Dawn Arnold will seek a second term as Moncton's mayor, she announced Friday.

There are now three candidates running to lead the province's largest city.

"I hope to earn the trust of the citizens for a second term so that we can keep Moncton moving forward," Arnold said in a Facebook post Friday morning.

She plans to unveil a platform closer to the May vote.

Arnold told reporters on Monday she had never made an election announcement before March Break, calling it a long time to be campaigning. Asked about having two other candidates in the race, she called it "fantastic."

"My role all the way along has been to really engage the public and get people involved because democracy does not work if people are not engaged," Arnold said.

Arnold was elected as the city's first female mayor in 2016 after one term as a city councillor. She has emphasized downtown development and active transit as some of her priorities while in office.

Her term has been marked by the opening of the city's $113-million Avenir Centre in September 2018, a project approved while she was a councillor. The centre regularly draws thousands to events in the city's core for Moncton Wildcats, Moncton Magic or concerts. Much of the concern around parking faded once it opened.

The city has had record levels of development as immigration and other factors fuel continued economic growth. Arnold has repeatedly pointed out the cranes that dot the skyline, constructing new hotels and apartment buildings.

But the term has also seen growing concerns around social issues and policing in the city, issues others in the race say prompted them to run.

A construction site in downtown Moncton, one of the projects that contributed to the city setting a record for the value of building permits issued last year. (Shane Magee/CBC)

A fatal 2013 fire in a vacant downtown home led the city to closely monitor other similar buildings, ordering owners to fix or demolish the properties. As demolitions of older homes has continued, many of the properties have not been redeveloped.

At the same time, apartment vacancy rates have dropped in the city, from 9.1 per cent in October 2013 to 2.2 per cent last October. The change means fewer apartments are available and average rent has risen. City staff have called the average cost of rent for a one-bedroom apartment unaffordable for a person making minimum wage.

Over the last two years, there have been increasing issues around people facing homelessness. The city has increased its grant spending for groups addressing homelessness and partnered with the province to open an emergency out-of-the-cold shelter last winter.

About 40 people lived in this tent camp in Moncton last summer before it was cleared out by the city. (CBC)

Tent camps have popped up around the city, with the city shifting its approach toward eviction and removal of those camps as complaints from residents and businesses rose over the summer of 2019.

Complaints around crime have, in part, led Codiac Regional RCMP to plan to add 14 more officers by 2022.

Arnold acknowledged the issues in a state-of-the-city speech Thursday morning, saying the past year "has been really challenging for our city from a social perspective."

She said the city is "completely committed" with other levels of government to finding solutions to problems around housing, homelessness, mental health and addictions.

Chad Peters launched his bid to lead Moncton Tuesday, saying he's 'frustrated and concerned' about drugs and crime in the city. (Shane Magee/CBC)

Chad Peters launched his campaign Tuesday citing some of those issues.

"When I look at the challenges our city is facing and when I see how much they've grown over the past four years I'm compelled to act," Peters said. Peters said he's "frustrated and concerned" about drugs and crime.

"I'm frustrated that we keep hearing a lot about the right things coming out of city hall, but we don't see the actions that actually resolve the issues."

Erik Gingles, shown on a billboard advertising his company Buzzlocal, was first to enter the race to be Moncton's mayor. (Shane Magee/CBC)

Erik Gingles is also running, listing three top campaign priorities.

"The first being social issues, which become actually economic issues in the long run, and even the short run we're looking at public safety," Gingles said. "We have heard a lot of things about that."

Like Peters and Gingles, Arnold said she won't reveal who is contributing to her campaign. Arnold said she will limit donations from any one source to $500, as she did in the 2016 campaign.

She said that mayoral campaign cost about $24,000, mostly from donations.

There are no rules in New Brunswick around municipal election financing similar to those for federal and provincial elections. That means there's no limits for how much someone can contribute to a candidate, how much a candidate can spend, or requirements to reveal who funded the campaign.

The municipal election is May 11.