| Fred Eisenberger | |
|---|---|
| Mayor Eisenberger in 2008 | |
| Mayor of Hamilton, Ontario | |
| In office December 1, 2006 – November 30, 2010 |
|
| Preceded by | Larry Di Ianni |
| Succeeded by | Bob Bratina |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1952 (age 59–60) Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Spouse(s) | Diane Girouard |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Fred Eisenberger (born 1952) is a Canadian politician. He is a former mayor of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, having been elected to the position on November 13, 2006. The margin of victory over incumbent Larry Di Ianni was a mere 452 votes in one of the closest races in Hamilton's history. He served as chair of the Hamilton Port Authority prior to his election in 2006.[1]
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Born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, he emigrated with his family to Canada when he was eight years old. He attended Sir Winston Churchill School in Hamilton. He graduated with honours from Mohawk College. He has also taken courses at the University of Waterloo and McMaster University.
Eisenberger spent three terms as one of two aldermen in Ward 5 from 1991 to 2000. He ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2000, placing third behind Robert E. Wade and Bob Morrow.
He registered, but withdrew from the 2003 mayoral election, due to a ruled conflict of interest by the federal ethics counsellor stemming from the fact that Eisenberger was serving as chair of the Hamilton Port Authority. Faced with the choice of resignation from the board or candidacy in the election, he chose to withdraw from the race.[2]
In the 2004 federal election, Eisenberger ran for the Conservative Party in Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, finishing third behind Liberal Tony Valeri and New Democrat Tony DePaulo.
During the campaign Eisenberger stated that elected officials should be limited from serving more than two consecutive terms of office without a one-term break.[3] One of the key planks of his platform was a proposal to hire an independent integrity officer to help restore public trust in city hall, following the controversy around Larry Di Ianni's campaign contributions in 2003.[4] While local media referred often to Eisenberger's 2006 win by 452 votes, few in the media managed to observe that ex-mayor Larry Di Ianni's vote had sharply dropped by 17,000 from 2003--a highly significant factor--from 70,539 to 53,658 votes.
Eisenberger also refused donations from corporations and unions and was outspent four to one by his main opponent (Di Ianni).[5][6] The local daily paper supported the incumbent but Eisenberger won the election. That incumbent (Di Ianni) had accepted illegal donations in the 2003 campaign in which Eisenberger was not a candidate for mayor. Di Ianni was convicted of that offence. Eisenberger won the subsequent 2006 mayoral election as voters valued the campaign funding stance he'd taken, according to reports of the campaign.
As part of his campaign, Eisenberger wanted to reform economic development in Hamilton, including a boost to the department's budget. He sought and won support for this initiative which involves hiring new staff and developing a marketing campaign to help promote Hamilton.[7]
Another major initiative was the creation of the Jobs Prosperity Collaborative, a group of community leaders to help steer Hamilton's economic development.[8] He also proposed that the federal government's newly announced Southern Ontario Development Agency be located in Hamilton.[9]
Eisenberger has proposed a downtown pedestrian plaza to increase pedestrian activity in the core of Hamilton.[10]
He championed, and ultimately won support for a deal to buy the Lister Block, a downtown landmark building, and restore it for public use.[11]
He also gained the endorsement of colleagues to implement an anti-idling by-law.[12]
After several years of debate, he gathered financial support from the provincial and federal governments to clean up Randle Reef in Hamilton Harbour, a toxic hotspot from the city's industrial past.[13][14]
Eisenberger was a founding board member for the provincial transportation agency, Metrolinx[15] and is a leading proponent for a new light rapid transit system for Hamilton.[16] As part of Metrolinx, Eisenberger helped improve service on the city's two rapid transit corridors, the north-south A-Line and the east-west B-Line,[17] and was a key force in the establishment of a new GO/VIA station on James Street North that will boost inter-regional connections between Hamilton, the Greater Toronto Area and the Niagara Region[18]
Eisenberger, along with other political appointees, were removed from the board of Metrolinx in 2009[19]
Since winning the 2006 election, Eisenberger has pursued policies that he describes as "bringing ethics and integrity back to Hamilton council".[20][21] In January 2008, Eisenberger publicly criticised councilors who he felt were trying to derail his 2006 campaign promise to bring in an integrity commissioner,[22] but city council voted to implement an integrity commissioner in June 2008.[4]
In July 2008, a leaked tape of a private conversation between Eisenberger and Hamilton Spectator columnist Andrew Dreschel was released to Hamilton Community News, although Eisenberger had previously admonished other council members for leaking info to the media. During his tenure, the mayor has allowed many of his councillors to walk away unscathed from clear violations of the city's code of conduct.[23] In September 2008, council cleared him of any wrongdoing, and an investigator found that he had been acting in the public interest and that his motives were "wholly proper" and in a manner consistent with the Mayor's duties under Section 226.1 of the Municipal Act, 2001,[24] though technically violating the code of conduct.[25]
45 per cent of Eisenberger's high-profile campaign promises are either completed or in progress such as speeding up the harbour cleanup and hiring 100 new police officers. However, other promises remain incomplete and some are likely to reappear on his platform for the 2010 municipal election.[26]
Eisenberger has been in a heated battle over the location of a stadium for the upcoming Pan Am Games to be held in Southern Ontario. Eisenberger has argued for a stadium at the West Harbour, whereas the Hamilton Tiger-Cats have called on a location that would meet their business needs.[27]
| Candidate | Total votes | % of total votes |
|---|---|---|
| Fred Eisenberger | 54,110 | 43.21 |
| Larry Di Ianni | 53,658 | 42.84 |
| Diane Elms | 9,459 | 7.55 |
| Michael Baldasaro | 4,520 | 3.61 |
| Gino Speziale | 1,274 | 1.02 |
| Steve Leach | 1,250 | 1.00 |
| Martin S. Zuliniak | 968 | 0.77 |
| Total valid votes | 125,239 | 100.00 |
| Hamilton East—Stoney Creek - Canadian federal election, 2004 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Liberal | Tony Valeri | 18,417 | 37.7% | ||
| New Democrat | Tony Depaulo | 17,490 | 35.8% | ||
| Conservative | Fred Eisenberger | 10,888 | 22.3% | ||
| Green | Richard Safka | 1,446 | 3.0% | ||
| Independent | Sam Cino | 393 | 0.8% | ||
| Communist | Bob Mann | 166 | 0.3% | ||
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