O'Brien to announce election intentions

Ottawa Mayor Larry OBrien will announce whether he will run for office againat a news conference Wednesday morning.

So far, he is giving no indication of his intentions regarding the November municipal election. The last four yearshave not always been easy for O'Brien. But he has seen two of his key projects approved by council the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park and restarting the project to build a light-rail transit system in the city.

"He can honestly say, 'even though there were all kinds of challenges in my first term as mayor, I was able to accomplish some very signature projects that will have an impact on Ottawa for generations to come,'" said Barry McLoughlin, the mayor's former public relations consultant.

The light-rail project got a big boost last December when the Ontario government announced it would contribute $600 million to the $2.1 billion cost of the first phase of the project. The federal government announced last month it would match the province's contribution.

The mayor's biggest hurdle during his time in office was being accused of influence peddling, which led to a criminal trial.

He was found innocent in August 2009.

The mayor also faced some tough questions in December 2009 overthe increase in city business for his company, Calian Technologies, after he was elected.

O'Brien still sits on the board of directors for Calian, which supplies technology staff to governments and corporations.

According to city records, Calian received $1,837,175 in contracts from the city in 2008, 10 times more than it received in 2006.

Councillors came to O'Brien's defence, saying the mayor always declared a conflict of interest when the subject of Calian came up at meetings, and that all the contracts were legal.

OBrien founded the Kanata-based technology company in 1982.

In November 2006, O'Brien easily won the election to become mayor, with 141,262 votes,defeating former city councillor Alex Munter by more than 33,000 votes.

"Being mayor of a big city is a tremendous challenge," O'Brien said at the time.

"It's a complicated job, and we need to come together and build consensus, and we need to get behind this mayor to make the job doable," he said.