White Rock Coun. Bill Lawrence says he is firmly behind Coun. Grant Meyer’s run for mayor.
But he confirmed he hasn’t entirely ruled out taking a shot at the seat himself.
“You never know,” Lawrence told Peace Arch News shortly after Meyer’s announcement last week. “There’s so many things that could happen. It’s like when you’re doing a recipe for a cook-off – sometimes you gotta wait till the cook-off’s about to happen.”
Meyer, a city councillor since 2009, confirmed Wednesday that he plans to run for mayor in the Oct. 20 election, under the White Rock Coalition banner, and that Lawrence and two other incumbents, Lynne Sinclair and Megan Knight, would run as council candidates.
In February, he, Lawrence (also a coalition member) and Coun. Helen Fathers (an independent) had all told PAN they were mulling the possibility.
Reached the day of Meyer’s announcement, Lawrence said strong coalition representation on council is his main focus.
“(It’s) something I feel strongly about,” Lawrence said. “The best chances for it, as I see it today, is (for me) to run as councillor. Then again, it’s not over.”
Lawrence was first elected to council in 2012, in a byelection called to fill the seat held by longtime councillor Mary-Wade Anderson, following her death that June at the age of 84. In the 2014 election, Lawrence was elected under the White Rock Coalition banner.
He told PAN last week that the coalition wanted the “highest probability of repeating our elected status.”
He predicted there will be a large number of candidates vying for council come September.
“Just based on some of the hearsay that’s been put out there and some of the representatives that will be throwing their hats in,” he said. “I’m actually looking forward to seeing who comes out of the woodwork and the sidelines to run in municipal politics.”