THUNDER BAY — At-large city councillor Aldo Ruberto is stepping aside from municipal politics.
The four-time councillor planned to inform his city hall colleagues Monday evening that he will not be a candidate in next October's election.
"I've been there for 16 years. If you're working as a councillor for 16 years, and giving it your heart and soul, you're giving up a lot of energy. Quite frankly, it's time for me to retire," Ruberto told TBnewswatch.
He said he had always planned to serve just three terms, and decided about 18 months ago that four was his limit.
This means there will be at least five new faces on the 13-member council after the Oct. 24th vote.
Besides Ruberto, Mayor Bill Mauro and at-large councillor Rebecca Johnson, Neebing ward's Cody Fraser, and Red River ward councillor Brian McKinnon have announced that their names will not be on the ballot.
Ruberto said it's been an honour to serve, and he's proud of much of what city council has accomplished since he was first elected, pointing to waterfront development as a prime example.
"People gravitate to it. It's amazing," he said in describing its transformation.
But he's disappointed a waterfront recreational trail is still years away from being completed, saying these kinds of trails have been a priority for cities all over the world.
Ruberto also regrets that the city continues to struggle to develop an indoor turf facility for soccer and other sports, considering Thunder Bay has seven hockey arenas.
In his retirement, he said, he hopes to spend less time answering his phone, email messages and texts.
Ruberto has had a high profile on social media, where his posts have generated controversy, and even led to a recommendation from the city's integrity commissioner that he be sanctioned.
Council ultimately rejected that recommendation, but Ruberto concedes his engagement with the public on social media happened "maybe in a hostile manner" on occasion.
"But I always spoke my mind, and if I disagreed with someone, I let them know that and I let them know why. And I always tried to do it in a respectful manner," he declared.
Ruberto isn't ruling out a return to politics at some point.
