Portage la Prairie Mayor Irvine Ferris announced today that he will seek re-election in the municipal elections this October.

With all Portage has on the go at present, Ferris says he believes continuity and consistency would be beneficial, citing this as his reason for running again.

"We have had a great four years, certainly on the economic development front. However, and I want to stress this, and I've said it to the Chamber and other business groups; now is not the time to relax. We've been very successful, we've had unprecedented investment; over a billion dollars in the last 15 or 16 months," says Ferris. "Now is the time to continue to work to bring new business to Portage and also work on retaining the jobs that we already have."

Ferris says we have a lot of industrial investment on the way, noting we need to ensure we are ready for it. He says this is the next and one of the biggest challenges on the horizon. There are also a number of important projects underway, Ferris notes, including the causeway toward the island, which will begin construction in November or December; nutrient removal and the active transportation network.

"I believe that our community should be more walk-able and healthy. We've worked on [the active transportation network] for the last seven or eight years. Certainly, the work in the next four years is going to be important to build that protected infrastructure so that people can cycle, walk, rollerblade throughout our city. The more you build that infrastructure, the more people use it, and there are benefits to everybody in the city, at all ages," says Ferris, adding it's one of his priorities if re-elected.

Ferris notes another issue which will be a priority for him is a balanced and responsible approach to finances.

"I think we demonstrated that over the last four years when we trended with tax increases downwards and finally obtained a zero percent increase this year," says Ferris on the issue of finances. "We have many challenges ahead of us in maintaining the services that people have come to expect," he adds.

Prior to becoming mayor in 2014, Ferris served as a city councillor for two terms.