Former Halifax mayor Peter Kelly says he is coming back to the city after his contract as chief administrative officer of Westlock, AB, ends at the end of February.

"I just want to explore some other opportunities and to be fair to the county — and they've been really good to me — I wanted to give them plenty of time to plan their way forward and so my contract will end Feb 28," Kelly said over the phone Wednesday night.

Kelly says he plans to settle in the Bedford-Halifax area, but he will not say what he plans to do for work. Some people would like to see him enter politics again and he says people are calling and e-mailing him to see if plans to seek office.

"I appreciate and understand that discussion is going to be there," said Kelly.

New skills

Kelly says he wants to use the skills he learned as CAO of the central Alberta town in whatever he does next. He says the biggest takeaway from his time in Westlock is a better understanding of the administrative side of a municipality works.

"It's been a great experience and the county gave me a great opportunity which I surely appreciate and now it's time to use that experience elsewhere."

Westlock County Reeve Bud Massey says he's sad Kelly will be leaving.

"It's a tremendous loss for us and our citizens," said Massey, "However, we are never one to stand in the way of somebody who has something else on their agenda."

'I would be proud to campaign for him'

Massey says Kelly has done "a wonderful job" for the town.

"We have looked at a tremendous amount of our policies, we have brought things up to date, we have restructured our financing. He's brought a tremendous amount of talent to our county," said Massey.

Massey said if Kelly decided to run for mayor of Halifax again, Halifax would be "very fortunate."

"I would be proud to come and campaign for him," said Massey.

Peter Kelly served as mayor of Halifax between 2000 and 2012, but did not reoffer in 2012 after being embroiled in controversies toward the end of his time as mayor. The controversies included the Halifax Common concert scandal where a promoter was advanced $400,000 without the knowledge of Halifax council, as well as criticism over how he handled his role as executor of the estate of a Bedford woman.