Councillor Verna Murphy is looking to become the next mayor of the RMWB.

She’s officially announced her intention to run for the seat in this year’s election, becoming the first to do so for any position around the horseshoe.

Murphy was first elected in 2017 after losing in the 2015 byelection to former Councillor Colleen Tatum.

She tells Mix News she believes the first step the new council must undertake is helping build back the economy and it starts with leadership focused on building on the current relationship with industry.

“We’re really in a great place as far as recovery. Seeing how we can help industry become more competitive in the next few years… that puts us in a really great place.”

Over the past three and a half years, Murphy has become one of the more outspoken members of council.

This was evident when she voted against the work camp moratorium and allowing Dunvegan Gardens to keep their operations as is.

“I think a lot of people respected the fact that I could make the hard decisions,” added Murphy. “It didn’t make me popular but I would at least hope people respected the fact that I did come prepared and I did work to get the best things done for the region.”

Whoever gets voted in, Murphy believes they need to be able to lead a council that’s focused on forgetting about the days of old and helping a region as it struggles like never before.

“We haven’t had to go and look for outside investors, we haven’t had to try and encourage new retails to come into the area, and we haven’t seen our businesses struggle as much as they are.”

The election is scheduled for October 18, 2021.