Long time Ward Five councillor Pat Dunn confirmed via email with the Advocate that he will not be running for council in his ward in October, opening the door to a run for mayor.

“I did confirm for some of my friends on the BIA that I wouldn’t be running for the position in Ward Five so they could make plans,” Dunn wrote. “I am happy to say we could have some excellent candidates running and they will make their intentions known in due time.”

While Dunn did not say directly that he would be running for mayor, he all but confirmed his candidacy when he wrote, “The declaration process starts in May and I will be one of the first to file my papers.”

When asked if he would like to sit for an interview focusing on a mayoral run Dunn wrote he will "take a pass for right now."

"I do not want to get involved in a 10-month campaign... In the meantime I’ll be concentrating on the job (as a sitting councillor, that) I am doing right now.”

Dunn’s confirmation sets the stage for what could be one of the largest turnovers of politicians on Kawartha Lakes council in decades. Mayor Andy Letham and Lindsay-Ops councillor Pat O’Reilly have already confirmed they will not be standing again.

City Hall insiders insist that at least one more sitting councillor will be throwing their hat into the ring for the mayor’s chair and that one or two more veteran councillors are contemplating a career change/retirement, leaving as few as three incumbent councillors returning if re-elected.

This phenomenon of municipal politicians choosing not to stand for election again is being seen right across the Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock region where as of Christmas not a single sitting mayor had publicly declared they were running again.