WATERLOO — Former BlackBerry executive Dave Jaworsky wants to be mayor of the city of Waterloo.

Jaworsky told The Record Sunday he will seek the city's top political job.

He's former director of Canadian government relations at BlackBerry and later founded the global corporate social responsibility team.

The 49-year-old said as mayor, his key priorities would be a robust economy, a vibrant, caring community and a responsible government.

"If we look at Waterloo, our success over the past 100 years has always been innovation, continuously reinventing ourselves from the days of Seagram's and continuing forward to BlackBerry," he said.

To build on that, Jaworsky said the city needs to support and encourage the "fountain of youth" coming out of local universities and encourage them to stay here.

"We have top talent and startups coming out each and every year," he said. "It's really incumbent upon the city and the universities to come together to figure out a better way to encourage those startups to stay in our community."

That will mean crafting a vibrant, caring community.

"That's where I think we can do so much better," he said. "We don't have mountains and we don't have oceans, but we should have a strong culture.

"We need a music scene, cultural scene, trails — more things to do for seniors, youth families."

Jaworsky is currently executive-in-residence at Capacity Waterloo Region and serves on the board of the Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation.

He was let go from BlackBerry in July 2012 and said he can use his 10 years of experience at the smartphone-maker if elected mayor, both because of his technology sector links and experience dealing with other governments.

On rapid transit, Jaworsky said his goal is to maximize community benefit and limit the impact of construction, while keeping the budget in line and being transparent about costs.

"The two things we need there is transparency in the process and all the numbers — which I don't see as yet — and No. 2, and the big one is, tough budget management," he said.

He would apply those principles of budget management and transparency to city operations, believing that city information — aside from matters protected under the Municipal Act — belongs to citizens.

Jaworsky and wife Jan have two teenage sons and he's a graduate of the University of Waterloo, with a bachelor's degree in math and computer science.

Past volunteer involvements include the Communitech board of directors and the Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce board of directors.

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The municipal election is scheduled for Oct. 27. Current Mayor Brenda Halloran is not seeking reelection.

Retired television weatherperson Dave MacDonald announced earlier this month that he will run for mayor.

Jaworsky kicks off his campaign with a news conference Monday morning at Waterloo city hall.