Longtime Cedar Falls Mayor Jon Crews is calling it quits. He announced Thursday he’s decided to retire instead of facing a run-off election next month.
Crews is currently serving his 15th term, having held the office three separate times over the past 40 years. This week’s election showed him finishing second in a three-candidate field, about 700 votes behind Cedar Falls school board member Jim Brown.
Crews says Brown will still have to run, but now the focus will be different.
“In my opinion I think he’s the 2nd best candidate," Crew said, “ but I talked to him today and I suggested rather than campaigning let’s focus on a smooth transition for the next year.”
The 69-year-old Crews made history in his first election in 1971 when he took office at the age of 25.