COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Just one day after Richard Skorman announced he would be joining the Colorado Springs mayoral race, another candidate has stepped forward.

Early Wednesday afternoon Steve Bach announced his intentions to run for strong mayor, bringing the total number of candidates up to seven.

Whoever is elected will be the city's first strong mayor.

Voters decided to change the city's form of government in November, making the mayor like the city's Chief Executive Officer.

Bach made his announcement to join the race Wednesday at UCCS in front of dozens of people.

As a Fort Carson veteran, UCCS graduate and local resident for 45 years, Bach said he knows Colorado Springs.

"I have a track record in Colorado Springs over a long period of time in building coalitions among different interest groups, of getting people to work together. I know the lay of the land, I've been here a long time," Bach said.

Bach said the first strong mayor has a lot of responsibility in setting up the position and needs to be chosen carefully.

"There's a lot of detail to be filled in, a lot of areas to be worked out between the council and the mayor and the staff, and that's gonna be a real challenge, and there's going to need to be a mayor who can build coalition," Bach said.

He also said the city's government needs a lot of work.

"I'm concerned that our city government is not fiscally sustainable for long term," Bach. "We have high fixed costs that are actually escalating, so we're gonna have to deal with that, and that's gonna be a process of working with staff and then the new council, and we will work through that."

Bach believes he is the right man for the job.

"I have a history here as a community volunteer leader in attracting and retaining good paying stable jobs, and I will work on that full time," Bach said.

Bach has also earned support from some big name hitters like former city manager Loren Kramer and former state senator Andy McElhany.