The race for mayor of Brockville, Ont., was over before it even started.
Matt Wren was acclaimed to the city’s top job, as he was the only candidate when the nominations closed in August.
“I got my nomination filed within the first week or so in May, and no one else came forward,” says Wren.
Wren says he’s not sure why no one chose to run against him, but hopes his history on city council played a factor.
“I hope that means that people have confidence in the job that I have been doing and that I can do,” he says.
“I hope I haven’t signed up for a job that no one wanted.”
Regardless of the reason, he is getting a head start on a project to help bring more people to downtown Brockville — by redeveloping a vacant building on the city’s main street.
“This building will be gone, it’s beyond use,” says Wren.
“We’ll have a beautiful multi-million dollar project here right in the centre of our downtown.”
Even though his mayoral seat is secured, he is still advocating for people to go out and vote for their city council representatives.
“I just want to make sure people vote because those eight council seats, those eight council members are the governing body of our city,” says Wren.
While the race to fill the eight council positions heats up, Wren has the more enviable position of sitting back and watching as democracy unfolds in the city of the Thousand Islands.