Somerset ward Coun. Diane Holmes told the Ottawa Citizen this morning that she is retiring and dropping out of this October’s municipal election.
Ottawa Citizen reporter David Reevely broke the news on Twitter.
In 1994 Holmes became the first elected regional councillor for Somerset ward. She won another term three years later.
She was re-elected in 2003 and has won over 60 per cent of the votes in each subsequent election.
Holmes was first elected to Ottawa city council in December 1982 and served as councillor of Wellington ward from 1983 to 1994.
She is also a founding member of the Ottawa Crime Prevention Council and the Women’s Initiative for Safer Environments (WISE).