Larry Di Ianni is Hamilton's mayor

Italian-born immigrant makes history as he wins seat as Steel city's most important citizen

Larry Di Ianni's greatest pride is being chosen as mayor of the Iron City despite being born outside of Canada. During his victory party, surrounded by his supporters, the new mayor remembered his arrival in Canada at the age of eight, "When I could not speak a word of English." "This community gave its support to a newcomer. I feel even prouder to be the protagonist of this historic event," he said.
This success can be read in many ways. The first is vote distribution: discounting his success in the suburbs, with 70 percent of the votes in Stoney Creek and over 60 percent in Glanbrook and Ancaster, Di Ianni also won the majority of the votes in the Hamilton Mountain, seen as decisive in the final days of the campaign.
David Christopherson hanged on in his downtown bunker. Getting 57 percent of the Lower City and almost half of Dundas was not enough. The best results for him came from Wards 1, 2, and 3, his old riding as an MPP for the New Democratic Party.
From the standpoint of their positions, a decisive element was the development of the Red Hill Creek Expressway, possibly the hottest topic of the whole campaign.
The electors living on the banks of Red Hill Creek, who will be inconvenienced by construction works, supported Christopherson's adamant opposition to the road development, but Di Ianni, who is among the main supporters of the new link, did not lag too far behind. The Italian-Canadian got the votes of electors living in the Centennial Parkway area, which currently collects most of the traffic between Linc and QEW.
This election was substantially different from the 2000 one that elected Bob Wade as first mayor of the megacity of Hamilton. The suburbs and the old town proved decisive then. The map of support for Wade looked very different from Di Ianni's mosaic.
Another decisive factor was the availability of funds. Christopherson lamented the conditions of his campaign's bank account, deep in red by the end of the campaign. "When money runs out, it's out," he remarked. "At the end of the day, money is still too important in any election."
The candidates were also different in style, ideals, and supporting organizations. Labour-oriented Christopherson invoked greater union involvement but discounted his fame as a former NDP minister.
Business-oriented Di Ianni courted moderate voters with his pledge of reducing taxes for business activities. His Hamilton will be a city that will pursue economic growth, with rapid connections to move around town or reach it from outside.
Even the approach to campaigning was different. Di Ianni left voice messages on the answering machines of many electors and targeted them with an aggressive telemarketing campaign and a constant presence on radio and TV stations.
His opponent preferred a personal approach, obtaining support from several organizations of teachers, doctors, and unions.
The voters rejected the idea of rolling back the amalgamation. The new mayor's agenda will concentrate on promoting conditions favourable to economic development and reducing the city's $60 million deficit that forced a tax hike.
Most of the incumbents - 11 out of 14 - won re-election. The exceptions are almost all the candidates who opposed the expressway and invoked a reversal of the process that led to the creation of the megacity.
Defeated incumbents include environmentalists Brian McHattie and Stoney Creek's Anna Bain. Maria Pearson won the old ward of Di Ianni, Ward 10.


London goes it again
Anne Marie DeCicco returns as city's mayor

It may not have been a plebiscite, yet London voters handed Anne Marie DeCicco a second mandate as mayor, leaving her speechless and emotional. Former radio reporter DeCicco, 37, promised to give priority to the city's economic development, underscoring the imminent preparation of a financial plan and the launch of a strategic plan for local economy. She got 48,763 votes to the 37,312 obtained by her closest rival, Vaughan Minor.
Every incumbent won re-election except for the former councillor for Ward 7, Ed Corrigan, defeated by newcomer Paul Van Meerbergen.
Italian-Canadian DeCicco pledged to consider very carefully two indications that came from the vote, i.e, the majority of electors being in favour of a reduction in the number of councillors and of the abolition of the control board. DeCicco declared herself proud of her campaign, which stressed "integrity and honesty".


OTTAWA'S CHIARELLI WORKS ON TRANSPORTS

The mayor of the capital, Bob Chiarelli, immediately declared the first priority for his new mandate at the helm of the city, hinting at future PM Paul Martin's favour for a new rail transport system.
"We have Paul Martin's commitment to give a high priority to assisting cities as regards transports," declared Chiarelli right after learning of his victory. "Moreover, in accordance with the electoral platform of the new Government of Ontario, we shall get a share of the gas tax," added the mayor.
Chiarelli expects better support for his city's most urgent need, both from the province and from the Federal Government. Over the next 20 years, Ottawa will grow by about 400,000 people and 200,000 cars, and the issue must be tackled now.

Publication Date: 2003-11-23
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=3388