West Kelowna mayor Doug Findlater will not seek re-election this fall, though he has not ruled out running to be a council member.
Findlater officially announced Friday morning that he is not putting his hat in the ring for the October 2018 Municipal election.
“I am happy to say that after two long and successful careers (10 as Mayor and 34 with the Government of Canada) it is time to devote more time to family and personal matters, as well as travel to interesting places,” wrote Findlater.
“It has been 16 years that I will have served my West Kelowna city and region, four years as volunteer Chair of the Westside Governance Restructure Committee, six months as Alternate Electoral Area Director Westside, one year as a City Councillor, 10 years as Mayor, and 11 years as Regional District Director for West Kelowna (including 2 as Vice Chair of RDCO) concurrently.”
Earlier this month, Findlater was staying mum on whether he would run again or not.
Related: West Kelowna mayor mum on his political future
Former city councillor Gord Milsom — who served with Findlater on West Kelowna council up to 2014— has already announced he plans to seek the mayor’s chair regardless of Findlater’s decision.
Related: Former councillor announces mayoral bid in West Kelowna
Incumbent councillors Bryden Winsby, Rosalind Neis, Carol Zanon and and Rusty Ensign all say they are planning to run again as well.
Councillors Rick de Jong and Duane Ophus have not publicly said what they will do, and did not respond to a Capital News inquiry early in July about their immediate future political aspirations.
Findlater finished by saying he wants to thank the residents of West Kelowna who have supported him over the last 16 years.
“We have been blessed to be given this opportunity. I love what we have accomplished in my time as mayor and believe our city is a great and better place to live,” adds Findlater.
“In the coming weeks I will be considering ways to stay involved and still be supportive of our journey to a great city.”
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