Sudbury mayor Marianne Matichuk says it’s 'time to move on'

Greater Sudbury will have a new mayor after this fall's municipal election.

Marianne Matichuk announced Thursday that she will not run to keep the mayor's job. She cited "personal commitments" as her reason for stepping back from municipal politics, but she didn't say what those were.

It was a surprise ending to a routine state of the city address at a Sudbury Chamber of Commerce luncheon Thursday afternoon.

Matichuk listed several things that she's proud of from her time as mayor, and she said she doesn't worry about her legacy.

"I just came in here to stabilize the taxes and stop the tax and spend mentality,” she said.  “And if somebody wants to say 'Oh, she did that,’ that's great and, if not, that's OK too."

In her speech, Matichuk said she felt she and city council worked very well together and achieved most of their priorities during the last three years — even though there have been some well-publicized battles between mayor and council during her term.

While speaking to reporters after her address, Matichuk said convincing the provincial government to fund the long-delayed Maley Drive Extension was her proudest moment, even though the project is still up in the air without federal funding.

She also said deregulation of store hours was the one issue on which she regrets not being able to deliver, after making it a key part of her mayoral campaign in 2010. She defeated incumbent John Rodriguez during that election.

Matichuk said she will remain as mayor until her successor is sworn in this December. So far there are six names on the ballot for mayor of Greater Sudbury, and include former mayor and former Nickel Belt MP John Rodriguez, current Sudbury city councillor Ron Dupuis, perennial candidate Ed Pokonzie and political newcomers Jeff Huska and Richard Majkot.

The list also includes Matichuk’s former campaign worker Dan Melanson, 

People ‘tired of the status quo’

Melanson held his campaign launch Thursday night, and talked about bringing change to city hall, much the way Matichuk talked about it four years ago.

"People are tired of the status quo," he quipped. "I'm hopefully going to be more successful at delivering what I say I'm going to do." 

Matichuk's departure makes for three one-term mayors in a row for Sudbury, a city that seems to like change in its top job.