ferguson himself was a councillor in the former municipality of Ancaster from 1984 to 1994 and a Wentworth school trustee before that.
His late father, Walter, was town reeve for many years and his late mother, Barbara, was an Ancaster councillor for 13 years.
Brother Murray’s record of public service includes two terms with the former Ancaster council before amalgamation and two terms with Hamilton council.
Ferguson’s business sense is certainly respected by his council colleagues.
Some suggest he’d be good at creating a corporate-friendly culture and streamlining bureaucracy at City Hall .
One councillor suggests Ferguson, who is increasingly frustrated by council shenanigans, might bring more order and decorum to the table.
But it’s also noted he can be testy when issues don’t go his way and he hasn’t grown sensitive to environmental and inner-city social issues like Murray did .
With the luxury of a good pension from Dufferin, Ferguson doesn’t need a job like career politicians do.
That means though he enjoys representing Ancaster as a councillor, he can afford to take the calculated gamble of running for mayor without worrying about income if he loses He admits he’s meeting strong resistance from his wife, Martha, who is also a key adviser. She wants him to slow down, not speed up.
“But that’s not my style,” says Ferguson. “I always say her idea of a perfect day is to do nothing. That’s my idea of the worst day.”
Whether he takes the mayoral leap or not, for the sake of choice, it’s good to see somebody openly shaking the bushes.
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