The Bulldogs will not play for the Calder Cup and so begins the speculation of whether or not the Dogs will stay in Hamilton. There has been talk about them moving to a new facility in Laval. It could be the prelude to something else on the horizon...
Yesterday, the Spec reported that, Fred Eisenberger went to New York to talk with Gary Bettman and fix some bridges. It was a good move. It is important that the city remains in the minds of the NHL, although my cynical self says that Hamilton has always been on the NHL's mind, but only as a city to avoid. And the total expense to the city is a little over $1000.
I don't see anything wrong with this. It was a legitimate trip to market the city. Where the NHL and Hamilton goes from there would be another story. But let's call it as we see it. It was a good spend. There are obviously councillors who have obviously spent more on less.
But as far as Eisenberger's response to the question of why there was so much secrecy about it, I found it disingenuous. The fact that we find out now, months after the meeting took place is surely an insult to the taxpayers. But in an election year, timing is everything, even if you haven't said whether or not you will run. His explanation of loose lips sinking ships brings us to another question. What was really at stake if word got out about this meeting? False hope? For us, where Hamilton and the NHL are concerned, if you're not disappointed, either you never cared or you're dead. More pressure on the NHL to admit that Hamilton is a viable host for an NHL team? It's been pushed back for a half a century so why stop now? Those walls are starting to buckle.
But here's the real deal. Fred Eisenberger's biggest weakness has been his lack of visibility. He just hasn't been visible. While leaking this says that he has done some marketing, we know that he hasn't done enough. And if he has been trying to be visible, he's been failing miserably. When we consider that we had Bob Morrow, Bill Powell, Jack McDonald and Victor Copps over the 30 years before Wade. Over the last 40 years, we've had a history of vocal and visible mayors, until we come to Eisenberger and Wade, both disasters by their own rights, while Larry Di Ianni's term was one fraught with distractions. So for the last 10 years, neither have been truly effective for their own reasons.
If he runs for re-election, Fred Eisenberger will be just as weak of a candidate as he was four years ago. And as I said before, the election four years ago was more of a vote against Larry DiIanni than it was a vote for Eisenberger. With the choices before them, Fred was chosen as an alternative to a term potentially continuing the distractions. So based on the choices given, the voters did make the right choice.
But it doesn't mean that the election is devoid of issues. There are problems I am seeing so far in the active campaigns.
One of them is that neither candidate has achieved some form of electability. We know that Eisenberger, up against the right candidate, is toast. But we haven't seen anyone who could be seen as a suitable alternative to Eisenberger. Neither candidate is being taken seriously and part of that blame lies with one of those candidates who has been running again and again, making the elections a running joke and ruining it for the others. But at the same time, the burden of demonstrating sincerity in wanting to serve, is just as much on the candidates themselves. We still have yet to see the platform of one candidate and as for the other, we hope that he doesn't burn any more bridges.
Another problem I'm seeing right now is that the mayoral race has been way too quiet and that doesn't bode well for the newbies. These guys have to start making noise (the right kind, Mahesh) and get themselves and their platforms known! You can't get signs and posters out, but you can still do flyers, handouts, letters to the editor and a lot of other means to get the word out!
So we could be in a situation we encountered the last time. But it's still too soon to say. It will depend on who else puts forward his or her candidacy.
In the meantime, rumours are flying about new mayoral candidates coming into the fold. Leave it to Cal to scoop me! :)
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