Sep 25, 2009 10:24 AM
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Vanessa Lu
City Hall Bureau Chief
Citing the importance of family life and his record of accomplishments in office, David Miller said this morning that he will not seek re-election as Toronto's mayor next year.
Miller noted that his son and daughter were born after he was first elected to Metro Council in 1994, and said pressure on his personal life intensified after his election as mayor in 2003.
If he ran next year for a third term, his daughter Julia would be in university and son Simon graduating from high school, the mayor told supporters and media gathered at his city hall office.
"This would not have allowed me to be there for them in the way that they deserve," Miller said.
The outer lounge in the mayor's office was jam-packed with media and supporters from both his 2003 and 2006 campaigns.
Miller's campaign manager in 2006, John Laschinger, showed up along with Miller stalwarts on council including Janet Davis, Kyle Rae and Gord Perks.
Miller has been recently battered in the polls and in the media over his handling of this summer's 39-day civic strike.
A savvy lawyer, he was swept into office in 2003 after a hard-fought campaign against Barbara Hall and John Tory, using a broom as a symbol of his promise to clean up the city — from the influence of lobbyists to revitalizing the waterfront. He also vowed to kill a bridge to the island airport, a decision he said would ensure it remain a sleepy commuter airport.
Miller enjoyed widespread popularity in his first term, easily winning re-election in 2006 against Jane Pitfield, the only politician willing to throw her hat into the ring since he seemed invincible.
Fast forward three years, and the landscape has changed.
Tory, who had a stint as leader of the provincial Tories, is said to be seriously considering a second run. Just this week, he was picked to host the afternoon drive-home radio show on Newstalk 1010, a move viewed as a perfect perch from which to launch a campaign.
And George Smitherman, the feisty deputy premier, has also publicly said he is mulling his own bid. That's a change from earlier insistence that he wasn't interested in the job. During the strike, Smitherman even picked up his own broom to lead a citizen cleanup effort, declaring he was a man who knows how to operate a broom.
Miller had always insisted he wanted to be a three-term mayor, in part because that was the amount of time needed to bring about change to the city.
And he is certainly not one who shies away from a fight.
Earlier this month, when asked about what kind of candidate Smitherman would make, he refused to take the bait. "I'm sure in the next election I'll have an opponent, and look forward to debating the issues with whoever it is.
"There have been lots of people floated," he said, before going into what sounded like a stump speech, touting his record on environmental and transit issues.
Although Miller has been playing a bigger role on the international stage, in recent weeks he has also been sounding like a local candidate in election mode, ready to take on any challengers.
Last weekend, he had a jam-packed schedule, from opening a new section of the Martin Goodman Trail to the Bloor West Ukrainian festival to Eid festivities and the Urban Film Festival awards.
And the mayor, who has undergone a vigorous diet and exercise regimen, shedding 50 pounds and going below 200 pounds for the first time in 20 years, is eager to run his first half-marathon Sunday.
