Norm Letnick says he's going to keep doing the job he was elected to do.
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Letnick, Liberal MLA for ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½-Lake Country, announced Thursday he would not run for mayor of ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ in this fall's municipal election.
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"I've decided that the best way to serve our community is to complete the four-year provincial mandate the voters in the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½-Lake Country riding honoured me with in 2020," Letnick said in a release.
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Last fall, he told reporters he was open to running for ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ mayor if he felt there was a "need" that he do so. He said he would likely decide by the spring of 2022.
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Letnick now says he has had wide-ranging conversations with voters, community leaders, past and current mayor, and has decided to remain as an MLA.
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"(Those) contributions helped me to arrive at a decision earlier than I anticipated," he said. "While some encouraged me to run for mayor, others, especially those living in Lake Country, asked that I remain as their MLA."
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In the release, Letnick also said he and a group of others have created a new non-profit housing society. He says the society will build homes for approximately 25% under market value and details on the group's first project, a 20-unit townhome development, will be released in the coming weeks.
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Letnick is a four-term Liberal MLA, first elected in 2009. A former business instructor at Okanagan College, he sought the federal Conservative nomination in 2005, losing to Ron Cannan by 55 votes.
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He successfully ran for ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ city council in the fall of 2005 but did not seek re-election in 2008 because he had his eye on provincial politics. As an MLA with the-then governing Liberal party, Letnick was Minister of Agriculture.
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