A fourth candidate has stepped forward to seek the vacant seat on city council.

Norm Hamilton informally announced his intentions on Friday.

He explained this morning he intends to make the formal announcement Tuesday morning, on his 60th birthday.

"I am sort of at my best and happiest when I am serving,” Hamilton said of his decision to seek public office. "I usually work in the background on things, and I decided it was time in my life to step forward and be in the foreground.”

The father of two grown children who live in Whitehorse joins three others who've confirmed their intention to run. Twenty nomination packages have been picked up at city hall so far.

The election is scheduled for Dec. 1, with the advance poll being held at city hall on Nov. 24.

Nominations will close Nov. 10 at noon.

Hamilton said he's currently on the board of directors for Nakai Theatre, and has also served on the executive with the Guild Hall Society.

Over his 38 years living in Whitehorse, he's worked with a long list of boards and community organizations, he said.

Hamilton said rightly or wrongly, he's been hearing residents have lost their trust in city council, and he wants to fix that.

With 28 years working for the Yukon government, he knows how to negotiate his way through the bureaucracy while effecting change for the betterment of the public in general, he said.

Hamilton said he didn't want to run territorially because he doesn't like the current method of electing representation through party politics. Nor did he want to give up his day job keeping track of territorial regulations and their implementation.

Serving as a city councillor would allow him the flexibility to continue working, though he suspects the 15 or 20 hours a week required of a councillor will cut into his photography and writing business.

Hamilton said he supports an approach to decision-making that considers not just financial consequences, but gives equal weight to social and environmental implications.

The seat on city council was left vacant by Doug Graham, the 11-year veteran who was elected in the Oct. 11 territorial election as the MLA-designate for Porter Creek North.

Whitehorse residents Cam Kos, Mike Tribes and Kirk Cameron have also announced their intention to seek the vacant seat.

Municipal elections for the entire Yukon are scheduled for October 2012.

The Municipal Act requires that vacant seats be filled through a byelection if a vacancy occurs prior to Feb. 1 of the election year, which comes every three years.

The city estimates the cost of the Dec. 1 byelection will be about $10,000.

To be eligible to vote, residents need to be at least 18 years old on election day, a resident of the city for at least a year and a Canadian citizen.