Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger announced Monday morning that he would not run for re-election.
Eisenberger said in a press release that it was time for him to “move on to the next chapter of his life.”
The municipal elections are on October 24.
Eisenberger was elected mayor in 2006, defeating incumbent President Larry Diani by just 452 votes, one of the closest mayoral races in Hamilton’s history. He was defeated in 2010 by Bob Bratina, and then, in 2014, defeated the current Earl of Ward 9 (upper Stony Creek). Brad Clark returns as mayor. He easily won re-election in 2018.
“I have always done my best for the people of Hamilton, and as much as I loved working as your mayor, what I can do now is not put my name on the ballot in the 2022 municipal elections,” Eisenberger said. .
“I hope I have moved the marker on several issues, such as downtown redevelopment, affordable housing, coastal revitalization, building our economy and public transport, including LRT, among many others.
“I arrived in Hamilton as an eight-year-old immigrant child who did not speak a word of English,” Eisenberger said. “I am forever grateful to the people of Hamilton for the honor and privilege of serving as mayor.”
Who will be the next mayor?
Applicants have until August 19 to submit their nomination, nominate for another position or withdraw their nomination.
So far, only three candidates have stated their intention to run for mayor, including:
- A brother who withdrew as a Hamilton Liberal MP from East Stony Creek because of his own government’s support for light rail transit to Hamilton.
- Kianin Loomis, who resigned as chief executive of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce when he announced in January that he would run for mayor.
- Ejaz Butt, a former taxi industry leader and public activist running in 2014, finished sixth.
The election will bring a significant change to Hamilton City Hall.
In addition to the new mayor, there will be new councilors in departments 15, 11, 5 and 4.
Councilors Judy Partridge, Brenda Johnson, Russ Powers and Sam Merula are also not running again.
There has been some speculation on social media as to whether former Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horvat will run for mayor after announcement on election night June 2 that she resigned as leader.
The Hamilton Center MPP confirmed to CBC Hamilton that it is not ready to make any announcements about the Hamilton municipal elections, but its “heart is always in Hamilton”.
“Leadership is not easy and Hamilton has seen his share of the challenges over the last few years,” Horvath said in a statement.
“As an MPP for the Hamilton Center, I could always count on Fred to be the kind of mayor who would always pick up the phone.”
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