Though rumors have been swirling for months, Bob Severns made it official Monday.

He’s running for mayor.

The Oak Harbor councilman and longtime resident said friends, citizens and even strangers convinced him to take the leap.

“I have what I        think is a pretty good groundswell of support,” he said.

Severns said one of the main virtues he brings to the table is experience in the highest levels of business management and ability to communicate and work well with others.

“My proven leadership, coupled with my local knowledge and ability to listen and communicate makes me the best candidate to move Oak Harbor forward,” he said in a press release.

It didn’t take long for the first shots to be fired in what will likely be a lively campaign season.

Oak Harbor Mayor Scott Dudley said he will most likely seek reelection and welcomes the competition.

“In fact, this will give voters a clear choice,” he said. “We have a candidate who is a sitting city councilman who can’t run away from his voting record.”

Dudley claims Severns supported tax increases, the project that converted Pioneer Way to a one-way road and violated the Open Public Meetings Act, among other things.

Severns said he is proud of his voting record and completed a list of all the projects he’s supported and helped complete while he’s been on the council. He was initially appointed to the council in 2008, then elected in 2010 and reelected in 2014.

His list includes the Pioneer Way renovation project, extensions of the waterfront walkway, renovations at the marina, new water storage tank, new animal shelter and automated garbage trucks.

Severns said he has more than 40 years of experience in the title insurance and banking industries. He’s the retired past president of Chicago Title, which had seven branches in three counties.

Severns was a director on the board for Whidbey Island Bank and remained on the board after it merged with Heritage Bank.

He said Erica Wasinger is the chairman of his campaign committee, Kathy Jones is the treasurer and his wife, Rhonda Severns, is his “biggest supporter.”

Severns said he realizes that the campaign season will likely be contentious, though he hopes that no ugliness comes from his side.

Severns and the majority of the council have been at odds with Dudley over many issues.

The discord started when Dudley took office and immediately started firing administrative employees, Severns said.

Dudley claims that Severns is part of the “good old boys network” in the city.

“A vote for Bob Severns is a vote for Chris Skinner,” he said.

Skinner, a prominent attorney who represented several city workers who sued the city over Dudley’s handling of personnel matters, has been publicly critical of Dudley.

Severns concedes that Skinner is his friend and that he knows a lot of people in the community.

“I don’t feel it’s bad to have friends,” he said, adding that he listens to the opinions of others, but thinks for himself.

Severns said that Dudley’s leadership style is one of the reasons he’s running.

“Quite frankly,” he said, “a lot of people who voted for him now say they didn’t know him and wish that they hadn’t.”