UPDATED: Former Bainbridge city councilman Bob Scales announced on Tuesday that he will run for mayor.

Scales, whose four-year council term ended in 2007, promised to safeguard the island’s water supply, protect the environment, improve the island’s transportation networks and reform the city’s financial management.

“Our city is suffering from a lack of leadership,” Scales said. “We need to have a strong, experienced and professional leader in the mayor’s office. We need a leader who can reform, reorganize and revitalize our city government.”

Scales is the first candidate to declare candidacy for November’s mayoral election. Mayor Darlene Kordonowy has not announced whether she’ll seek a third term.

Scales said the city is in dire need of better financial planning and accountability.

“The city of Bainbridge Island is running out of time and money,” he said. “The city is adrift and in financial disarray. Millions of taxpayer dollars are wasted each year on an inefficient and ineffective bureaucracy.”

Scales is a senior policy analyst for Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. In that role, Scales has “seen first hand what a positive impact an experienced mayor can have on a community,” he said.

A Seattle native, Scales moved to Bainbridge in 1999 after earning a law degree from the University of Washington and serving as a King County deputy prosecutor. He has also worked in an immunology lab and as a tour guide and English teacher in China.

Scales was a strong advocate for non-motorized transportation and affordable housing while on the Bainbridge council.

He was an outspoken critic of the mayor’s budget proposals and financial management during and after his council term.

For more information, visit scalesformayor.com