John Wright's time with Chatham-Kent (CK) Council is nearing an end.
The Ward 3 councillor confirmed to CKNewsToday.ca that he will not run in this fall's municipal election.
When asked why he wouldn't run again, Wright gave a simple reason.
"Age. I want to retire. I'm the oldest one on there now," he said."I've done my time, it's time for somebody else now."
Wright has served two terms on CK council, and served one term on Highgate council before the amalgamation into Chatham-Kent.
Now, the 68-year-old council veteran hopes for a younger person to take his place.
When asked about his experience with council, Wright said it varied.
"It's been interesting... I get lots of compliments, I get lots of disagreements... it's enjoyable to see what you can do, but there's also a lot of criticism. I take the good with the bad," he stated.
When asked about the most pressing issues he's faced over his tenure with council, Wright mentioned the community hub project.
He was one of five councillors to vote against the hub, which he projected could be a big issue come election time.
Wright gave one last piece of advice to anybody looking to take his place.
"You better be watching the council meetings, and starting to get into it now, because a lot of these issues are going to get pushed over to the next council... some of the decisions you make when you're new are right, and some are wrong but it takes years to figure that out," he advised.
Wright is the third councillor to publicly announce they will not run for re-election, joining Ward 2's Trevor Thompson and Ward 4's Jamie McGrail.
***This story was written by Ede Brecevic. Ede is a student in the Fanshawe College journalism program, and is currently doing an internship with CKNewsToday.ca
