Councillor Chuck Puchmayr announces run for mayor

Time can change a lot of things—and that appears to be true for Councillor Chuck Puchmayr, who is running to become the next mayor of New Westminster, after initially stating he had no plans to.

The website chuckpuchmayr.ca has since confirmed said change in plans. 

Puchmayr, who was first elected to New West council in 1996, initially told CityNews 1130 in January he had no intention of replacing outgoing Mayor Jonathan Cote. Puchmayr spent one term as an MLA, running as a New Democrat in 2005. He returned to municipal politics in 2011, the only person who wasn’t an incumbent to be elected.  

“New Westminster is heading into a critical phase of growth which is challenged by strong inflationary pressures,” the opening page on Puchmayr’s website reads, “residents and businesses deserve sensible, non-partisan leadership with a strong focus on community safety and affordability.”

Cote shared over Twitter in January that he would not reoffer this fall, after serving two terms as mayor. Cote was first elected to office as a councillor in 2005, serving three terms before beating Wayne Wright in the 2014 municipal election race.   

Puchmayr joining the race brings the number of candidates running for mayor to three. Ken Armstrong was the first to declare his candidacy, and is running with the New West Progressives. Current Coun. Patrick Johnstone announced in mid-May he’d be running, too. Johnstone, who is running with the Community First slate, has the backing of the New West and District Labour Council.

There were some questions about Puchmayr’s future when Community First New West announced its slate in May, with Puchmayr absent from the list of candidates for council. Not long after the full list of bios and photos was published, Puchmayr told the New West Record he wasn’t ready to make a decision about running because he wanted to focus on his health and wellness in the coming weeks. 

During Puchmayr’s stint as an MLA, then-premier Gordon Campbell announced in January 2009 that Puchmayr would not be running for re-election at the provincial level; at that time, Puchmayr had been diagnosed with liver cancer. 

Elections for mayor, council, and school trustees are set to take place on Oct. 15; locals will be able to elect one mayor, six councillors and seven school trustees for School District 40. You can find the full list of municipal election candidates here.