Former MP and retired councillor Russ Powers to represent Ward 5 in Hamilton for a year
Samantha Craggs | CBC News | Posted: November 12, 2021 5:25 PM | Last Updated: November 12, 2021
The whole process, says one candidate, felt like a waste of time for everyone but former politicians
Hamilton city council has selected a former member of parliament and retired Dundas councillor, Russ Powers, to represent a ward in the city's east end.
Powers was among 21 hopefuls who gave five-minute presentations Friday to represent the ward until the fall 2022 municipal election. Powers represented the former riding of Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale for the Liberals from 2004 to 2006, and served on city council for eight years until he retired in 2014.
Eight sitting council members voted for Powers, while six voted for former mayor-turned-lobbyist Larry Di Ianni.
Powers told councillors that he's particularly interested in water management, climate change, affordable housing, a cost-effective implementation of light-rail transit and cleaning up "the Chedoke Creek travesty." The latter refers to billions of litres of sewage and stormwater leaking into the creek over four years before the city discovered and stopped the leak.
Powers also drew a distinction between himself and Di Ianni by saying he's done some consulting, but none in Hamilton. That would be "a conflict of interest," he said.
"I did not do any work lobbying on behalf of business in our municipality," he said.
Ward 5 (Centennial) has been vacant since long-time councillor Chad Collins was elected as a Liberal MP for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek earlier this fall.
Other hopefuls Friday included local residents who sit on various boards and committees.
Among them was Leslyn Gombakomba, who sits on the city's committee against racism and its immigrant and refugee advisory committee, and Juanita Maldonado, who came second to Collins in the last municipal election.
Maldonado said she was impressed by the other candidates, but the whole experience "left a bad taste in my mouth."
It was a "total abuse of process and disrespect to every candidate that submitted their application, and to every Ward 5 resident," said Maldonado, an immigration and legal consultant who worked in the office of former Hamilton East-Stoney Creek MP Wayne Marston.
"It's a sham that city councillors didn't have the back bone to come out and say they wanted to appoint instead of wasting everyone's time."
Maldonado says Powers will do a good job. But this is "an excellent indication of where council is at."
Jason Allen, second-place finisher in the last Ward 1 (west end) election, says the process was "interesting."
"In the end, it was not a huge surprise that the votes went to [former councillors]," he said.
"I went in with no expectation at all that it would be any different."
How they voted
Who voted for Di Ianni
Mayor Eisenberger, Jason Farr (Ward 2), Sam Merulla (4), Tom Jackson (6), Lloyd Ferguson (12), Maria Pearson (10).
Who voted for Powers
Maureen Wilson (1), Nrinder Nann (3), Esther Pauls (7), John-Paul Danko (8), Judi Partridge (15), Arlene VanderBeek (13), Brenda Johnson (11), Brad Clark (9).