Stew Young tight-lipped about possible 10th term, 30th year as Langford mayor

Victoria -

If there's one local leader who's synonymous with their community, it's Stew Young and Langford.

He's been the mayor for nearly 10 terms and three decades.

Young won the mayorship in 1992 as a bearded businessman, seen here on the right in acid wash jeans.

Stew Young is pictured in 1992.

But now there's rumblings that he may be ready to move on, as his potential 10th term approaches in October.

Young recently retired from running his business, ending decades of what he says were 16-to-17-hour work days.

Now, he focuses more time on all things Langford as the municipality's mayor, though he has yet to announce if he's running for re-election later this year.

For those close to him, they say it's not unusual.

"There'll be days when he says, 'Oh I'm not running again.' And I say, 'Oh, OK,' and I don't believe it,'" said Denise Blackwell, a Langford councillor who's been at the table as long as Young has.

Young became the mayor of Langford when the municipality was still small. There was no centre strip to the city, no stadium, and no Costco.

"Well, you know, I grew up out here. I was born here and there was nothing going on," said Young on Tuesday.

And while he's helped shape the municipality, he also added, "who wants to do this job for 30 years? Come on."

According to Young, he never officially says if he's running for mayor until about three months before an election.

If he doesn't run, Blackwell says she'd consider putting her hat in the ring.

"I always ask her, 'Are you going to run?'" said Young. "She says, 'I don't know, are you running?'"

Blackwell says if she were to run, it would be to help the next generation chart their path forward for the city.

For now, Young says he won't announce if he's running until closer to October.