After two terms and eight years in office, Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps announced this week she will not be seeking re-election in 2022.
“Before I ran for a second term in 2018 I committed that this would be my last term,” Helps told Victoria Buzz in a statement.
“Eight years at the pace and velocity that we’ve been working is a lot. I’m going to focus over the next year on finishing up some of the key projects that will continue to set the table for the City’s future – which has been a key focus for the past two terms.”
When asked what was next for her, Helps says there are no concrete plans as of yet.
“I’ll take a few months off after the term to make my next plans,” she said. “Whatever I do it will be something focussed on city building, inclusive prosperity and addressing climate change.”
Helps was first elected to Victoria City Council as a city councillor in the 2011 municipal election.
She was then elected as the 52nd mayor of the City of Victoria in 2014 and re-elected to a second term in 2018.
Helps was the subject of many hot topics, including overseeing the removal of the city’s statue of John A. Macdonald from the front of Victoria City Hall, which took place three days after the city council voted for it on August 8, 2018. The decision was taken after one year of consultation and the support of the city family.
There is no indication on who will run for mayor next, however, names such as Stephen Andrews and Marianne Alto have been mentioned as possibilities.
