Westlock will have a new mayor after this fall’s election after Bruce Lennon announced he’s not running for a fourth term as the town’s chief magistrate.
After more than 25 years of combating the thrills and spills of municipal politics within the community, Lennon announced on Aug. 9 that it’s time for him to step down.
“I’m going to be 64 in September,” he explained. “I want to think about slowing down and that’s my plan, but I’m obviously not going to leave town or anything.”
Lennon was first elected as Westlock’s mayor in 2004. In that election he earned 1,111 votes, easily defeating Clem Fagnan and Don Naclia, who received 497 and 102 votes respectively.
He ran again in 2007 and was acclaimed when no one else ran against him. Lennon was once again acclaimed as mayor in the 2010 election.
Prior to running for mayor Lennon had spent three terms as a town councillor from 1992 until 2001, and 10 years as a school board trustee with the Westlock school division from 1982 until 1992.
“That’s a total of 28 years and given all the circumstances, I think it’s time to step down,” he said. “There’s obviously going to be new people on council and a new mayor to have a fresh look at where we’re going and move the town forward.”
His time spent serving the community hasn’t gone unnoticed. Lennon was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal at the July 22 town council meeting.
Ultimately Lennon is stepping away from politics entirely — he is not planning to run for a councillor seat this October.
“I’ve mulled it around for awhile and I was away on holidays for a few days over the summer, so I’ve kind of finalized my decision,” he said, noting the desire to have some free time would be nice.
See next week’s Westlock News for a retrospective on Lennon’s three terms as mayor.
