If you wanted the job back then, you had to fight for it. Police applicants in the ’70s were brought down to the department’s gymnasium and placed in a boxing ring with the largest opponent that could be found. The top brass would stand along the upper balcony, watching.
“You went toe-to-toe,” says Tom Martin. “You had to be able to hold your own.”
Three hundred candidates applied to the Halifax police force in 1977. Martin was one of only two chosen. After this election, it might end up being the second toughest job application he’s been through.
As a mayoral candidate, he’s an unknown compared to some of his competition. Martin’s not as politically imposing as frontrunner Mike Savage. Nor is he as bombastic as his closest rival, Fred Connors. He freely admits to announcing his candidacy over a year ago solely because people weren’t going to know who he was. Which is strange, because Tom Martin has been serving this city for over 30 years.
It was “baptism by fire” when Martin began his police career in 1978. His first patrol was the nightshift, walking Gottingen Street. The five-foot-nine, 150-pound cop, patrolling the beat dressed in his “silly hat,” quickly learned how to deal with tense situations.
“You have to learn how to talk to people,” he says of the days he still considers the best of his career. “At one point we had 60 bars, me and one other guy, that were our responsibility. We went from fight to fight, every night.”
A transfer to homicide in 1990 took Martin off the streets, but didn’t exactly keep him tucked away behind a desk. He speaks with a sombre tone about the many times he had to break the news of a loved one’s death to family. Then there was his role as a senior crisis negotiator, which sometimes entailed crawling along the Macdonald Bridge in the middle of winter to talk down a potential suicide.
“I had one guy almost succeed in pulling me off, after talking to him for six hours,” says Martin. “You’re not doing it for a thank-you. There’s just something about taking a very chaotic situation, like council, and bringing it to some sort of functioning resolution.”
But not everything can be solved through discussion. Sometimes, you need to take action. Martin learned that when he joined the city’s cold case unit, and saw his investigations shut down over and again by inexperienced supervisors. All while the Halifax’s number of open murder cases grew.
“Fundamentally, morally it was just wrong. It was wrong what they did,” he says.
So Martin spoke out. First to his supervisors, then to the press. Actions that didn’t make him too popular with his bosses, but something he felt he had to do.
The stress from being police, and of living a life that was “too hard and too fast,” would catch up to Martin in 2005. At age 49 he would suffer two heart attacks. In hindsight, he says it was fortunate to happen while he was still young enough to correct his lifestyle. “I look back on it almost as a blessing,” he says. “One that caused me to change my entire way, how I was actually living. To start living healthy instead of living fast.”
After retiring from the police department in 2008, Martin worked as national director for Source Security for a short time. He found himself wanting to move on from the law enforcement field, though. So, despite having grown up a city boy, he and his wife bought a farm in Dutch Settlement. They raise lamb and various game birds, selling the meat to a local butcher. It’s been a peaceful change of pace for Martin, but he says something has been missing: public service.
“I don’t have an off button. I really, truly don’t,” the longtime civil servant says. “Working with people. That is where we solve problems. That is where we create order out of chaos.”
His first taste of politics came in 2008, when good friend Sheila Fougere asked Martin to run her mayoral campaign against Peter Kelly. He agreed, and quickly found himself neck-deep in the municipal political world. Fougere would ultimately lose that election by some 16,000 votes, which has seemingly caused a rift between the two former friends. She’s recently endorsed Martin’s opponent, Mike Savage, for mayor.
“I don’t understand that, to be very honest with you,” says Martin. “I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t overly impressed with it. But, you know, Sheila makes her own decisions.”
As does Tom Martin, and choosing to run for mayor has been the hardest decision he says he’s ever faced. It was only when he was reminded by friends of the experiences and skills he’s gained over the decades as a public servant that he decided to throw his hat in the race.
“It’s not like I just fell off the turnip truck last night,” he says. “I’ve been exposed to this city and the inner workings of this municipality for a long time. If you want to know the truth, I have more experience on the political scene on a municipal level than any other candidate. I’ve got more hours logged.”
Running for mayor isn’t something Martin thought he would do. But after watching council lose the public’s trust again and again he feels something needs to change. He knows he can do better for Halifax, and offers his track record as evidence.
“Look at someone’s experience, and ask this question, ‘What have you done? What have you done for this municipality?'” he says. “And if you ask me that question, we’re gonna be here for an awfully long time.”
Tom Martin doesn’t just think he’s the best candidate for the job, he’s once again willing to get in that ring and fight to prove it.
See our other mayoral candidate profiles:
Mike Savage
Fred Connors
Aaron Eisses
Steve Mackie
Robert (Wesley) McCormack
Related Stories
Mike Savage: The deal maker
Fred Connors: The voice of passion
Aaron Eisses: The techno farmer
Robert (Wesley) McCormack: The enthusiast
Steve Mackie: The comedian
This article appears in Oct 4-10, 2012.
