Fred Eisenberger

Fred Eisenberger
Mayor of Hamilton, Ontario
Incumbent
Assumed office  2006
Preceded by	Larry Di Ianni
Born	1952 (age 56–57) Amsterdam, Netherlands

Fred Eisenberger (born 1952) is a Canadian politician. He is the current 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]

Background

Born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, he emigrated with his family to Canada when he was eight years old. He attended Sir Winston Churchill School in East 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 Democratic Party of Canada Tony DePaulo.

2006 election

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]

Eisenberger also refused donations from corporations and unions and was outspent four to one by his main opponent.^[5][6]

Economic development

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]

Environment and sustainable development

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] Eisenberger is also a leading proponent for a new light rapid transit system for Hamilton.^[13]

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.^[14][15]

Ethics and integrity

Since winning the 2006 election, Eisenberger has pursued policies that he describes as "bringing ethics and integrity back to Hamilton council".^[16][17] In January 2008, Eisenberger publicly criticised councilors who he felt were trying to derail his 2006 campaign promise to bring in an integrity commissioner,^[18] 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.^[19] 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^[20], though technically violating the code of conduct.^[21]

Electoral record

References

External links

• Fred Eisenberger