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w at er lo oc hr on ic le .c a W at er lo o C hr on ic le | T hu rs da y, M ay 17 ,2 01 8 | 6 FLOOR UP TO 50% OFF SPECIALS Real solid wood Solid Wood Furniture by the Region's Finest Mennonite Builders 878 Weber St. North, Waterloo @ St. Jacobs Farmer's Market. 519 - 747 - 1832 stjacobsfurnishings.ca stjacobsfurnishings stjfurnishings stjacobsfurnishings SALE! For the first time in more than 30 years, there will be a new chair at the helm of Region of Waterloo council. Current chair Ken Seil- ing announced at Wednes- day night's council meet- ing through tears that he has decided not to run again in the October elec- tion, saying that he will make room for new candi- dates. "After 42 years, I think it's time to move aside," said Seiling. Seiling was quick to re- mind council, however, that there is still work to do before the Oct. 22 election. "Let's not forget there are still six months left to go in the term," said Seil- ing. Seiling has spent 42 years in municipal politics, including two years at the Township of Woolwich, and the remainder as both councillor and chair at the Region of Waterloo. Coun. Tom Galloway, who is approaching 30 years as councillor at the region, said he knows how much Seiling agonized over the decision. "I know how he la- boured over this decision. After 42 years, it doesn't come easy," said Galloway, adding he's labouring over the same decision as well. "Sometimes the elector- ate can make it for you and that's sometimes easier," he joked. Galloway said the strength of Seiling through his 33 years as regional chair was his ability to bring the seven municipal- ities - often with differenc- es of opinions - together to make the right decision for the region as a whole. "That's been Ken's greatest strength in a quiet kind of way," said Gallo- way. "We need somebody to keep that legacy." Seiling said the strategy with keeping everyone in the chambers happy is un- derstanding all perspec- tives. "I'm not a believer in confrontation, so I like to make people work together and that's what I've tried to do over the years," said Seiling. "We see municipal- ities in Ontario where there's fighting at meetings ... we haven't seen any of that here." Galloway suspects the hardest part for Seiling will be determining what to do with his time once Oc- tober rolls around. "This job, you can't real- ly ease yourself out of a job like this. You're either in it or you're not in it," said Galloway. Seiling said the decision came soon after the 2014 election - a nasty battle be- tween himself and Jay Ais- sa - when he felt vindicated with a landslide victory in that election. "The last election was a very difficult election, but a very satisfying election because I got a resounding endorsement from the pub- lic despite everything that went on in that election campaign," said Seiling. "The question was at what point does one step out and let other people step in," said Seiling. His decision was made, but in the last month or two, he was approached by community leaders en- couraging him to stay on for at least one more term. "I began to second- guess myself," said Seiling. "But I think the timing is right and we'll see who now comes forward to run." The decision to an- nounce now as opposed to later on in the summer was based on giving potential candidates a fair chance to mount a solid campaign. Seiling pointed out that the Region of Waterloo spans five different provincial ridings and the campaign requires a lot of time and effort. "For anyone to organize and run a campaign along the area, it takes quite a bit of a time, effort and fund- raising," said Seiling. As for the job of regional chair, Seiling said it re- quires "patience, a good ear and a sense of where the community is at, where the community comes from and where it wants to go." The Ontario municipal election takes place on Oct. 22. So far, no one has stepped forward to run for regional chair. Seiling steps out of politics after more than 40 years ADAM JACKSON ajackson@waterloochronicle.ca Regional Chair Ken Seiling gets a standing ovation after a speech in council chambers where he announced his intent to retire at the end of his term, Wednesday. Mathew McCarthy NEWS