Would be mayor Graeme Outerbridge has accused the incumbent of “electioneering” when the City of Hamilton purchased a vacant lot in North East Hamilton.But Mayor Charles Gosling hit back and said the decision to buy the property on the corner of Court and Dundonald Streets “was not a sudden purchase.”In his first press conference since the announcement of his candidacy leading Team Hamilton, Mr Outerbridge told the media gathered on Court Street: “If you look behind me there’s a vacant lot, interestingly enough very recently, all of a sudden City Hall was interested in North East Hamilton and things started happening.“The lot was bought and I wonder why, but I don’t think the electorate is that silly. They recognise what an election is and as damaging as this administration is, they can do things like that.“But the truth is North East Hamilton has not gotten the attention it deserves for a very long time.“This is an opportunity for the people of Hamilton, especially North East Hamilton to take the heart of Hamilton back to where it belongs and that’s where the residents reside in North East Hamilton.“This city as a whole should become a city that’s treated evenly and fairly throughout, and I believe the diverse team of professionals behind me with a variety of different skills have come together to unify this city, to set a great example not only for Hamilton but the country itself.”For the first time ever, Hamilton residents will have the right to vote in the municipal elections for City Hall on May 10, the advance poll will be held on May 3.“I think this is going to be a very historic election, it was a long struggle and fight to make that change,” said Mr Outerbridge. “Its interesting that the people who we are running against who occupy the positions right now were the people that spent a half a million dollars resisting that parliamentary change that took place to give the power of the vote to the residents of Hamilton who are on the electoral roll.”When asked what Team Hamilton plans to do to improve the fortunes of city residents, candidate for Common Councillor Lawrence (Larry) Scott said: “What we have to do first of all is to spread the wealth that is in fact in the city and that comes primarily from taxes to the residents generally.“There were basic concerns of the residents, they need to have their affairs, their trash, their opportunities within the city to be looked after in the same way that we look after the rest of Hamilton. They pay taxes too.“We want to ensure that the assets that are in the city that are paid for by the city itself, that’s the residents and the businesses are used in an equitable way to service the whole city. That’s what our intention is.”Mr Outerbridge added: “I think the success will be built on the team around me and also hard work, getting out and meeting the new voters of Hamilton and making them understand what an important election this is.”When asked if he is suggesting the land purchase was merely electioneering, Mr Outerbridge replied: “I am.”But Mayor Gosling maintained the upcoming election had nothing to do with the NE Hamilton lot purchase.“As I have said before and will repeat, we first identified this plot of land during a walk about of North Hamilton with the then Uptown Market Association and Erica Smith of the EEZ.“Corner lots on any city block are prime pieces of real estate plus from the state of poor upkeep of the property this piece was having a negative impact on the surrounding properties. We quickly discovered that government had agreed with the land owner to purchase the property.“In our quarterly meetings with the Premier, Dr Brown, we raised the prospect of stepping in and taking over the deal on behalf of North Hamilton. He appeared somewhat open to this suggestion a further discussion was supposed to happen.“Darius Tucker raised this very issue during his comments during the debate on the Amendments to the Municipalities Act in 2010. The Premier did not deny the point.“The purchase of this property by Government was never completed nor were there any further discussions between the Premier’s office and the Corporation on this matter. I believe a government quango got to a similar point of agreeing on a sale price, again with the property never being purchased.“During the same time frame I also spoke to Graeme Outerbridge during a meeting we had at City Hall about this property and our challenges being able to purchase it.”Once the property was put up for sale Mr Gosling said: “I took it upon myself to find out the price, presented a plan to the Corporation members for us to negotiate with the property owner for a price significantly less than what it was on offer for.”“All of this takes time, two major players had the opportunity to invest in the community and did not take it, the Corporation did. This is the first non-commercial commitment of this size for some period by the Corporation or any other Government body.“The members and myself were not going to let a pending election destroy this opportunity for the people and businesses of this area.”As for the accusation that the land deal was merely “electioneering, Mr Gosling said: “Well there is an election in two weeks. I am running for re-election and I was planning to win.”