West Kelowna

The man who spearheaded the drive for Westside incorporation has officially removed all doubt about his immediate political aspirations.

John Harding said the night of the Westside Governance vote he would not be a candidate for mayor, however, left open the possibility of seeking a seat on the municipality's new council.

That doubt has now been removed.

"I've said so publicly I'm not going to run for council either. At this point in my life it would be a little selfish to start chasing political aspirations," says Harding.

While he chooses to stay out of the race, Harding says he hopes there is a large slate of candidates for people to choose from.

"I think there's a lot of people mulling it over --- the more the merrier."

"I'm trying to convince everyone and everyone to run. I think we need some choice and people from different walks of life."

So far, only two candidates have officially tossed their hats into the ring and Harding says it's too early to personally endorse anyone who may be running.

Meantime, Harding says regardless of the make-up of the first Westside Municipal council, it must exercise fiscal responsibility.

He says people on the Westside voted for incorporation based partly on the low tax number, and the first council needs to keep that in mind.

"I think it's incumbent on the new mayor and council to stick as closely as possible to those numbers. I think it would be bad if people voted based on certain numbers and all of a sudden, it's double. That would be wrong."

Harding says fiscal responsibility should be the number one priority.