Mayor Bev Buckway will indeed seek a second term.

After stating for some time she was leaning toward running as the incumbent in the Oct. 15 municipal election, the mayor confirmed today she has decided her name will be on the ballot.

"I still have a great deal of enthusiasm and energy (for the job)," she told the Star, after returning from vacation.

She said it's been an honour to serve as Whitehorse's mayor for the past three years, working with a dedicated city staff. While she acknowledged she's not the first to say she'd like to finish off a number of initiatives that are under way, that's among her reasons for running again.

As Buckway pointed out, when a new council is elected, they begin their term often wrapping up the work of the previous council before moving on to new activities.

"A lot of things are ongoing," she said, pointing to the city's Official Community Plan as an example.

Though this is Buckway's first term as mayor, she started it by working on initiatives that began during her first term as a councillor.

After three years as mayor, there are projects happening she wants to see through, like the construction of an accessible connector joining the Canada Games Centre with the Mount McIntyre Recreation Centre off Hamilton Boulevard.

The city, she said, is waiting for word on an application it submitted to the federal Enabling Accessibility Fund for the construction of the connector to the two buildings.

While she didn't have the figures available this morning on the cost, she noted "it would be substantial."

The application is part of the work started by the city's Persons With Disabilities Advisory Committee, an organization formed during this term of council, to deal with accessibility issues for people who have disabilities.

Buckway also cited the committee's proposal to have the city's disabilities policies harmonized as something else she would also like to see finished as mayor.

After being in the works for a long time, she continued, ground has finally been broken on the new Public Safety Building. It will house both the fire and bylaw departments, with space for major computer infrastructure to be housed. It will also serve as an emergency site in the city.

While Buckway notes not every decision of herself and council will be met with approval from the 25,636 people who live in the city, she said there's no decision she's made in the past three years that she would change.

She likes to "do her homework" before taking a position on a matter, she said.

That's keeping in mind too, she said, that her vote as mayor is one out of the seven votes by all of council that determine an issue.

Among the successes during this term of council, she pointed to the new charette process for planning.

"That has brought us well-forward in our public process," Buckway said.

Charettes are a more detailed public way of planning over the course of a few days rather than the more general open houses and public meetings.

Charettes have been used for planning on things like the new Whistle Bend subdivision and economic plan for the city.

The new waste cart program, which has residents sorting their garbage into either a compost and garbage cart (each collected on alternate weeks) has also been among the accomplishments Buckway cites.

A less visible accomplishment, she said, is the work that's being done to move the city away from using surface water for its system to a ground water well system.

The city is close to using well water entirely with two new wells set to be in operation later this year. It is being done for the city to meet new federal and territorial requirements.

Though often difficult to meet on a regular basis, Buckway said she is also pleased with the work that's been done involving the Kwanlin Dun First Nation and Ta'an Kwachan Council, the two first nations with settled land claims inside city boundaries, in municipal decisions.

As mayor, Buckway's focus is within the city, but within that, she has also been able to take on a more national role.

Buckway was able to pursue a role on the executive of the Association of Yukon Communities, currently as president. That title has taken her to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, where she serves as the vice-chair of the federation's northern and remote forum.

She is also a member of the federation's committee on community safety and crime prevention as well as its environmental issues and sustainable development committee.

Back at the local level, she said, one of her favourite parts of the job is talking to residents and trying to help solve their problems.

It's also wonderful, she said, to talk to visitors and see the city through their eyes, many noting they're amazed at the facilities available in a city the size of Whitehorse.

Looking to what she hopes will be her second term as mayor, Buckway said she expects transit will become more of an issue as the city investigates moving to a new loop system. Though it would be designed to be more convenient for residents, Buckway noted that with that comes a higher price tag.

Work on the new Whistle Bend subdivision, at Porter Creek's lower bench, will continue, as will the city's efforts to keep up to date on technology, she said.

Buckway pointed to the importance in encouraging growth within the city, rather than having Yukoners locate just outside city limits where they continue to use city facilities and infrastructure.

By encouraging growth within municipal boundaries means, there are more people contributing to the tax base; thus the city is better able to fund the services that are used, she said.

While being the incumbent in the mayoral race can mean criticism come election time from voters over decisions made in the current term of office, Buckway said often such criticism is the subject of coffee shop discussion rather than coming directly to council.

She was asked whether the property tax increases that have come over the past few years and are expected to continue into 2011, will have an impact on her election run. She pointed out there was little public input on the latest tax hike when the budget was proposed this year.

The city has also seen positive results from its biannual citizens' survey. Many seem to understand the growing city population means more subdivisions and thus more services that have to be provided which are paid for through taxes.

On the whole, she said, citing the citizens' survey, the city seems to be doing well at providing services for the community.

As Buckway seeks another term on council, she is also encouraging anyone thinking about running to get as much information as he or she can on what it involves.

She pointed to the DVD recently released by the Association of Yukon Communities on the topic available at the association's office or on the website (www.ayc.yk.ca).

No one else has announced plans to run for mayor.