Four years ago, Keith Hobbs was a man on a mission.
Just recently retired from three decades patrolling the streets with Thunder Bay Police, Hobbs took the electorate by storm, his tough stance on crime and fiscal responsibility vaulting him past two-time incumbent Lynn Peterson and into the mayor’s chair.
His term, especially its early days, had its rough patches.
Hobbs endured public spats with his former boss and almost immediately had to deal with a $110-million lawsuit laid on the city by Horizon Wind Inc., a southern Ontario company that wanted to build turbines on the Nor’Wester mountain range.
Then came May 28, 2012 and the flooding and sewage backup disaster that destroyed hundreds of basements across town and led to a massive clean-up effort.
But through it all, Hobbs has persevered, a populist mayor who prides himself as one of the people.
He joked he’s running again because he’s a sucker for punishment.
“I would agree with them to some extent, but I think we’ve accomplished so much during this term of council,” Hobbs said.
“Given that I was a rookie mayor people didn’t give me much chance at the start, I think I’ve proven my leadership skills.”
Hobbs pointed to the flood and its aftermath.
“We had a city council meeting that night and I left and I walked through the community that night and saw the devastation and talked to people that were hit first-hand by this. This is where I think my leadership and incident commander skills came into play, helping people out,” Hobbs said.
“We started the Safe Homes program and paid for people’s basements to be fixed up and their houses to be repaired, even though provincial funding wasn’t in place for that program.”
Of the six candidates running, Hobbs is the lone one to unequivocally throw his support behind the proposed $114-million event and convention centre.
Hobbs, who said he initially supported putting it to a public vote, only to change his mind during the course of his term in office, said the city has done its due diligence and promises the project won’t go ahead unless both the federal and provincial governments come to the table with significant contributions.
Hobbs said despite what some might say, the city has a stable financial picture, another accomplishment he’s proud to have played a role in.
“There’s a lot of election rhetoric out there about what bad shape the city’s finances are in. But we’ve paid down debt to the tune of $31 million this term of council,” he said, noting Thunder Bay did just take on $8 in additional debt to cover the costs of widening Golf Links Road.
“I’m hearing out there that we’re further in debt and that’s not the case.”
Hobbs says he plans to continue to seek ways to reduce crime in the city, adding he’ll continue to reach out to the city’s First Nation neighbours to build bridges between communities.
