Dave Neumann

For the American dancer and choreographer, see David Neumann.

Dave Neumann
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament
for Brantford
In office
September 10, 1987 – September 6, 1990
Preceded byPhil Gillies
Succeeded byBrad Ward
46th Mayor of Brantford
In office
1980–1987
Preceded byCharles Bowen
Succeeded byKaren George
Brantford City Councillor for
Ward Five
In office
December 1, 2010 – December 1, 2018
Serving with Marguerite Ceschi-Smith
Preceded byJohn K. Bradford
Succeeded byBrian Van Tilborg and Joshua Wall
In office
1976–1980
Serving with Doug Reeves
Preceded byWynn Harding and Bev Lavelle
Succeeded byMary Welsh and Charles McPhail
Personal details
Born (1941-10-05) October 5, 1941 (age 83)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Political partyLiberal
OccupationHigh school teacher

David Emil Neumann (born October 5, 1941) is a politician in the Canadian province of Ontario. He was the mayor of Brantford from 1980 to 1987 and served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Liberal from 1987 to 1990. After several years out of politics, he was elected as a city councillor for Brantford's fifth ward in the 2010 municipal election. He retired from the Brantford City Council in 2018.[1]

Early life and career

Neumann was born in Montreal, Quebec, and moved with his family to a dairy farm near Waterford, Ontario, as a child. He earned a degree from McMaster University in Hamilton and worked as a secondary school teacher at Pauline Johnson Collegiate. He later coordinated adult education for his school board and was president of the Brant Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF).[2]

Neumann supported The Waffle and was part of a group of Brantford-area New Democrats who favoured running party candidates at the municipal level.[3] He ran for Brantford's fourth council ward in 1972 and nearly defeated veteran councillor Charles Ward for the second position.

Municipal politician

Neumann was elected as an alderman for Brantford's fifth ward in 1976 and was re-elected without opposition in 1978. He became the city's mayor in 1980, defeating right-wing candidate Andy Woodburn and incumbent Charles Bowen, and was re-elected without serious opposition in 1982 and 1985. As mayor, Neumann helped expand Mohawk College, negotiated an agreement with Brant County that allowed Brantford to annex five thousands acres of land, concluded an agreement with the Six Nations to construct the Brantford Southern Access Road, and lobbied for the construction of Highway 403 to Ancaster.

Neumann was also in office when the city's Market Street was shut down and the unsuccessful Market Square Mall was constructed. He has rejected that suggestion that he was to blame for these developments, noting that he voted against Market Street's closure while on council, that the mall was approved by council as a whole, and that no-one could have predicted the mall's giant Eaton's store would close.[4]

As mayor, Neumann served on the board of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. He joined the Liberals in early 1987.[5]

Provincial politician

He ran for the Ontario legislature in the 1971 provincial election as a New Democrat, finishing third against Liberal Party leader Robert Nixon in Brant.[6]

Neumann was elected to the Ontario legislature for Brantford in the 1987 provincial election, defeating New Democrat Jack Tubman and Progressive Conservative incumbent Phil Gillies.[7] The Liberals won a landslide majority government in this election under David Peterson's leadership, and Neumann entered the legislature as a government backbencher. He was parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs from 1987 to 1988 and chaired the standing committee on social development from 1988 to 1990.

In a 1989 interview, he cited a new telecommunications discovery centre, an industrial park, and the completion of Highway 403 as the Peterson government's main achievements for his area.[8] Neumann also lobbied for increased Via Rail service; in August 1990, he announced that a previously cancelled commuter rail service to Brantford would reopen.[9]

The Liberals were defeated in the 1990 provincial election, and Neumann lost his seat to New Democrat Brad Ward.[10] He ran again in the 1995 provincial election but lost to Progressive Conservative candidate Ron Johnson.[11]

Since 1990

Neumann resumed his teaching career after leaving political life, retiring from the Brant County Board of Education in 1997. He ran for mayor of Brantford in 2000, but, despite an endorsement from the Brantford Expositor, he finished an unexpectedly poor third against incumbent Chris Friel.[12]

