Hamilton mayor wants new rules to keep Trump hats off the table

Hamilton's mayor will push for a code of conduct for peoplewho sit on city committees and boards after one appointee kept a Donald Trump hat on the table during a meeting last week.

It could have been Hillary related, or whoever. From my perspective, this is not the place for any kind of political posturing.- Mayor Fred Eisenberger

Mayor Fred Eisenberger says whilecity council and staff have codes of conduct,there's nothing outlininghow people who sit on municipal committees and boards mustbehave when performing their duties.

There should be, he said. Thatbecame clear to himafter David Serwatuk, a member of the quasi-judicial committee of adjustment, kept a "Make America Great Again" hat on the table.

"That's a gap we have to cover," said Eisenberger.

Eisenberger doesn't like the divisiveness that's come out of Trump's presidential election campaign. He also doesn't like the increasingly aggressive and public "misogyny and racism" that's resulted, he said.

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But committee members shouldn't have partisan material during city meetings in general.

"It could have been Hillary related, or whoever," he said. "From my perspective, this is not the place for any kind of political posturing."

Serwatuk put ahat on the table during a Nov. 17 meeting.

Serwatuk kept it there, facing him, for most of the meeting. At times, he rested it on his knee. It stayed until a presenter complained. Then Serwatuk removed it, declared a conflict of interest and left the room.

Serwatuk said afterward that his brother had just given him the hat and he didn't know where else to put it. He wasn't trying to make a statement, he said.

The U.S. election "doesn't have anything to do with me. I'm a Canadian citizen and all I care about is Canada."

Decisions of the committee of adjustment can be appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board and from there, all the way up to the Supreme Court.- Aidan Johnson, Ward 1 councillor

But Matthew Green, Ward 3 councillor, called the hat a "clear symbol" of the racism, misogyny, xenophobia, Islamophobia and other discrimination people felt after some of Trump's campaign remarks.

Eisenberger weighed in on Twitter too, calling the political show"totally inappropriate."

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Aidan Johnson, Ward 1 councillor, agrees. Johnson plans to bring a motion forward at Wednesday's city council meeting to create a code of conduct for the committee of adjustment. He and Eisenberger may merge their ideas.

"Members of the committee of adjustment are quasi-judicial figures," Johnson said. "Decisions of the committee of adjustment can be appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board and from there, all the way up to the Supreme Court."

Johnson said Serwatuk's move was inappropriate in the same way BerndZabel's was. Zabel is a Hamilton judge who wore a Trump hat in court this month. Four people have filed complaints with theOntario Judicial Council. Zabel has also apologized.

"When a judge or quasi-judicial figure appears wearing some political symbol, it taints the process," Johnson said. "It ignores the sacred principle of political impartiality."