COMOX, B.C. – Town of Comox Mayor Paul Ives will not be seeking re-election in the fall.
“Looking forward to spending more time with these two beautiful girls in my life, and with our three sons and partners as I step down from my role as Mayor of the best place to live, love, laugh, play and work,” Ives announced via Twitter late Wednesday night.
The next general municipal election takes place Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018.
General local elections in B.C. are held every four years on the third Saturday in October.
For the Town of Comox, eligible voters will be voting for one mayor, six councillors and one school Trustee.
Ives has served as Town of Comox mayor since December 2008 and previous to that, sat on council for six years.
As well, he’s a partner with the Courtenay law firm, IvesBurger.
Ives was called to the bar in 1988 and practises primarily in the real estate conveyancing and development, wills/estates and corporate/commercial areas of law.
Ives told ComoxValleyNow.com that in life, you get an opportunity to give back to the community and “that’s what I’ve done for the past 16 years.”
“In that regard, I guess it’s time to look at doing some other things in life that I’ve put a lesser priority on in the past 10 years (as mayor),” he said. “It’s a bit of a bittersweet thing for me in terms of being a person who really enjoyed working with staff and council over the last 10 years as mayor, and getting a bunch of stuff done but also understanding that at some point, that has to be finished.”
Ives said he and council accomplished much in the Town of Comox over the past decade.
In a statement, Ives said “over the past 15-plus years, much has been accomplished by the Team Comox staff and council as we have addressed many needs within our community for improved library, recreation and parks amenities, for additional parks and greenspace in NE Woods and Baybrook, and for dedicated bike lanes and greenways.”
Ives also pointed out that the financial books are completely balanced.
“That’s something that council and staff, particularly the finance staff, really stayed focused on,” Ives said. “It’s never easy to stay fiscally disciplined and it’s not always easy to say no, but at times we had to say no, but the things we said yes to and the partnerships that we built with other levels of government really helped us get that work done.”
Over the past 10 years, Ives said the rec centre was expanded, parks were expanded, a new public works building was built, and all debt has been paid off.
“What that does, is give council and staff a bit of a clean slate going forward, gives them a lot of financial flexibility,” he said.
Ives’ tweet prompted a number of well-wishes in the Twitterverse.
In response, Ives said, “Thanks for your well wishes but it has been a team effort.”
Ives also noted on Twitter that “only time will tell” regarding his future and “for now family and work at my law firm are my priorities.”
