'Surprise' in Yellowknife after mayor announces he won't run for 3rd term

After two terms as mayor, Mark Heyck will leave an impressive legacy of dealing with homelessness and supporting local business, according to several members of the community.

• Yellowknife Mayor Mark Heyck announces he will not seek re-election

Heyck announced on Tuesday he will not run for a third term in the mayoral seat this fall. He said the decision was made after "reflection and consultation with family." The city's next municipal election is scheduled for Oct. 15.

Lydia Bardak is an advocate for the city's homeless population and has served as a city councillor with Heyck.

She said she was surprised to hear he won't be running again, remembering him as an intelligent and thoughtful mayor, and "ideal candidate" to represent the citizens of Yellowknife.

"In terms of legacy, I can't help but say that I'm hearing what a change there is in our downtown with the added services for homeless people," she said, pointing to the city's decision to fund an outreach van that picks up people who need rides to shelters, the sobering centre or any other safe place.

• 'Like one of the family': Yellowknife street outreach program gets hundreds of calls for help in first 3 weeks
• Yellowknife street outreach program begins Monday, funded until end of year

RCMP have said they have more time to focus on police work since the outreach van started operating last summer, Bardak said.

She was quick to point out that the city went over and above to fund the initiative.

"It's stretching any municipality's mandate to get into those kinds of social programs," said Bardak.

Former Yellowknife mayor Dave Lovell agreed with Bardak.

"Homelessness is really something," he said.

"It's about time that someone made a move on it."

He said he's also surprised by the announcement, but commended Heyck for quitting while he's ahead.

"You can stay too long," he said.

"You get a lot of people saying it's time for a change, it probably is. Ten to 15 years is probably a good shelf life."

Heyck will have served six years as mayor and nine years as city councillor when he retires from municipal politics later this year. He says he's eager to spend more time with his family and let someone else take the helm.

Chamber exec praises work with businesses

Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce executive director Deneen Everett said her organization has had a "really positive" working relationship with the City of Yellowknife under Heyck's watch.

"Heyck has been a vocal supporter of the business community," she said.

Everett pointed to the success of the #ShopYK trade show and passport program. It allows people to fill up their own "passports" with stamps when they make purchases from participating local businesses, as part of an effort to give the municipal economy a boost.

"So I think it's been a very good relationship, mutually beneficial for both of us."

Yellowknives Dene First Nation N'dilo Chief Ernest Betsina said he's surprised about the announcement. He said it's "too bad" he won't run again, praising the relationship the First Nation has built with the city through Heyck's leadership.

"He would call us, or I would call him for issues that we need help with," Betsina said.

"It's just a working relationship that we have with him."

As of Wednesday morning, nobody had publicly announced an intention to run for mayor in October's municipal election.