Do you believe Mayor's Eisenberger's staunch approach to the stadium location, in the face of resistance and pressure from the Ti-Cats, has been a strong exhibition of leadership , or has it been an aggravating factor that only led to a stand off and is telling of the Mayor's ability or inability to build consensus? In essence, has Fred led on this issue?
The Hamiltonian does not endorse or counter any candidate running in the municiple election. We are nuetral. We operate in a democratic context where free speech is valued. Our focus is to engage Hamiltonians in dialogue with one another on matters concerning our great city. We encourage all Hamiltonians to vote. To get to know other candidates who have registered, click here. For more information or to be a guest here, please email adminhamiltonian@cogeco.ca.
Well I know one guy who feels Eisenberger's leadership comes into question, Larry Di Ianni. Now from someone like Di Ianni who was once Mayor himself and claiming to be "friends" with him it's interesting reading a Spec article from January 16th of this year where Larry is quoted as saying, "I think he's vulnerable on the leadership issue" but then again what would you expect Di Ianni to say? Maybe he was already contemplating making a run for the Mayor back on January 16th?
ReplyDeleteI also believe Eisenberger, in his own mind, believes he doing a great job. I think his heart is in the right place. He's quoted as saying 'he likes the collaborative approach and doesn't intend to change his style' but then you also hear him say publically "If I had complete and total authority and control, then everything that I put forward would have been completed and done." Now does this sound like someone who believes in the 'collaborative' approach??? (citation: Hamilton Spectator Jan, 16, 2010, Emma Reilly) Makes me wonder.
This is also a Mayor who back in 2006 victory speech told Hamiltonians that 'he wanted to bring "ethics" and "integrity" back to City council. Two years later he's involved in what we now call the 'Tapegate' scandal. 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. (citation: Mark Cripps, Mountain News, Jul, 04, 2008) Clear case I think of a leader telling his followers, "Do as I say and not as I do." Still a real head scratcher when you read Eisenberger has "allowed many of his councillors to walk away unscathed from clear violations of the city's code of conduct." I had to repeat that last one, a real "eye-popper."
Now on the flip-side of the coin, Hamilton has been going through with some tough challenges the last little while which means it's not exactly a "sexy" thing to be the Mayor of Hamilton right now. Which is why we are seeing lack of new SERIOUS candidates making a run for the Mayor's chair so if anything, you have to tip your hat off to Eisenberger for at least tossing his hat inside the political arena and publically sticking up for issues he believes in.
So in ending, Do I feel Eisenberger is a great leader? Well, not too many other people want the job of Mayor of Hamilton, huge responsibility. Doeesn't necessarily mean he's doing a great job BUT since no one else really wants it ,(except for Di Ianni and half dozen other folks), I think that in itself says a lot.
Cheers!
Rick Cordeiro
I agree with what Mr Hamilton says. The Mayor is no great leader but his heart is in the right place. Noone else is a rwal contender.
ReplyDeleteFred did a good job on holding the line on city needs and concerns. He did a better job in sticking to his principles than many would have under such adversity.
ReplyDeleteThe East Mountain site had too many unknowns and too much confusion, and there was a risk of it becoming a tax burden. While time may have shown the East Mountain to be workable (and maybe not), there is no way city council could have voted for it without significantly more time to review it. Obviously, 12 council members felt the same way..
Where I feel Fred and the rest of council dropped the ball as stewards of the taxpayers' money was in not securing concrete financial commitments from private investment early on. It's akin to buying a house unconditionally without arranging a mortgage first, or signing the dotted line on a new car just because a job interview went well (but no job offer yet).
Risky way of doing business...
"So in ending, Do I feel Eisenberger is a great leader? Well, not too many other people want the job of Mayor of Hamilton, huge responsibility. Doeesn't necessarily mean he's doing a great job BUT since no one else really wants it ,(except for Di Ianni and half dozen other folks), I think that in itself says a lot."
