Mandeep Sidhu has become the fourth mayoral candidate to announce his plans for the Oct. 18 municipal election in the hopes of taking over the reins at city hall.

At 27, Sidhu is hoping his campaign will get younger voters out to the polls and interested in the political process.

He noted there's a large age gap between possible younger voters and the three other candidates running for mayor – Dan Curtis, 46; Scott Howell, 50; and Rick Karp, 65.

Mayor Bev Buckway is not seeking another term.

Sidhu, who is single with no children, also hopes to engage younger voters by using social media sites.

Sidhu grew up in the city where his father has been in business for more than 30 years.

He left at the age of 17 to pursue his education, though he returned through the summer to operate the Watson Lake campground.

The candidate holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in political science and history as well as a minor in English.

Back in Whitehorse for a year now, Sidhu is overseeing things at the Public Laundromat.

He believes both his education and management experience will give him the skills he'd need as the city's next mayor.

"I manage people really well,” he said in an interview, adding that he interacts well with residents.

Asked why he opted to go after the top job as opposed to a councillor position for his first term, he noted it was "all or nothing” for him. He feels he can represent the city well and help resolve issues – something the mayor has to do.

As a councillor, he believes, he would simply be another voice "across the table.”

As the election draws closer, Sidhu said, he expects low-income housing, the rise in vandalism, parking and matters around childcare facilities, given the closure of the Downtown Days daycare, will be among the top issues.

He believes the city needs to create incentives for developers to build low-cost housing.

"That's the only way (low-cost housing will be built),” he said.

Sidhu also argues the city must speed up the processes for development to happen. Over the past year, he's watched slow processes on a number of developments, he said.

Obviously, he said, the public needs to have their say on projects, but the process to get those developments underway needs to happen faster.