From 1998 to 2005, Neumann worked as executive director of the Ontario Association of Adult and Continuing Education School Board Administrators (CESBA), based in Brantford. He welcomed a $78,000 federal grant for literacy training in 2004.[13] He was also president of the local Kiwanis society in 2002–03.[14]

Neumann returned to elected office in the 2010 municipal election, winning the second seat in Brantford's fifth ward.[15] He serves on the brownfields community advisory committee, the social services committee, and the Brantford Heritage Committee.[16]

Federal politics

Neumann supported Jean Chrétien's bid to lead the Liberal Party of Canada in 1993 and continued to support Chrétien's leadership in the years that followed.[17]

He supported Marguerite Ceschi-Smith's bid for the Liberal nomination in Brant in the buildup to the 2004 federal election. Ceschi-Smith lost to Lloyd St. Amand.[18]

Electoral record

Provincial


1995 Ontario general election: Brantford
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Progressive Conservative Ron Johnson 13,745 41.01 +32.55 $36,072
Liberal Dave Neumann 10,418 31.08 −6.33 $25,897
New Democratic Brad Ward 8,165 24.36 −24.27 $41,119
Family Coalition Paul Vandervet 762 2.27 −1.60 $776
Green William Darfler 430 1.28 +0.08 $622
Total valid votes 33,520 100.00
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 288
Turnout 33,808 59.90 −6.81
Electors on the lists 56,445


1990 Ontario general election: Brantford
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
New Democratic Brad Ward 17,736 48.63 +15.11 $28,075
Liberal Dave Neumann 13,644 37.41 −3.88 $35,029
Progressive Conservative Dan DiSabatino 3,087 8.46 −16.73 $7,083
Family Coalition Peter Quail 1,413 3.87 – $7,153
Green William Darfler 436 1.20 – $0
Libertarian Helmut Kurmis 158 0.43 $0
Total valid votes/expenditure limit 36,474 100.00 – $47,526
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 286
Turnout 36,760 66.71 −2.17
Electors on the lists 55,106


1987 Ontario general election: Brantford
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Dave Neumann 14,919 41.29 – $35,227
New Democratic Jack Tubman 12,112 33.52 $33,914
Progressive Conservative Phil Gillies 9,104 25.19 $42,033
Total valid votes/expenditure limit 36,135 100.00 – $46,944
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 219
Turnout 36,354 68.88
Electors on the lists 52,776


1971 Ontario general election: Brant
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Robert Nixon 8,846 50.98
Progressive Conservative J. Pryor Harris 5,147 29.66
New Democratic Dave Neumann 3,359 19.36
Total valid votes 17,352 100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 81
Turnout 17,433 73.31
Electors on the lists 23,780
Municipal
2010 Brantford municipal election: Councillor, Ward Five (two members elected)
Candidate Votes %
(x)Marguerite Ceschi-Smith 2,345 32.11
Dave Neumann 1,206 16.52
Dwight A. Ayerhart 1,102 15.09
(x)John K. Bradford 867 11.87
Tim Philp 765 10.48
Stephen C. Morris 599 8.20
Chris Markell 311 4.26
Donald R. Haddow 107 1.47
Total valid votes 7,302 100


2000 Brantford municipal election: Mayor of Brantford
Candidate Votes %
(x)Chris Friel 13,251 45.60
John Starkey 9,586 32.99
Dave Neumann 4,015 13.82
Kevin Raymond 1,777 6.12
Winston C. Ferguson 245 0.84
Joseph Robert Gallant 185 0.64
Total valid votes 29,059 100


1985 Brantford municipal election: Mayor of Brantford
Candidate Votes %
(x)Dave Neumann 14,285 83.77
William Stewart 1,589 9.32
Andy Woolley 1,178 6.91
Total valid votes 17,052 100


