Why I decided to run for Mayor of Hampstead

People ask me why I want to run for Mayor - so I want to tell you how I got to this point. In the Fall of 2000, the PQ under Bouchard did an about face and suddenly decided that one island, one city was a good idea. They had failed to steal our country so now they decided they would take away our cities.

I had never been involved in politics before but when the PQ ignored local referendums where 99% in Hampstead said they did not want to be merged - it was time to fight. We take democracy for granted in North America and say ordinary citizens are powerless in a battle with the government. Well, I disagree and if I am elected Mayor, Hampstead will have elected a fighter.

After the forced mergers, no one in Hampstead - except me - believed we had any chance to get our town back. Our politicians were either running to join Tremblay in order to profit from our misfortune or they were sitting back and hoping that the court challenge would succeed even though their own lawyers had told them it had almost no chance.

I believe that I have the Energy - the Determination - and the Vision - to make Hampstead better than ever. Are those empty words?

Please consider some of my accomplishments in the last 4 years:
• I Formed the Hampstead Demerger Committee and raised several thousand dollars to fund our activities.
• I joined DemocraCite, the island-wide demerger group, and quickly became one of its leaders.
• I got more pieces published in the Gazette, the Suburban and La Presse than any non-politician. Not to mention, countless letters to the editor.
• I formed a municipal political party, Democracy Montreal, and used it to get access to all the leaders of Tremblay's party and in that way we influenced Tremblay's platform. I was even on Tommy Schnurmacher's show with Gerald Tremblay to debate our opposing views of municipal democracy.
• I wrote and presented Hampstead's brief at the National Assembly's hearings on Bill 9 - even though I am not a lawyer
• I built a team of over 200 volunteers in Hampstead to help us get demerged.
• I personally sold more blue ribbons, distributed more literature and talked to more residents than anyone else in the town.
• The bottom line was that we won the referendum with over 90% votes for the YES campaign, with a turnout of over 50% of eligible voters.

“Among Hampstead citizens, Bill Steinberg was standout. No one worked as hard as he did to fight the mergers and to help bring demerger about. Bill was a bulldog... an unstoppable force.”
            —  Kell Warshaw, co-founder of Democracité

I led this campaign because I believe in local democracy and because I believe politicians must listen to the people or face the consequences. I did it because I believed even one little guy can make a difference. I didn't do any of this because I wanted to be Mayor.

So why have I decided to run for Mayor? -- Because I want the residents of Hampstead to have a real choice - and a chance for real change!!

• Our infrastructure (sewers, roads) has deteriorated while we were part of Montreal as we did not get our fair share of capital allocations.
• We will have less tax dollars than before because $10,000,000 of our taxes will go to the Agglomeration Council.
• Many of our employees will be new to the town and will need to adjust to our values.

I believe that Hampstead needs a new team with fresh ideas and energy.

THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR BUSINESS AS USUAL!!!

On November 6, vote STEINBERG for Mayor