Two members of the current Guelph City Council remain undecided about running in the upcoming municipal election.
Of the other 11, nine have already registered to run again and two said they plan on running.
Ward 6 councillor Karl Wettstein and Ward 2 councillor Andy Van Hellemond are the two who have not yet made up their minds.
“I’m on the fence,” said Wettstein, who has been elected to council four separate times, serving a combined 15 years as a councillor.
“I am seriously thinking about whether this is the right time to retire, but I want to give myself another week or two to weigh a couple of things,” he said Tuesday.
Van Hellemond said Tuesday that he will be deciding shortly whether to run for a third term.
Wettstein said there are some longtime major issues that are before council right now that he would like to make sure get to the finish line, namely a new main library, a proposed south end community centre and the Guelph Innovation District land development.
“These are issues I’ve really enjoyed being a part of and probably believe I could be helpful,” he said.
“On the other hand, it might be a good time to say it’s time to pass on to somebody else.”
Wettstein said that he would also evaluate the field in Ward 6, where there are currently four people registered. They include incumbent Mark MacKinnon and former councillor Lise Burcher.
“I think they all have some strengths,” Wettstein said of the field, adding that he isn’t concerned there are no suitable candidates running.
Candidates have until July 27 at 2 p.m. to register to run in the Oct. 22 election.
Twenty two people have registered to run, with Mayor Cam Guthrie the lone mayoral candidate at this point.
Other than Wettstein and Van Hellemond, the only currently members of council that haven’t registered are Bob Bell in Ward 1 and Christine Billings in Ward 4. Both have indicated they will be running again.
In 2014 there were 45 people that ran for council, including seven for mayor. In 2010 a total of 37 people ran for council.