1982 Brantford municipal election: Mayor of Brantford
Candidate Votes %
(x)Dave Neumann 16,267 75.68
Yvonne McMahon 1,638 7.62
William Stewart 1,136 5.28
Robert MacKeigan 1,014 4.72
Andy Woolley 954 4.44
Lenny Kerr 486 2.27
Total valid votes 21,495 100


1980 Brantford municipal election: Mayor of Brantford
Candidate Votes %
Dave Neumann 9,099 40.41
Andy Woodburn 7,948 35.30
(x)Charles Bowen 5,024 22.32
Andy Woolley 443 1.97
Total valid votes 22,514 100


1978 Brantford municipal election: Councillor, Ward Five (two members elected)
Candidate Votes %
(x)Dave Neumann accl. -
(x)Doug Reeves accl. -


1976 Brantford municipal election: Councillor, Ward Five (two members elected)
Candidate Votes %
Doug Reeves 1,538 33.22
Dave Neumann 1,072 23.15
Ernie Fish 757 16.35
(x)Wynn Harding 591 12.76
Charles McPhail 435 9.40
Yvonne McMahon 237 5.12
Total valid votes 4,630 100


1972 Brantford municipal election: Councillor, Ward Four (two members elected)
Candidate Votes %
James C. Kent 2,834 36.49
(x)Charles Ward 1,745 22.47
Dave Neumann 1,642 21.14
Jack Arnold 757 9.75
Arne Zabell 489 6.30
George AuCoin 300 3.86
Total valid votes 7,767 100

References

  1. ^ "Former mayor added to Wall of Recognition". Brantford Expositor. October 23, 2019. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  2. ^ Ross Marowits, "Neumann sees a need for new leadership," Brantford Expositor, 8 November 2000, D2.
  3. ^ Orland French, "Heady happenings dot the map," Globe and Mail, 3 April 1987, A7; Dave Mann, "Hess was guiding light for local NDP," Brantford Expositor, 8 September 2001, A12.
  4. ^ Ross Marowits, "Neumann sees a need for new leadership," Brantford Expositor, 8 November 2000, D2; "Brantford: Focus on core," Hamilton Spectator, 17 October 2000, A7.
  5. ^ "Mayor switches to Liberals," Toronto Star, 26 March 1987, A7.
  6. ^ "Ontario provincial election results riding by riding". The Globe and Mail. June 10, 1977. p. D9.
  7. ^ "Results from individual ridings". The Windsor Star. September 11, 1987. p. F2.
  8. ^ William Walker, "Rookie MPP's learn to take the heat," Toronto Star, 26 March 1989, B4.
  9. ^ Peter Howell, "Riders thrilled by revival of Via," Toronto Star, 19 August 1990, C10.
  10. ^ "Ontario election: Riding-by-riding voting results". The Globe and Mail. September 7, 1990. p. A12.
  11. ^ "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. June 8, 1995. Archived from the original on April 23, 2014. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
  12. ^ "Setting a new course for Brantford" [editorial], Brantford Expositor, 9 November 2000, A10; Susan Gamble, "Neumann faithful in disbelief after third-place finish," Brantford Expositor, 14 November 2000, A3; David Judd, "We're entitled to our opinion just like you," Brantford Expositor, 3 February 2006, A10.
  13. ^ "Literacy project receives $78,000: Federal funds will help train teachers," Brantford Expositor, 23 October 2004, A3.
  14. ^ "Around Town," Brantford Expositor, 22 November 2002, A8.
  15. ^ 2010 Municipal Official Election Results Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine, City of Brantford, accessed 28 October 2010.
  16. ^ Michael-Allan Marion, "City councillors signal move in new direction," Archived 2011-06-13 at the Wayback Machine Brantford Expositor, accessed 1 December 2010.
  17. ^ Michael-Allan Marion, "Liberals breathing sigh of relief," Brantford Expositor, 22 August 2002, A1.
  18. ^ Michael-Allan Marion, "Liberal hopefuls off and running," Brantford Expositor, 28 February 2004, A1.