COLORADO SPRINGS — The Colorado Springs City Council President At Large has announced he is running for the Office of Mayor.

Tom Strand announced his candidacy for the 2023 Mayoral election on Monday at the Firefighter Memorial at Memorial Park.

According to his profile on ColoradoSprings.gov, Strand served in the U.S. Air Force as the senior lawyer and commandant of the Judge Advocate General (JAG) School in Montgomery, Alabama. After retiring from JAG, he returned to Colorado Springs in 2005 and served his community by participating on numerous committees, councils, and commissions, including the District 11 Citizen’s Bond Review Committee. He also served as vice president and president of the District 11 Board of Education.

Strand has been on City Council for seven years and will be term limited in 2023. He has also served as a leader of several community service groups in the Pikes Peak Region, including Treasurer for the Trails and Open Space Coalition, chairman of the Colorado Springs Human Relations Commission, and as a board member of the Pikes Peak Restorative Justice Council.

Strand said he will be running for the Office of Mayor on a platform of public safety.

“We need about 850 sworn police officers. We lose maybe between 6 and 10 a month because they are either retiring or just leaving the police department because they just don’t feel the love,” said Strand at his candidacy announcement on Monday. “So we’ve got to work hard to retain the police officers we have. We’ve got to get police officers that are trained from other communities and cities, and we’ve got to make sure that they know we care about them.”

Currently former El Paso County Commissioner Darryl Glen, former Secretary of State Wayne William, current County Commissioner Longinos Gonzalez, Jr., and businessman Yemi Mobolade have announced they will run for Mayor. Current Mayor John Suthers is term limited.