Forks city councilman Kenneth Ayers announced at a recent council meeting that he will be seeking the office of Forks mayor in the upcoming November election.

Ayers — who retired from the U.S. Air Force as an intelligence officer in 2009 and from the Department of Defense in 2015 — was unanimously selected last February to fill the seat of Kevin Hinchen, who moved outside of the city limits and had to vacate his seat shortly after he was elected. Ayers was to serve a four-year term. If elected, the council will be required to appoint a person to fill Ayers’ seat.

Ayers said he has been coming to Forks forever, since age 2. He grew up in Seattle and after living in Hawaii, he decided to “come home” and the home he and his wife Kris decided on was Forks.

Ayers sees areas that the city of Forks needs to work on. “Our sewer system needs work, we have people wanting to have a business here and they can’t due to the sewer system,” Ayers said. In addition to modernizing the sewer plan Ayers says that the city needs to cut back on some spending and “our infrastructure has been neglected, we need to focus on our core.”

“We need to make sure city government is effective, work on crime and improve the quality of life for Forks residents,” Ayers said. In an upcoming city council meeting Ayers has a presentation planned to show the city’s economic forecast for the next 10 years. “It doesn’t look good and we need to start doing something about it now,” Ayers said.

Ayers said he did let current Forks Mayor Bryon Monohon know of his plans to seek his position and that Mayor Monohon told him that he did not intend to run again for the office he has held for two terms. Monohon is also a former Forks city councilman.