Before making the decision to formally resign his seat on Collingwood council, there was one recurring thought that held Brandon Houston back.
“I feel like I am letting people down who voted for me,” the former councillor told CollingwoodToday in an interview. “That was the biggest piece I was struggling through when making this decision,”
On Jan. 23, Houston gave the town written notice of his resignation, which was then announced to the public via a late amendment to the Jan. 27 council agenda.
Houston had been on a leave of absence since Nov. 18, 2024.
“I took the leave of absence a few months ago, hoping that would give me a chance to re-centre and be able to come back to it fully, but unfortunately it didn’t seem to be the case. It actually made me realize I needed to put my energy and attention into other places,” said Houston. “I needed to focus on my health and my business for my own well-being.”
Houston is the founder of the Collingwood Foundry. This was his first term on Collingwood council, after being a prominent member of the Collingwood business community for years.
“Over the last year, I’ve been dealing with a lot of personal challenges with family and health, while also working to run my business and balancing the role of being on council,” he said. “I was spread too thin.”
“I didn’t feel I was giving the role the attention it deserved,” said Houston.
When asked whether there was anything that surprised him while sitting in a council seat for the past two years, Houston said he learned a lot about how much work and time being on council can take up.
“It’s been an honour working with them and I really look forward to seeing the work they continue to do,” he said of his fellow councillors. “I am proud of the two years I put in. I’ll never regret it. I’m grateful for the confidence people had in me when the election came around.”
Houston said anything he was able to accomplish while on council was really part of a team effort.
“I don’t really like taking credit for anything,” he said. “Anything that’s ever been done to improve the town – it was everybody at the table. Not just me.”
As a group, Houston said some key accomplishments over the past two years include getting the province to commit to a new Collingwood General and Marine Hospital build on Poplar Sideroad after years of work by multiple parties, and work this council has been able to do on the redevelopment of the Collingwood Terminals.
Houston also points to the little things, such as getting emails or having conversations with residents and being able to help them with their issues of the day.
“I’ve been proud that I’ve been able to move the needle for them. Every little thing counts,” he said. “It’s challenging to make everyone happy. You’re never going to be able to make everybody happy in the decisions you make.”
Houston served as council representative on the Collingwood Downtown BIA board, and as a member of the town’s economic development roundtable.
“I’m incredibly honoured to have worked with the rest of the team at the table and staff. We have a good team in this town,” said Houston.
Meanwhile, at council’s regular meeting on Jan. 27, the remainder of council voted unanimously in favour of declaring Houston’s seat vacant, and calling on town staff to prepare a report outlining the process and options available to fill the vacancy.
“It’s so unfortunate that we’re losing Coun. Houston, and it also illustrates the quandary that... that usually these jobs are part-time, usually these jobs are not particularly well-paid, and so when you have younger demographics – business people, working people – it becomes a significant challenge,” said Coun. Deb Doherty.
Council found themselves in a similar situation almost exactly three years ago, when then-councillor, Tina Comi, tendered her resignation from her council seat on Jan. 21, 2022, with council declaring her seat vacant on Jan. 24, 2022.
Under the municipal act, when a council declares a council seat vacant, municipalities must fill the vacancy within 60 days either through an appointment or by-election, depending on the circumstances.
In 2022, council voted to have interested parties apply to fill the vacant seat, with council voting on a successful applicant through a formal appointment procedure that took place partially in-camera. Fourteen people had put their names forward to fill the vacancy, with Collingwood’s former mayor Chris Carrier being named the successful applicant.
Other options councillors could have considered at that time included appointing an eligible candidate from the previous election or appointing another qualified individual.
Due to the 60-day rule in the municipal act, Houston’s vacant seat must be filled by March 27.
“On behalf of council, I’d like to thank him for his time serving on council and we wish him all the best moving forward,” said Mayor Yvonne Hamlin.