Poulsbo Mayor Becky Erickson announced Wednesday that she will be running for a fourth term as mayor.

Erickson announced candidacy via Facebook, noting she initially had said she would not run again, but that events of the past year and a half played a significant role in her changing her mind and heart.

“For the last several years I have maintained that I would not run for re-election,” she says on the social media platform. “I had thought three terms would be enough to accomplish our community goals as adopted in our comprehensive plan.

“However, the facts of our current reality were never anticipated when I made my decision to retire from the position of mayor,” she adds. “A pandemic, social unrest, accelerating growth pressures, a new virtual world: everything is changing the dynamic of local government.

“Change is hard. It brings stress and requires experience to craft new action steps to move our community forward. In this challenging time, experienced leadership is more important than ever as our health, civil and social landscapes change.”

The filing period for government offices officially runs May 17-21.

At this time Erickson has no known competition for the post, which she has held since 2009.