The City of Nanaimo will have a new mayor in October.
Nanaimo Mayor Bill McKay, who was elected in 2014, said he will not seek re-election as mayor, nor will he attempt to run for a seat on council in the upcoming election, which will take place on Oct. 20.
Speaking to the News Bulletin, McKay said his decision to walk away from politics was one filled with anguish. He said he spent months mulling his options and in the end elected to leave politics and spend time with his family.
“I was able to reflect on the fact that for seven years now, the hundreds of evenings that my wife was alone while I was at a meeting or an engagement,” he said. “I want to spend time with my family and enjoy what else is out there.”
McKay said while he could have decided to run again, he realized after awhile that if he couldn’t make up his mind with 100 per cent certainty that he would run again, then it was time to leave.
McKay said he looks back fondly on initiatives such as moving along with the core review, the waterfront walkway project, the purchase of Nanaimo District Secondary School property for a new football field.”
“Those are significant,” he said. “Those are some of the things that make life a little bit better for the community and that is what I hoped to do every day when I went to work.”
While there were positives, McKay’s time as mayor was filled with public friction between council members and former chief administrative officer Tracy Samra. He said the lowest point during his time as mayor came in December 2016 when 10 citizens filed a court petition against him that called for his resignation due to issues surrounding the passenger ferry company Clipper Navigation and his trip to China.
“It doesn’t get much lower than that,” he said.
That lawsuit came at the same time as the city served McKay with a notice of civil claim, alleging he provided confidential information to Marilyn Smith, a former administrative assistant with the city, that was to be used in an upcoming civil case against the city.
McKay said the lawsuit by the 1o individuals against him really hit him hard.
“Your confidence is eroded when you are consistently being told that you are no good, that you’re incompetent, a whole myriad of different names. It can’t help but hurt,” he said, adding that the negativity on social media didn’t help either.
McKay, who repeatedly challenged council’s decision to hire Samra, said working with the former chief administrative officer was a “big challenge” because she “appeared” to want to undermine him.
“It’s difficult when a mayor and a CAO don’t have a good working relationship,” he said.
Looking forward, McKay said he will continue to serve out his term.
“I did the best that I could under extremely trying circumstances,” he said. “I never let the community down.”
McKay said he encourages everyone in Nanaimo to become informed and vote in the upcoming election.
“Make thoughtful, considerate and informed decisions as to who you are going to put at that council table because they’ve got a lot of heavy lifting to do,” he said. “The strategic direction of this new council should be very different than ours.”
nicholas.pescod@nanaimobulletin.com
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