Monday marked the first day that you could file the paper work to run for office in this fall’s Municipal Election, and when it was all said and done it was a pretty quiet one. While one person signed up to take on the incumbents, another long-time councillor announced that he is making this term around the horseshoe his last.

First, the retirement news, and it comes from Guelph’s west end. Ward 4 Councillor Mike Salisbury posted on his website Monday morning that he is stepping aside at the end of this term to make room for new voices around the council table.

“It has been my honour to be given this responsibility by the residents of Ward 4 and it is with gratitude that I would like to announce my intention to retire from public service and pass the torch back to the community,” Salisbury said. “If you have ever considered running for local office, I strongly encourage you to do so.”

Salisbury was first elected to council in 2006, but he lost his seat in 2010 to a new political player on the scene at that time named Cam Guthrie. He ran again in 2014 and was re-elected, and then won re-election for a second time in 2018. In his professional life, Salisbury is a landscape architect with Earthartist Natural Playgrounds, but lately he’s been getting attention as a multimedia artist including a recent installation in Springfield, MO.

Salisbury is the second city councillor to announce he’s not running this fall, the other is Ward 1 Councillor Bob Bell who told Guelph Today earlier this year that, “I’ve certainly been on long enough and it’s been difficult holding down two jobs at the same time and I am getting a little long in the tooth.”

Both Mayor Cam Guthrie and Ward 2 Councillor Rodrigo Goller have told Open Sources Guelph in the recent past they they intend to run for re-election while Ward 3 Councillor Phil Allt and Ward 5 Councillor Leanne Caron both said that they were undecided. Ward 1 Councillor Dan Gibson told Guelph Today that it is his intention to run for re-election this October too, which leaves nearly half of council still firmly in the undecided category. At least publicly.

One person who’s already decided is Thai Mac. He’s officially the first person to sign up as a nominee in the 2022 Municipal Election in Guelph as a candidate in the new Ward 1. Mac owns a local marketing firm and is well-known for his “Caught in Guelph” Facebook page and other social media endeavours.

“Running for Guelph City Council, or a school trustee position, is a great way to make a difference in the community,” said City Clerk Stephen O’Brien in a media release today. “Council members help foster an open municipal democratic process, build trust in local government and represent community interests through Council decisions.”

You can get information on running for mayor, city councillor or school board trustee at the City of Guelph’s elections website. The last day to file nomination papers is August 19 at 2 pm, and Election Day itself is October 24.