HUMBOLDT — Rob Muench has decided not to seek a second term as mayor of Humboldt, but he said he is still considering running as a councillor in the next civic election.
Muench made the announcement via Facebook on Sept. 23.
As marketing co-ordinator for Schulte Industries in Englefeld, Muench said he has always balanced his work on city council, first as a councillor and then as mayor following the 2016 election, with his full-time job and family life.
The past four years have proven that that is not always an easy thing to do. Sitting down with his wife, Donna, and a pros and cons list, Muench said the cons of being the mayor for another four years far outweighed the pros.
“We just sat down and decided that... it was maybe just time to move on with the mayor portion of things.”
Following an announcement on Facebook about his departure from the position, Muench said he has been encouraged by all the positive messages that he has received.
There is still much that he wants to be part of at city hall, like the Humboldt Broncos memorial and the wastewater upgrade project, so running for council is a possibility he will be exploring this coming week, he said.
Looking back on his time as mayor, Muench is finding it hard to find one specific highlight to sum up the last four years.
The Humboldt Broncos crash was a time of emotional strain for the city, but it also showed how resilient staff, residents, and the hockey team are, he said. The support from communities outside of Humboldt made the situation easier to handle.
“The amount of help we got from outside of the community, from other cities and just the general public and hockey community, I don't think we would have been nearly as successful coming through it as we were without the help of people.”
As for project highlights, much has been accomplished even since he was first elected as a councillor when the needs list was long and the money few, he said.
The Centennial Park project has been on the to-do list for the city for many years, so to now eventually see the hard work going into it getting results is a point of pride for Muench and fellow councillors. It is great to finally see it coming to fruition, he said.
With federal funding for the wastewater system being a strong possibility, Muench said he is excited to see that project coming to a close as well.
“We have our duty to the downstream people at Humboldt Lake and further down the system that we make sure the effluent is treated to today's current standards. We've got provincial approval on the funding for that, now we're just waiting for the federal funding.”
The deadline for election nominations is Oct. 7 at 4 p.m. and Muench encourages everyone to consider running for the city council. It has been a rewarding experience, he said, and people should not be afraid to volunteer their time to their community in this way.
