_QR77 Newsroom
2/24/2010
When Calgary voters go to the polls this fall to select a new mayor, Dave Bronconnier's name will not be on the ballot.
Since 2001, Bronconnier has been in charge of things at City Hall but has decided not to seek a fourth term in office this October.
"It's time to move on," he said Tuesday. "There's no regret."
Bronconnier adds he has largely accomplished an agenda set out in 2001.
The mayor insists he has no plans to enter provincial or federal politics, but instead will take on new challenges in the private sector.
"Dave Bronconnier was a very steady hand," remarked Mount Royal University political scientist Keith Brownsey. "The mayor's race is now wide open."
Many aldermen will have to do some soul searching over the next few months to decide if a run at the mayor's chair is in the cards.
"If I had a spare half a million dollars and lots of time on my hands, I can see it happening," joked longtime Ald. Dale Hodges.
Ald. Ric McIver has long been rumoured a candidate for the mayor's job but hasn't said one way or the other if he'll take a shot at it.
"I'm sad to see him go," said Alderman Gord Lowe, who added he wasn't shocked by the mayor's decision because Bronconnier is a young family man with a lot of career ambition and a successful resume in the business world.
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