Countdown to municipal election enters final year

In less than a yearvoters in Waterloo region will know who the winners are in the 2018 municipal elections.

Municipalities in the province will head to the polls on October 22to elect mayors, city councillors and school board trustees. It'll be the second time next year people willvote, with a provincial election scheduled to happen on or before June 72018.

Waterloo regional Chair Ken Seiling has seen a lot of changes in the area since he was first elected in 1985 and none more than the last four years whenLRT construction ramped up.

'We continue to grow'

Chair Seiling told The Morning Edition with Craig Norris "the last four years has been incredibly good for the region."

"We continue to grow, we have low unemployment rate, we have job creation, we've got major infrastructure spending we're doing," said Seiling. "We're seeing, I think, significantincreases in some of our social infrastructure. It has been a progressive four years."

As for his own future in politics, Chair Seiling told The Morning Edition he'll wait until May 1, 2018 to tell everyone as that's the first day candidates can file nomination papers.

"I'm giving it lots of thought obviously. There is a lot of encouragement to continue but I have to balance off all the things that are ahead of me," said Seiling.

"I'll make a decision sometime in the new year and I'll announce that so people know exactly what my plans are."