Four councillors voted with Mayor DiIanni on nearly every controversial city council decision made this year. Stoney Creek councillors Maria Pearson and Phil Bruckler, Ancaster representative Murray Ferguson and central mountain councillor Bill Kelly appear to be the mayor's closest allies on city council.

A CATCH review of meetings of the full council in 2004 identified 14 issues where at least two councillors voted in opposition to the majority position. Pearson and Ferguson voted the same as the mayor on every one of these issues. Kelly always sided with the mayor as well, but he missed five of the key votes. Bruckler voted with the mayor on 13 of the 14 issues, differing with him only on the city policy to reduce snow clearing from sidewalks.

Dave Mitchell, who represents Glanbrook and part of eastern Stoney Creek, sided with Di Ianni 11 times. Another frequent ally of the mayor was east mountain councillor Tom Jackson who supported the mayor's position on ten of the votes and was absent for two others. He opposed Di Ianni on business tax reduction and continued privatization of water services.

Terry Whitehead voted with the mayor nine times including the first eight key votes, but opposed him on five of the last six. The fourteen issues are described below, along with who voted for and against.

The representatives of lower city wards one, two and four were the least likely to vote with the mayor. Sam Merulla stood on the opposite side for 11 of the 14 divisions, while Brian McHattie differed with Di Ianni on 10 of 14. The downtown councillor only supported the mayor three times - Andrea Horwath twice out of nine issues when she was the ward two representative, and her replacement Bob Bratina agreeing with Di Ianni on one out of the three votes he has cast since joining council in October.

There was no downtown councillor for the other two votes which took place after Horwath became the MPP for Hamilton East, and before Bratina won a byelection on October 1. This was also true of Dundas where Russ Powers became a federal MP and was replaced by Art Samson.

Powers supported Di Ianni's position on five of seven issues he voted on, while Art Samson has differed from the mayor on all three controversial votes he has cast since he became the valley town's councillor.

The remaining councillors voted the same as Di Ianni roughly half the time. Chad Collins was 8-6 against the mayor, and Margaret McCarthy was 8-6 for him. Dave Braden was 6-6 while Bernie Morelli cast 7 ballots with the mayor and 6 against him.

Fourteen controversial decisions

The following issues sharply divided councillors in 2004 and led at least three of them to vote against the majority decision.

• Private control of the water/sewer services contract. On January 28 council voted 9-6 to continue private operation of the city's water and sewer system. This plan was unanimously reversed in September when all private bidders were disqualified. In January, however, private operation was supported by DiIanni, Pearson, Bruckler, Kelly, Ferguson , Mitchell, Whitehead, McCarthy and Braden. Opponents were Horwath, McHattie, Merulla, Collins, Morelli and Jackson. Russ Powers missed the vote.
  
  
• Fire the city manager. On February 11, Mayor Di Ianni introduced a surprise motion to fire city manager Bob Robertson. It was debated in camera, although the 12-4 vote, as required, was taken in public. Supporting Di Ianni were Pearson, Bruckler, Kelly, Ferguson , Mitchell, Jackson , Morelli, Whitehead, McCarthy and Horwath. Opposed were Collins, Braden, Merulla and McHattie.
  
  
• Four-pad arena. On February 25 council voted 11-4 for a public-private partnership to construct a $17 million four-pad arena on Mountain Brow Boulevard . Voting in favour were Di Ianni, Pearson, Bruckler, Kelly, Mitchell, Jackson, Whitehead, McCarthy, Powers and McHattie. The four opponents were Morelli, Collins, Merulla and Horwath. Braden was absent.
  
  
• Golf course fees. Also on February 25 council debated and rejected increases in green fees for city-owned golf courses. Four councillors asked to be recorded as opposed - Ferguson , Mitchell, McCarthy and Powers.
  
  
• Freedom of Information. On March 10, Merulla attempted to have some restaurant inspection information released under Freedom of Information rules. The matter was debated in camera. Afterwards Merulla and Collins moved to release the information. They were supported by McHattie, but the motion was defeated by DiIanni, Braden Bruckler, Ferguson , McCarthy, Mitchell, Pearson, and Whitehead.
  
  
• Transit funding. There were several decisions about transit this year, including two on April 15. In one, Dave Mitchell was the only opponent of a decision NOT to raise fares. In the other, four councillors were unsuccessful in securing a promise to only spend provincial gas tax money on transit. The opponents of such a commitment were Di Ianni, Pearson, Bruckler, Kelly, Mitchell, Jackson, Morelli, Collins, Whitehead, Powers and Braden. The supporters were Horwath, Merulla, McHattie and McCarthy. However, when the gas tax money was released in October, council unanimously agreed to abide by the provincial requirement that the funds only be used for transit improvements.
  
