Peter Leon promised repeatedly he would not run in the 2014 election if council appointed him to replace Doug Holyday in Etobicoke’s Ward 3.

He was appointed. Less than three months later, he is waffling on his promise.

Leon, who took office on Oct. 10, now says it is “the people’s choice” whether or not he enters the 2014 race. He is keeping his vow “at this point,” he says, but he might change his mind if his constituents encourage him to do so.

“I’m a man of my word, OK? But a lot of people in the community have come up and said, ‘You should be running.’ And I’m honoured with that, and that’s why I can’t make a decision, a final choice, until I hear what the people say,” Leon said in a Monday interview.

“In this game, you go by the will of the people,” he said. “I made a statement, and I’m a man of my honour, but if people came forward and asked me to think about things and reconsider things, then you have to take that under consideration. I would listen to whatever people think.”

Commitments like Leon’s cannot be enforced. He would not be the first appointee to break a promise not to run: Paul Ainslie, who remains on council, did the same in 2006.

Name recognition is particularly important in council races, in which candidates do not carry party affiliations. Current councillors were wary of giving anyone a leg up, and it’s likely Leon would not have been selected if he had mused about running.

“I believe there is not a chance in the world,” said Councillor Paula Fletcher, who supported Leon. “Council would not have even given him a second thought had he said he’s planning to use this as his springboard for election.”

In August, Leon told the Etobicoke Guardian: “It would not be fair or right, in my mind, to run.” Asked Monday if he would have an unfair advantage, Leon said, “That is the difficult part in this, because I want it to be a forthright campaign. That’s the part I’m wrestling with.”

Fletcher said she will be “bitterly disappointed if he does it.” She said a Leon candidacy should prompt council to call a by-election “every time” a seat is vacated rather than sometimes making appointments.

Mayor Rob Ford called for a byelection after Holyday became a Progressive Conservative MPP. But council was wary of spending up to $225,000on a ward vote with the regular election around the corner, and it chose appointment.

Ford then made a push for former councillor and PC MPP Chris Stockwell, who also said he would not run if appointed. But Leon was strongly backed by Holyday, and council picked him on the third ballot.

“I can’t believe it, frankly,” said Stockwell, who also might run. “I just find it absolutely shocking. I guess it speaks to character. When you give us this absolute undertaking — what else didn’t you mean?”

Stockwell added: “I think he’s got a lot of answering to do. And I think Doug Holyday’s got some answering, too. I mean, this is your hand-picked boy, who told us he was honourable and all those things, and geez, eight weeks into the job and he’s already doing this?”

Holyday could not be reached for comment.

Leon, a conservative, is a retired salesman and former chair of Etobicoke Hydro. He is popular with his new colleagues for his gentle and cheerful manner.

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Councillor John Filion said he doesn’t know if he would have still voted for Leon had he said he might run — but will not be perturbed if he now does.

“I think he’s a very solid new councillor. He thinks for himself, he takes the job very seriously, I think he’s a good representative for the area,” Filion said. “So it doesn’t bother me personally if he runs.”