ReplyDeleteHuh?
Congrats, Mr. Hamilton; you've just fudged a point-blank question as much as a regular politician would have! LOL
So in answering the question 'Do I feel Eisenberger is a great leader?' you've replied
a) not too many people want the job,
b) it's a huge responsibility, and
c) the fact that hardly no one else wants it says a lot.
Psst! Rick! Guess what? You didn't answer your own question! (Never mind the one Cal et al posed, "In essence, has Fred led on this issue? (the stadium)"
LOL
Wanna give that another go? Either your own question, or Cal's...?
This is from The spec: Council support is drifting away from west harbour.
ReplyDelete"At this morning’s council meeting, Tom Jackson announced he can no longer support west harbour and is reversing his position.
“My constituents have spoken in volumes that something is wrong with the city’s choice of the west harbour site without the TiCats,” he said.
Councillor Terry Whitehead also spoke against the city’s choice.
“I certainly have a real challenge in supporting something that will inevitably end up with a divided community, no stadium, and no Tiger Cats.”
Along with the three councillors who voted against west harbour Tuesday night,that makes for five votes against the site.
Council is in the process of ratifying their 12-3 vote for the west harbour. "
How can the Mayor lead when he is stuck with wishy washy councilors?
Sal
Mr. mystoneycreek.
ReplyDelete"Congrats, Mr. Hamilton; you've just fudged a point-blank question as much as a regular politician would have! LOL"
Who me? a politician? heaven forbid.
(1) "Not too many people want the job"
Eisenberger wanted it and was elected. Eisenberger still wants it and will make another run for it. Leaders speak up and Eisenberger not afraid to speak his mind.
The question was "Has Fred Led?" Leadership coming into question here. In one way shape or form Eisenberger has always been a leader or seeked out leadership positions. Sometimes a leader has to make hard and unpopular decisions for the betterment of the team, corporation or city. One could argue that he has a lot of mal-contents that he has to work with down on City Hall and in addition to this when one finds out that even with mal-contents down at City Hall '77 per cent of Eisenberger's high-profile campaign promises are either completed or in progress' to me that says a lot about his leadership. Personally, I don't like the guy but that's besides the point. I don't want to make this personal.
He's had some bumps along the way and no one is perfect but he's doing the job he set out to do so at this stage of the game I'd have to say Eisenberger, even though I don't agree with everything he says or does, has been a (not great) but a good leader for Hamilton. The stadium issue will be a defining moment for him. Let's see what happens here with that one.
All we have to do now is get rid of the mal-contents down at City Hall. Set 2-term limits and then after serving 2 consecutive terms out they go.
Cheers!
Rick Cordeiro
He's doing the best he can with the flip floppy, weak minded counselor that he is stuck with. I am surprised Fred hasn't lost his sanity.
ReplyDeleteRobert
I cannot say IT, any better than this:
ReplyDelete"I think IT'll float I think IT'll sail, we may take on waves hit a gale, but considering this love most everything, says I think IT'll fly and I think you'll sing
"There's a cat on the bed and a leak in the roof and I'm pretty sure now that we don't need more proof, we'll patch IT with credit and we'll pay IT on time take the helm for me sailor, take us out of here tonight
"Never never never give up on IT you never know, wherever you are, you'll always be surrounded by, love"
"All we have to do now is get rid of the mal-contents down at City Hall. Set 2-term limits and then after serving 2 consecutive terms out they go."
ReplyDeleteRight. And of course, what this means is that you (presumably) have some intuition that the malcontents' replacements will perform better than they did?
How?
Why?
Is this your own omniscience at play...or are you privy to knowledge about some vast training programme that guarantees more reliable, more effective elected officials? Where does this optimism come from? Or maybe you have some framework within which the governing process could be more accountable, where people shouldn't by default be screaming 'VOTE 'EM OUT!!!' at the end of every term? (Sorry, I'm mistaking you for me on that count; I just wrote a five-part series on this very subject, dealing with civic responsibility and 'the relationship of engagement'. My bad. LOL)
I agree with the 2-consecutive terms bit. Solid stuff.