  
• Business tax reduction. Over the past four years council has cut business taxes by over 30%, but those reductions have become increasingly controversial. This year's $9 million cut was approved on April 21, but only after an amendment to reduce the cuts to $7 million was defeated. Voting for the $9 million cut were Di Ianni, Pearson, Bruckler, Kelly, McCarthy, Powers and Braden. Those supporting a lower tax cut were Jackson, Morelli, Collins, Merulla, McHattie and Horwath.
  
  
• Expressway tolls. A recommendation to consider tolling the Red Hill Creek Expressway was defeated at the Public Works committee on April 5, and replaced by one that asked the province to give more money for the project. But when that got to council on April 14, expressway supporters successfully tabled the motion by a vote of 10 to 6. Opposed were Braden, Horwath, McHattie, Merulla, Morelli and Collins. Supporters were Di Ianni, Pearson, Bruckler, Kelly, Jackson , Whitehead, Ferguson , Mitchell, Powers and McCarthy.
  
  
• Red Hill Expressway. There were several budget-related votes about the Red Hill Creek Expressway. All sixteen councillors voted on the issue on April 29, with 11 supporting the project and five opposing. Supporters were Di Ianni, Pearson, Bruckler, Kelly, Mitchell, Jackson, Morelli, Collins, Whitehead and Merulla. Opponents were McCarthy, Powers, Braden, McHattie and Horwath.
  
  
• Grants to HPO and Opera Hamilton. On July 14 councillors divided over proposals to increase grants to the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra and Opera Hamilton. Voting in favour of the increases were DiIanni, Bruckler, Ferguson , Jackson , Kelly, McCarthy, McHattie, Pearson and Whitehead. Opposed were Braden, Collins, Mitchell, Merulla and Morelli.
  
  
• Accepting outside garbage. On August 11, the mayor suffered a setback when councillors voted 6-5 not to include garbage from outside Hamilton and Niagara when planning for a possible joint waste management facility for the two regions. The narrow division likely presages a dispute about whether or not to approve a new incinerator, since such a facility usually can't be run efficiently on just local garbage. Voting to allow consideration of outside waste were Di Ianni, Pearson, Bruckler, Ferguson and Mitchell. They were out-voted by Morelli, Collins, Whitehead, McCarthy, Merulla and McHattie. Kelly, Jackson and Braden missed the vote, while neither Dundas nor ward two had a council representative at that time.
  
  
• Sidewalk snow clearance. On November 24 council approved standardizing the sidewalk snow clearing policy across the new city . Prior to this Stoney Creek and Ancaster had provided much more sidewalk clearance than other former municipalities. This issue was the only one of the fourteen that pitted Phil Bruckler against the mayor. Other opponents were Dave Mitchell, Terry Whitehead and Art Samson. Voting for the new policy were Di Ianni, Pearson, Ferguson , Jackson , Morelli, Collins, McCarthy, Braden, Merulla, McHattie and Bratina. Kelly was absent.
  
  
• Two Lawsuits. The November 24 council meeting also divided over plans to sue the federal government and various individual citizens in relation to the Red Hill expressway project. The vote was 8-7 on each of the lawsuits. Voting in favour of each lawsuit were Di Ianni, Pearson, Bruckler, Ferguson , Mitchell, Jackson , Morelli and Collins. Opposed were Bratina, McHattie, Merulla, Braden, McCarthy, Samson and Whitehead. Kelly missed both votes but indicated to the media that he supports the lawsuits.

The above list does not include numerous occasions where one or two councillors formally registered their opposition to a city council decision. Perhaps best known of these divisions took place on July 14 when Dave Braden was the only councillor to support the request for a compliance audit of the election finances of Mayor DiIanni and councillors Jackson, Kelly and Whitehead, as well as five individuals who were defeated in the 2003 elections.

Where there is no standing recorded vote, councillors express their disagreement with a decision by asking to be listed as opposed in the meeting minutes. Dave Braden did this 32 times this year, nearly half of those during the approval of the capital budget. The other Flamborough councillor, Margaret McCarthy, registered her opposition 20 times. Dave Mitchell and Brian McHattie each used this option 10 times, while Powers, Merulla and Horwath each recorded their opposition six times.

At the other end of the scale, Collins, Jackson and Ferguson asked for their opposition to be noted three times each and Maria Pearson once, while the mayor and councillors Morelli, Kelly, Bruckler and Whitehead did not exercise this option.