Bob Mullin won’t be seeking re-election as mayor of Stirling-Rawdon, but before he bows out of municipal politics, he hopes to get the provincial government’s attention on several key issues.
Mullin, who has been in public service for 16 years, is also the chair of the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus (EOWC) and will be at next week’s Association of Municipalities of Ontario Conference to lobby the province on area priorities.
One of those includes asking Ontario to remove the requirement for municipalities to remit the 1.76 per cent of the non-refundable portion of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST). This would allow these funds to be retained and reinvested into municipal infrastructure, including water and wastewater systems, roads, bridges, community facilities, and capital assets.
“In our 103 Eastern Ontario municipalities, it could be as much as $20 million-plus over the course of a single year. If you have a $1 million project and you figure out the HST on that, it adds up pretty quick.”
Hastings County’s paramedic services provides ambulances to a large geographical area, and Mullins is hoping the province will continue funding the area’s community paramedicine program.
It has resulted in a 10 per cent reduction in emergency department use and a seven per cent drop in hospital admissions.
“Paramedics have the ability now to do some preventative care, especially in the case of seniors who may not necessarily need to be taken to the hospital. Minor treatments can be performed right on site without having to transport them to hospital,” he explained.
About 80 per cent of people in eastern Ontario are aged 65 and older, a statistic which puts a strain on the area’s health care system.
Mullins said a main reason he got involved in politics was because of the financial strain created by the township’s former local police.
“It was just financially killing the village. We eventually managed to transition to OPP, and that was a success story.”
The transition became official in 2017, when Central Hastings OPP Detachment took over policing responsibilities for the township.
Mullins added he won’t miss the daily pressures of the job along with the negativity and volatility of social media when it comes to politics.
He was first elected to Stirling-Rawdon Township Council in 2010. He was re-elected in 2014 as deputy mayor and served as mayor starting in 2018.