(Oh, and I did get a good giggle at your comment "Personally, I don't like the guy but that's besides the point. I don't want to make this personal." Right. Doesn't that smack a little of closing the barn door after the horses have gotten out...?)
Has Fred led on this issue?
ReplyDeleteWell, without getting into the 'What is good leadership'? question-
Oh. That's right. I guess we have to decide that before we can opine as to whether he's led, right? Something that people here -and elsewhere- seem to have not paid sufficient attention to.
So. What is good leadership? Let's start out by agreeing that 'good leadership' isn't the same as 'getting everything right, every time'. That's something else entirely. And it's important to differentiate between the Mayor of Hamilton and, say, a successful sports coach like Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, because the mayor is but one of 16 voices. He doesn't wield an autocratic hand over Council, whereas a coach -within the limitations of his players and the support of his bosses- can do what he wants; his is an autocratic hand.
Good leadership is that mysterious combination of talents that in the end, results in...well, good results. Hopefully, great results.
That magical skill-set could consist of being able to inspire people towards collaboration, inventiveness, instilling a sense of partnership, being able to influence councillors towards the ends that he or she has the conviction and resolve to want to see attained, it could be more glad-handing and empathetic conciliation...or it could be that the mayor is a spark-plug, a force to be reckoned with, someone who inspires fear, or admiration, has charisma or venal aggressiveness at his beck and call... Great management styles are myriad, they're all a little different, and they're always either attenuated or magnified by those the manager is working with. (The other people in the sandbox.)
In terms of this issue, the Pan Am Stadium issue, do I feel that Mayor Fred has exhibited the qualities of a good leader, do I feel that, as a result of everything I've witnessed since I became aware of the issue, especially during 2010 that he's 'led' on this issue?
Nope.
Does that mean I don't think he's a good guy?
Nope.
Does that mean that he hasn't had enormous challenges and that maybe NOBODY could have prevented this morass from having unfolded?
Nope.
Does that mean that what's occurred doesn't deserve to have a citizen's enquiry established, the members of which I could easily come up with off the top of my head?
Again, nope.
But the fact is that what's happened has happened on Mayor Fred's watch.
And the sad thing is that it's not over yet; I don't believe we've seen either the best or the worst of the Pan Am Stadium Debacle. Not by a long shot.
(For those of you who are addicted to your righteous indignation and your conflation, please don't counter with the old gem 'Well, there's nobody else as qualified as Fred!' and 'Don't even think about bringing up DiIanni's name, that bum!' as to why I'm not convinced he should be re-elected. One disagreement at a time, please.)
I don't see how the mayor has shown any leadership skills. If he had any, this issue would have been resolved a long time ago. Instead, he never budged from his insistence on a West Harbour site, and was not able to get the Ti-Cats on side with a deal. So, now, he has a site with no long-term tenant, and possible withdrawal of funding for the Pan-Am Games. How is that leadership? How is demonizing the owner who saved the Ti-Cats, and has been willing to compromise all along, the mark of a leader?
ReplyDeleteI don't know what got into the mayor or his supporters, but leadership it ain't, I'm afraid.
mystoneycreek said, "...and 'Don't even think about bringing up DiIanni's name, that bum!' as to why I'm not convinced he should be re-elected."
ReplyDeleteRiddle me this and riddle me that. Why do you feel:
(1) Di Ianni is a "bum?"
(2) not convinced he should get elected?
enquiring minds want to know.
Cheers!
Rick Cordeiro
Rick, Rick, Rick...
ReplyDeleteGo back and read what I wrote.
I was referring to what many, many people here have declared about DiIanni: "'Don't even think about bringing up DiIanni's name, that bum!'
And I said 're-elected'. About Eisenberger.