THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay’s longest current-serving city councillor is seeking a seventh term in office.
Coun. Trevor Giertuga, who had earlier indicated he would not run for a second straight at-large term, on Friday announced he will put his name forward.
First elected in 2000, Giertuga spent his first five terms serving in McIntyre Ward before switching to an at-large position in 2018.
The long-time councillor said his health has improved to the point where he feels he can still serve the residents of Thunder Bay, having recovered following five surgeries in the past two years following a motor vehicle collision.
Given the potential turnover coming in 2022, Giertuga said he wanted to provide a voice of leadership to a council that will have at least five new faces going forward.
Couns. Aldo Ruberto, Rebecca Johnson, Cody Fraser and Brian MacKinnon have announced they will not be seeking re-election, as has Mayor Bill Mauro.
At-large Coun. Peng You has put his name forward for mayor, up against at least three other candidates.
“It’s the fact that my health has improved and the fact that I really, truly believe we need leadership and experience on this new council, because we could have turnover like there was in 2000, and we know how well that worked out," Giertuga said.
The 2000 council was marred by in-fighting and the firing of city manager Brian MacRae, resulting in a lengthy legal process.
“I just want to continue working on keeping taxes low and finding value for our tax dollars. We need the proper kind of people on council, people who are going to make those hard decisions. I’m hoping we’re eventually going to get a council who is really going to dive down into our services and what we provide to our constituents,” Giertuga said.
Giertuga, who plans to file his nomination papers next week, wasn’t the only sitting councillor on Friday to announce plans to seek re-election.
Kristen Oliver, who has served one term as Westfort’s representative, is in the hunt for a second term in municipal office.
Oliver was chair of the Police Services Board during her current term, but stepped away from the position amid allegations of systemic racism filed against the board as a whole.
Two other candidates also filed on Friday.
Andy Wolff, who finished second to incumbent Andrew Foulds in the 2018 Current River race, with 24.4 per cent of the vote, has also run provincially and federally for various independent parties, most recently the Northern Ontario Party in the 2022 provincial election.
Cory Bagdon makes it a four-candidate race in McKellar Ward, joining incumbent Brian Hamilton and hopefuls Stephanie Danylko and Lori Paras in the hunt.
Nominations close next Friday.
