Hamilton, Ontario municipal election, 1994
Encyclopedia
The Hamilton
municipal election, 1994, was held on November 14, 1994, to select one Mayor, eight members of the Hamilton City Council
and members of both English and French Public and Catholic School Boards.
days before the vote showed that 69% percent of respondents supported Mayor Morrow, while Baldasaro, Decker and Bunn each received 1% support. 27% were undecided or refused to answer. Skedden received no support in the pre-election poll and, despite Mayor Morrow's high support rating, his approval rating sat at only 45%.
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
municipal election, 1994, was held on November 14, 1994, to select one Mayor, eight members of the Hamilton City Council
Hamilton City Council
The Hamilton City Council is the governing body of the City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.The current council consists of the mayor plus fifteen councillors, one elected from each of the city's wards. The incumbent council was elected in a municipal election on November 13, 2006...
and members of both English and French Public and Catholic School Boards.
Officially Running
- Michael BaldasaroMichael BaldasaroMichael A. James Baldasaro is a political and religious figure in Hamilton, Ontario. Together, with his friend Walter Tucker, he presides over a religious sect known as the Church of the Universe...
, 45, spent the early portions of the campaign in the Barton Street Jail, having been convicted of marijuana trafficking. During the 1991 campaign, he advocated reducing the number of councillors per ward to one, the establishment of a police services board and a civic referendum on the legalization of prostitutionProstitution and the lawThe laws of prostitution vary widely from country to country, and between jurisdictions within a country. Prostitution is legal in some parts of the world and regarded as a profession, while in other parts it is a crime punishable by death. In some jurisdictions prostitution is illegal...
and marijuana use.
- Steve Bunn, 25, was an exterminator with a local pest control company at the time of the 1991 Mayoral election. He openly admitted to being a fringe candidate, but claimed that he wanted to "present to the people of Hamilton a civic strategy touching on the various key aspects of municipal operations such as the economy, environment, commerce, tourism, etc," He campaigned on a platform of building a giant slide down Hamilton mountain, placing a tax on carpCarpCarp are various species of oily freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. The cypriniformes are traditionally grouped with the Characiformes, Siluriformes and Gymnotiformes to create the superorder Ostariophysi, since these groups have certain...
caught from Cootes ParadiseCootes ParadiseCootes Paradise is the largest wetland at the western end of Lake Ontario, on the west side of Hamilton Harbour. It is bordered by the cities of Hamilton and Burlington, Ontario, Canada. It is owned and managed by the Royal Botanical Gardens , a private charitable status organization. These lands...
and establishing a "Hamilton Hall of Fame Wax Museum".
- Paul Decker, 34, was a retail manager at a local Canadian TireCanadian TireCanadian Tire Corporation, Limited is one of Canada's 60 largest publicly traded companies. The firm operates an inter-related network of businesses engaged in retailing hardgoods, apparel and petroleum as well as financial and automotive services, employing more than 58,000 people across Canada...
store, and presented a moderate alternative to Mayor Morrow. His platform included the creation of a six lane Red Hill Creek Expressway, increased police visibility and starting an aggressive marketing campaign promoting the city as a place of investment.
- Robert Morrow, 48, was the sitting mayor. Formerly a teacher, he had been elected to councilHamilton City CouncilThe Hamilton City Council is the governing body of the City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.The current council consists of the mayor plus fifteen councillors, one elected from each of the city's wards. The incumbent council was elected in a municipal election on November 13, 2006...
in 1968, and won the Mayoralty in 1982. His campaign focused on his experience in civic politics, redevelopment of the waterfront and reducing the size of Hamilton's city government.
- Allen Robert Skedden, 51, was the oldest candidate in the five-man race and had been on disability for a number of years thanks to his severe asthmaAsthmaAsthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
. His platform included refusing the mayor's $85,000 salary and establishing a free breakfast and lunch program city-wide. "When I was raised, a lot of us went to school hungry and that's a terrible feeling," he said in the early days of campaigning.
Results
A poll released by the Hamilton Spectator and CHCH NewsCHCH-TV
CHCH-DT, channel 11, is a television station originating in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, with transmitters located throughout Ontario. CHCH currently operates as an independent station, having previously served as a CBC Television affiliate, and more recently as the flagship station of the...
days before the vote showed that 69% percent of respondents supported Mayor Morrow, while Baldasaro, Decker and Bunn each received 1% support. 27% were undecided or refused to answer. Skedden received no support in the pre-election poll and, despite Mayor Morrow's high support rating, his approval rating sat at only 45%.
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Mayor | ||
| Robert Morrow | 69,638 | 87.3% |
| Paul Decker | 3599 | 4.5% |
| Michael Baldasaro | 3521 | 4.4% |
| Allen Robert Skedden | 1569 | 1.9% |
| Steve Bunn | 1518 | 1.9% |
| Total valid votes | 79,845 | 100.00 |