SASKATOON - Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark has announced he will not seek a third term as mayor.
Clark announced at a news conference at City Hall he will not be running in the upcoming municipal election.
He cited two reasons for his decision. Clark said he had only a "brief period of time to experience being a parent who is also not a public figure."
He expressed his desire to spend more time with his family and "get the most" out of being a parent to his three kids before they moved on.
The second was that he didn't get into civic politics to make it a career. But after 18 years on council, "I can tell it was time for a new chapter in my life, and I honestly don't know what that is yet."
The announcement ended weeks of speculation about Clark's political future and his re-election plans. At the news conference, Clark also answered other rumors that have been circulating, as he confirmed he not planning to run in the upcoming provincial or federal elections this cycle.
Clark said he ran for council in 2006 because he wanted a more collaborative approach to City Council. He said he never imagined it would give him a "front row seat to the transformation of this amazing prairie city."
Clark said he was grateful to have taken the leap, and encouraged "anyone of doing something that is scary but meaningful to do it."
He also made clear will be staying on as Mayor through the municipal election in November, and pointed to a host of priorities in coming months, including on the downtown entertainment district, homelessness and shelters, the Housing Accelerator Fund, and others.
The reason he is announcing now, Clark said, was because it "was better to provide clarity for what to expect in the next election, and also so I don't have to play coy. That's not my style."
