Lakeshore's mayor says he will run for another term this year.
Tom Bain has already announced he will not pursue another term as Essex County warden, but there had been some speculation on whether he would pursue another four-year term as mayor of Lakeshore. Bain told BlackburnNewsWindsor.com at the annual Breakfast With the Mayors event Thursday at Colasanti's that he fully expects to run.
"I'm pretty sure, and I'll have to make some final decisions yet, but I'll be back running for mayor of Lakeshore again," says Bain.
Bain has had a long, colourful career in municipal politics. He was first elected councillor in 1978 for the township of Rochester, later serving as reeve and deputy reeve until the township became part of the amalgamated town of Lakeshore in 1999.
He was first elected as Lakeshore's deputy mayor in 2000 and has been mayor since 2006.
He announced earlier this month that he will not stand for county warden again, so there will be someone else sitting in Bain's county chair after the elections. Bain says holding both elected offices has become a grind and he wants to focus on one job, as Lakeshore's mayor.
"With the job of both mayor and warden it's heavy going," says Bain. "I'm in my ninth year as warden of Essex County, so at the end of the term in October I'm going to pack it in."
Bain says he has no regrets about stepping down as warden after nine years, saying that much has been accomplished. He says the county can claim something that few other Ontario counties can.
"We've been able to, through reserves, become debt-free as a county," says Bain. "When we need to go and purchase things, that money is already sitting there."
According to the Association of Municipalities Ontario website, candidates for the October 22 municipal election can begin the official filing process on May 1.