Surrey's three-term mayor announced Saturday she will not seek another term to lead B.C.'s second-largest city.

At the grand opening of Surrey’s new $97-million city hall, Mayor Dianne Watts announced her retirement as the leader of Surrey’s municipal government.

“As your Mayor, I have been truly blessed. Helping to take our city from a residential suburb to the second metropolitan core of the region with over 500,000 people is no small task,” she told a crowd celebrating the grand opening of Surrey’s new $97-million city hall.

“Great people deserve a great city, and as your mayor for almost the past nine years, my heart, my integrity and my passion have been there for this city,” Watts said. “As in every book, there comes a time to turn the page and to end a chapter, and I feel like I have completed this chapter of my life and it’s time to pass the torch. Therefore I will not be seeking re-election in the fall, and this opening of this new city hall, the community plaza, signifies a new chapter for this city.”

The announcement comes on the heels of rumours that the mayor will run for MP in the region with Surrey Conservative MP Russ Hiebert’s seat becoming available, but Watts refused to say what her immediate career plans are.

“It’s an exciting time and who knows what’s around the corner,” she said. “I think over the years I’ve been approached by every single party of every single level of government, so I’m very flattered about that, but you know, it’s got to fit into my life.”

Watts became mayor in 2005 after nine years on council. The mayor became known for many big ticket projects such as moving city hall to a new “downtown” district in the city’s Whalley neighbourhood.

The move brought criticism after a recent spate of violent incidents that highlighted Surrey’s lower per capita spending on policing compared with other cities in the region.

Coun. Barinder Rasode recently left the Surrey First political party headed by Watts to sit as an independent. She said Saturday she isn’t ruling out a run for mayor.

“It would be very short-sighted to say no, I think it is an opportunity. I’ve worked really hard a councillor for the city of Surrey,” she said.

Surrey First Coun. Tom Gill said he’s also always considered a run for mayor, but didn’t confirm whether he will run in November’s municipal elections.

Watts will stay on as mayor until the election. Surrey and other B.C. communities go to the polls Nov 15.