Charles Gosling targets mayoral return
Charles Gosling, the former Hamilton mayor, has confirmed that he intends to run for the position once again when City Hall is put to the voters in May.
Under newly approved legislation, business ratepayers and residents will get their own elections — a move that Mr Gosling supports.
“It’s very important that both sides get representation, and that business representatives are fully aware of residents’ concerns and vice versa,” he told The Royal Gazette.
Mr Gosling’s return to the political arena finishes a quiet three years after his loss to incumbent mayor Graeme Outerbridge by 109 votes to 88 in 2012.
He said the much publicised controversy that has dogged Mr Outerbridge and his Team Hamilton administration had descended into political theatre.
“I have great interest in the governance of the city, and I have got to say that has had an impact on my interest in running again,” Mr Gosling said.
The public has “almost made a sport out of their concerns with the current Corporation — there has been much wailing and gnashing of teeth that businesses have had their voting rights taken away”.
“It has been given back to them, and now it’s very, very important that businesses participate in this. That requires them to register and appoint a nominee acting on behalf of the company.”
Issues such an Team Hamilton’s internal rifts and Government’s seizing of control over Corporation affairs had distracted attention from real issues, he said.
“I do feel that a lot of the focus on the overall well-being of the city has been lost.”
Mr Gosling added: “I will say in defence of the current administration that they did some good work in North Hamilton, in terms of repaving and things like that, which I hope has made residents feel they are being more included in the city’s operation. But there are other areas of the city which are in dire need of repaving, resurfacing and sprucing up.
“I really like what they have done with Princess Street. For me, though, it’s only about one-third of the package. The majority of residences at the beginning of Princess, off Dundonald Street, are owned by the Bermuda Housing Corporation, and a number have been vacant for several years now. It seems a shame for what could be an iconic street to be left in an unfinished condition.”
Mr Gosling said that while Hamilton wasn’t the first choice locale for the America’s Cup in 2017, “we need to make sure that at the minimum it is the second choice for ancillary activities”.
A couple of positions are still being filled in the business and residents’ teams for the elections, and the 61-year-old businessman declined to give names.
“We really wanted to do a proper unveiling closer to the nomination date,” he said.
It was the Municipalities Act and fears of a Government takeover that prompted Mr Gosling’s first campaign for mayor in 2009.
Asked if he found it strange to have fought the winding-up of the Corporation of Hamilton by a Progressive Labour Party Government — only to have the One Bermuda Alliance end up wresting control from an administration that had billed itself as populist — Mr Gosling responded: “I find it incredibly ironic.”
Michael Fahy, Minister of Home Affairs, has been left “acting as a de facto mayor up until the election”.
On the question of taking back the Corporation’s affairs if he were to regain City Hall, Mr Gosling said his administration had expressed willingness to work with the PLP government. “We would work with an OBA government in the same manner. This is where we get back to the point of good governance. I would hope that our administration, if elected, would prove by good governance that we would be able to recover a lot of those powers given over to Government.”
Asked about top priorities if elected, Mr Gosling said: “I don’t know what’s left in the pot. As another politician has said, we have got to look under the hood.”
A $1 million “Democracy Trust” that was put aside to protect the city’s assets was dismantled by Team Hamilton, and Mr Gosling said he would be keen to learn what had become of those funds.
“There are great concerns about the treatment of Hamilton’s sewerage,” he said. “We need to work with Government in terms of the reclaiming of the waterfront, so that clear ownership of that is established.”
He said the complaints over the current administration’s conduct could be traced back to the businesses losing their vote in 2011.
“Your right has been given back,” he said. “If you want to complain then you’ve got to be willing to participate in fixing it. If not, then don’t be surprised if and when it gets taken away sometime in the future. Now is your chance.”
Former Hamilton mayor Charles Gosling is an open supporter of the regaining of votes by business ratepayers — although he conceded it came loaded with historical baggage.
That legislation was approved this week by the Senate, with Independent and Opposition Senators voicing trepidation over a vote that many residents associate with the unfair practices of the past. “Given Bermuda’s history, I just don’t think there is any clarity to the argument right now,” Mr Gosling said.
“We are going to have to wait generations before we can have a clear argument on this, as this goes back to the ‘plus’ vote when somebody could be registered in more than one constituency. I wasn’t even a teenager when that was taken off the books. Virtually all of the arguments against businesses having the vote are based on that concept.”
As he prepares to throw his hat in the ring for another mayoral contest, Mr Gosling declared himself satisfied with the latest amendments.
“Given the overwhelming proportion of what businesses contribute to the city coffers in taxes, there really has to be some form of representation behind it,” he said.
“If the city had its own police force, hospital, fire department and all that sort of stuff then I would think it more in keeping to limit it to the residents’ vote, but that’s not the case here.” Nomination day for the city elections is expected to be announced by the Parliamentary Registrar next month.