Love the turnip truck comment! 😉
Finally, finally we’ve got a mayoral candidate that I can feel good about. Tom has a 30 year history of open and transparent public service, has business experience in spades, has lived and worked in both urban AND rural HRM, has a record of standing up for truth even when it can hurt him, is without question leading the way as far as transparency within this mayoral race, AND has gone on record as stating that he’ll donate his entire police pension to affordable-housing charities if he gets elected. Man, where do I sign up?
When you ask people what they want in their mayor they sum up everything that is Tom Martin. We want a mayor who can talk to people without shutting them down for asking tough questions. We want a mayor who will guide resident and councilors to work together to make their communities stronger. Tom Martin has talked about the issues we have in the HRM for a long time. He dealt with some of the problems we have in the HRM. Coming from the city then heading out to the rural areas, Tom knows what is happening with these areas. If you think he doesn’t know, then ask him. If he doesn’t know, you bet your ass he will ask you. Tom Martin won’t stray away from the hard questions. He is a wonderful person to talk with; he has stories that will make you think. He has done the city of Halifax a great deed. He has done Dartmouth a great deed. And I bet my bottom dollar he will do wonderful deeds for the whole HRM. He’s not a paper pusher. He’s a person pusher. Tom Martin wants people to succeed and grow and give back to their community. He is the “fighter” of this election. He’s fighting not just for your vote but for the way we live our lives. VOTE TOM MARTIN, HE IS WHAT HRM NEEDS IN OUR NEXT MAYOR!
If the mayor seat was givin based on resumes Tom would win before the polls even opened.
Wow what can I say, I keep learning more about Tom Martin that make’s me respect him more and pushes me much harder to inform our municipality residents. Hopefully they too feel the same way and make the right decision and Vote Tom Martin for Mayor… He knows the in’s and out’s of HRM every street and back road, he has seen it at its best and worst. He has the experience to run City Halls administration and the ability to have council come together to get jobs done…From Oct 6th to Oct 20th I hope that majority of HRM see’s all the candidate as they are and passes their judgments based on the candidates relevant experiences in our great municipality and by doing so Vote Tom Martin for Mayor….
Imagine a candidate that actually answers the questions.
Isn’t “Really*902” a member of the Tom Martin campaign? Should they not identify themselves as such?
Tom Martin is offering disclosure while Savage is offering secrecy. Yet both of them claim to be transparent. Tom Martin has disclosed his campaign’s finances: http://ask4more.ca/articles/campaign-discl… Savage refuses to do so, even though he’s amassed a war chest of over $200,000. What is he hiding? Raising that kind of money for HRM politics comes with baggage and favours. He must be afraid the public will find out who he’ll have to ‘pay back’.
There’s a big difference between Martin and Savage. One will tell you the truth, and the other will tell you whatever he thinks you want to hear. One sets an example for transparency, and the other pays lip service to it.
Tom Martin said he experienced racism because he was the only white cop in a court room for 3 days one time. That is not racism. Racism is about power and it’s institutionalized. When he answered “Yes” to the “Have you experienced racism” question at the debate hosted by MANS he lost any street cred he had.
Savage doesn’t have my vote either. I am not thrilled with the choices.
I don’t ever remember the hiring criteria of any City office as stepping into a ring. That’s a pile of bullsj!t. and there is always more than 2 cops on the beat anywhere in the city. Martin sounds like a horn blowing tough guy, that actually couldn’t beat up his mother.
Eventhough you’re a great bullsh!tter, you NO politician: Stay on the farm.
I was voting Savage right from the start even though I was a tad nervous that we would ge an old boy with tight connections. I liked the fact he came from Business and he always had my vote in federal elections. Ove the past few weeks he has lost my vote and Tom has it now. Initially I felt Fred would get 7-10% and tom 10-15% and Savage likely about 70 with the other birds splitting a few hundred votes.
I think Tom will do much better than my initial projections. Fred will get his 10 and it might be a tad closer than many expected
Tom has my vote!
I’m still undecided but I like that Tom Martin has the experience that all other candidates lack when it comes to Halifax’s # 1 PROBLEM = Crime. He’s the only one who mentions it as a priority. We all know this city has huge problems with crime. I’ve been wondering where the other candidates are with respect to this issue.
Here is a suggestion to Tom Martin, do not I say again do not donate your pension money to affordable housing. If you wan to get rid of crime take your money, hire a convoy of cattle trucks and clean out those lice infested projects on Gottengin St and else where in the city, move them to Preston or Cherry Brook, then build a 100 foot high fence around the place. If they have to be fed use sling shots, and aim to kill.Anything less is a dereliction of duty.
“russ williams” … racist much?