Somebody Stop Me!

I am sitting at my desk wondering if I have lost my mind. After all, what in my right mind thinks I should even take a run for the job, especially when I'm virtually an unknown?

The city of Hamilton once again needs new leadership that will last a decade or two. Unfortunately, the last two mayors and the current one haven't shown much inspiration either. The fact is that the city needs more than a mayor. It needs more than a leader. Our city needs a champion that will speak up for the city.

We also need a city council that works together. We need a city council that will look beyond regional interests and start looking for what's best for the city as a whole and realize that everyone needs to make some sort of sacrifice. We need the city councillors in the suburbs to come to terms with the fact that they are now a part of the city and have been for almost a decade and try to be agents for the betterment of the city as a whole as well. We can no longer look back. We must go forward.

But probably the biggest problem of late has been the lack of quality people running for the job. After all, how many cities have a guy who is the pastor of a "church" and uses it as a reason to openly smoke pot anyway? (Hope you're enjoying your read, Mr. Baldassaro)

So here I am, pondering a run for the mayoralty. I don't see anyone up for the task and the only person who has been tapped can't even run because of her place of residency.

So why the blog you ask? I owe my inspiration for this blog to none other than Garth Turner. I enjoyed his daily diary, discussing the issues of the day. Unfortunately, he irritated some people in the process and got booted out of his own party; at least the one who removed the "progressive" label from its name after almost a half a century of carrying it. (R.I.P. John Diefenbaker) But I digress...

So here's the plan for me now... I want to know who thinks I should take a run at this and how much support I would get if I did. I will need a campaign manager, a campaign accountant and possibly a campaign consultant. Let's be perfectly clear on this. If I am going to take a run for this, I am not in it to lose.

But one thing is for sure. The next mayor will need to remove "the guy who waves to everybody at those parades" label to get any kind of credibility.  He needs to be visible and sell this city as a place to do business and work, and not just as a place to live in and go to work in Toronto.  The mayor needs a vision of Hamilton as more than an industrial city.  The city needs to reinvent itself, having lost a big chunk of the steel industry.  It needs sustainable high-tech industries that could compete with the greatest of them.  That begins with a vision.  And right now, I'm the only guy with one.

Please, somebody stop me!