Woodbury

Bill Hargis is in the final year of his fourth full term as Woodbury mayor.

So is he going to run again this November?

The short answer: "I haven’t made up my mind," he said recently.

The takeaway from an interview with him on the issue: Check back in a couple of months.

Hargis was first elected mayor in 1993. The city has changed (and grown) dramatically since then, and the residential and commercial development boom that was the dominant issue for much of his tenure has subsided, at least temporarily.

Hargis said his 2008 bout with prostate cancer crystallized his life priorities and may have altered his public service plans.

"My health is good, and I enjoy the process," he said, "but there’s some other things I’d like to do, too."

Those may include conducting ministry work or leading a professional service organization.

People have started to ask about his election plans, Hargis said. If he had to decide now, he said, he would opt against trying for another term as mayor of the largest city in the east metro.

But, he added, "that’s what I said four years ago, too."

Hargis said he decided to run for re-election in 2006 because it still was early in City Administrator Clint Gridley’s tenure.

"I thought I owed it to him to give him some continuity," Hargis said.

There was another reason Hargis ran for re-election in 2006. He had encouraged then-City Council member Mike Madigan to run in his place, but Madigan declined. So Hargis went back before Woodbury voters.

Now, four years and a successful cancer fight later, his plans may be changing.

"I’m still enjoying what I do, but when you go through a health scare, it helps re-evaluate your priorities," he said.

Hargis said he will consider his options in the upcoming weeks and decide by April. He said he is not aware of anyone else already planning a run for mayor this fall.

Hargis said one thing is for sure: He won’t run for any other elected office, including legislative seats he previously has been asked to consider.

"I never was interested in any of the partisan positions," he said.