Saint John — After just half of his term as mayor of Saint John, Don Darling has realized that his current job is more miserable than he previously anticipated.
Darling announced this week that he is trying to constrain the amount of bitching and moaning that he needs to endure by running for the provincial legislature this fall.
“As mayor of Saint John, there is a lot of whining that I have to tolerate every day,” Darling confessed. “Back when Elsie was in charge, the worst someone could do is call her house in the middle of the night to complain. These days, I get a continuous stream of non-stop awfulness directly to my mobile device around the clock.
“It’s really too much being the whipping boy of the entire city — all of those grumpy people from Lorneville to Rothesay. By the end of the day, I’ve cried so much that I’ve gone through six or seven pocket scarves.”
Darling confirmed on Tuesday that he is seeking to run for the provincial Liberals in the west-side riding of Saint John Lancaster. He says that he’s choosing that riding because people on the west side complain a little less than everyone else.
“People on the west side of the city are used to enduring a bit more crap than other Saint Johners. I mean, they paid tolls just to live there for over 40 years!
“I think that if I’m looking for a group of constituents who are used to putting up with a little more bullshit from politicians, the west side is the ideal place to be.”