Charlie Clark says he won't seek re-election as Saskatoon's mayor
Clark has been Saskatoon's mayor since 2016
Saskatoon will have a new mayor after this fall's civic election.
At a news conference at city council chambers Wednesday afternoon, Mayor Charlie Clark announced he won't seek re-election.
Clark told reporters that he wants to spend more time with his kids before they grow up and move out.
He got emotional talking about having to miss or be late for family meals, adding that's what the duty of being mayor sometimes calls for.
"If you would look at the texts between Sarah and I over the years, you would see a record of so many nights when I said, 'Oh, I'll be home by 5:00 or 5:30 to help with the supper and sit down with the family,'" he said. "But some curveball would come in and I wouldn't be home until 9:00 or 10:00."
Clark said he didn't get into politics for it to be a career.
"After almost 18 years, life-changing years, on city council, I can tell in my heart that it's time for a new chapter in my life," he said. "And I honestly do not know what that is yet."
He said this was a difficult decision, but that he's come to terms with not being mayor when the shovels go into the dirt on a lot of projects that he has been a part of, including the proposed downtown arena and entertainment district.
Clark also said he didn't plan on running in the next federal or provincial elections, and will serve the rest of his current term as mayor.
He said council still has very important work to do in the coming months, including on the downtown event and entertainment district, homelessness and shelters, the federal government's Housing Accelerator Fund, and getting phase 1 of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system underway.
He said he's announcing this now because it's "better to provide clarity for what to expect in the next election."
Clark will be the first mayor in Saskatoon since Cliff Wright to leave office voluntarily rather than because of an election defeat.
He said regardless of who the new mayor is, he would like to help with the transition as much as possible.
Clark was first elected mayor in 2016 and has been on city council since 2006, when he was elected as the councillor for Ward 6.
He narrowly defeated incumbent mayor Don Atchison in 2016, before handily beating Atchison and former Saskatchewan Party MLA Rob Norris in the 2020 election with more votes than their combined total.
In a year-end interview with CBC News last month, Clark said he hadn't decided whether he would push for a third term in office.
"There's lots to consider, including with my family and so on, so I haven't made a final call," he said at the time.
This fall's civic election in Saskatoon is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 13.
With files from Dayne Patterson and Morgan Modjeski