Outgoing Mayor Keith Hull sees a hole-in-one in his future.
For this week’s edition of People of Collingwood we spoke with Hull, 51, Mayor of Collingwood and realtor.
Q: For how long have you lived in Collingwood?
A: I am originally from Waterloo.
I attended school at Brock University. I worked for a short period of time in Bolton, Waterloo and then Toronto. I decided I wanted to explore working in a small resort community. I gave some consideration to going out west, like many young people. I was 25 at the time.
In the fall of 1996, I had a friend who had a spare room in a condominium he was renting here in Collingwood. I approached him about subletting should I be able to find work in the ski industry. It wasn’t a difficult thing to do. I found employment at Blue Mountain Resort. In December 1996 I moved to the area.
Prior to moving here, I had never been, aside from driving through. As a kid, in the summertime, I had been to Blue Mountain to go on the Great Slide Ride and I had been to Blue to ski many times. I think one of my earliest memories of (Collingwood) was driving north on Hurontario, seeing ships at the end, then turning left, or west and going out to the hill.
Q: When you first decided to run for council in Collingwood in 2010, what went into that decision?
A: I’ve always had a vested interest in the community. It wasn’t something that was decided overnight. In 2010, I felt like I was ready from a career standpoint and had a supportive family. I felt there were the winds of change in that election.
I have had an interest in municipal politics for decades. My father served as a councillor – then called an alderman – in Waterloo in the late 1970s/early ’80s. I grew up in a family where my dad was politically active and my mother was very supportive.
In the early 2000s, I served in the second iteration of Vision 2020. I made my first presentation to the council of the day in 2003. I also served on the heritage committee and an affordable housing task force prior to 2010. It gave me an opportunity to meet people in the community.
Q: Are there any goals you had back when you started on council in 2010 that you’ve been able to see through?
A: Unfortunately, no.
In 2010, and again in 2018, I really ran on electing somebody who can make tough decisions on behalf of those I represent. I think generally speaking, when running for local government because you’re not running on behalf of a party, you run on issues like sustainable growth, affordability or economic growth.
In my opinion, you’re not running on a particular issue. You’re running on the decisions you’ll be faced with, you will have the ability to make that tough decision and move forward.
There was an opportunity to build a multi-use facility. At the time, I was active myself and I had two young boys and there had been an attempt earlier in the 2000s that did not move forward. That was something I thought was missing in the community, but I didn’t run on it per se.
In my opinion, it’s a shortcoming for this community.
Q: Do you have any political regrets?
A: I do regret that this community, to this day, given the athletic history, the demand (is there) for such a facility but we don’t have one. It frustrates me that our neighbours to the east in Wasaga Beach, in this term of council, have been able to move forward and are building a twin pad arena and library facility that will meet current and future needs for that community.
I think it’s a miss for the Town of Collingwood.
There are other things people would like to potentially see. A performing arts centre is top of mind as an example.
Q: What made you decide to not run for another term?
A: A number of factors went into the decision. If I’m being truthful, it’s something I struggled with back and forth.
In typical political fashion, I’ve sat on the fence for a while weighing the options back and forth.
If I’m fortunate enough to see the age of 80, to have served two terms is 10 per cent of my life spent around the council table. It’s a significant time period for anyone. I applaud those who serve beyond that.
It’s been a great honour. It’s a perfect time to leave. There are some other things I’d like to do in the community, still related to public service but in a different capacity.
Q: You’ve served as councillor, deputy mayor and mayor over two terms. What are some of the differences between those positions and did anything surprise you?
A: The key difference is, when you’re in the position of mayor, you no longer have that ability to be an independent voice. You’re chair of the board; your primary function is to be the facilitator of well-run meetings.
Some people might have been thankful that as chair, my time to speak was somewhat limited. Perhaps it wasn’t a bad thing.
As mayor – and it was an absolute honour – you do become the face of the council. Your time becomes much more consumed.
Q: What is the thing you’ve accomplished during your time on council of which you’re most proud?
A: There are a number of things I’m proud of, but I think the one thing that, 20 years from now, that I will be really proud of is that I was part of a council between 2010-2014 that looked into moving forward with of the sale of the Terminal buildings. It was an unsuccessful process and in a twist of irony, that failure has resulted in what could be a real transformative change for our waterfront and the community.
What I’m really proud of is the last council started a process where the integrity and structure was sound. This council then moved forward with continuing and finishing that work and establishing with staff a defined process that took the politics out of moving forward to explore a private/public opportunity to redevelop the building and the spit itself.
I’m proud we established that very defined process. This is an example of how local government should work as it relates to a project of this nature and size, and how something like this can unfold to bring something incredible to the community and region.
I hope that 20 years from now when I come over the hill on 124 in Duntroon and I’m looking north, I’ll still see a Terminal building in some type of form.
We’ve created something that’s really special.
Q: Is there anything you’ll miss about being the mayor?
A: Many things. I had opportunities to meet and engage with some really interesting and diverse people both inside and outside the community. This community is really at a tipping point, in a good way.
The Collingwood Pride Parade. I had nothing to do with it, other than I was able to participate in it. Having that birds-eye view from the float going north on Hurontario, seeing people in the community young and old, some who are multiple generations and others that are a few months new to the community celebrating diversity, a change and ensuring that we’re moving forward in a progressive way.
As mayor, I take great pride (no pun intended) in being the first mayor to participate in a Pride Parade in the Town of Collingwood.
Q: What are your plans once the term is over?
A: I’ve been a realtor since 2002. It’s my intent to return to real estate on a full-time basis and really focus on my practice. At the same time, I will look for other opportunities in the community where I can use my talents.
At one time, I had a goal of making the Senior PGA Tour by the age of 50. That’s come and gone, but I’ve never hit that elusive hole-in-one. Hopefully, I’ll have opportunities to golf more, and who knows? Maybe next summer I’ll hit that hole-in-one.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like people in Collingwood to know about you?
A: From a political standpoint, I hope that people – whether they’re fans or maybe they’re not enamoured with me – knew that I came to the table with the best of intentions. I tried my best. I had the best interest of the community at heart.
One thing I’ve learned over the past maybe year and a half that I won’t apologize for, is I finally started to wear my emotions on my sleeve. I think the majority of people who serve in municipal government are passionate about their communities, and it’s OK to express your emotions from time to time because it shows a human side. It also shows you do care.
For our feature People of Collingwood, we’ll be speaking with interesting people who are either from or are contributing to the Collingwood community in some way, letting them tell their own stories in their own words. This feature will run on CollingwoodToday every weekend. If you’d like to nominate or suggest someone to be featured in People of Collingwood, email [email protected].
