Alex Cullen filed his nomination for mayor at 8:30 a.m. Monday. (CBC)

The race to become Ottawa's next mayor kicked off Monday with the announcement of the first candidate — Alex Cullen.

The councillor for Bay ward filed his nomination papers at city hall at 8:30 a.m. on the day nominations opened.

As of late afternoon, no other candidates had announced an intention to run for the Ottawa mayor's seat during Ontario-wide municipal elections on Oct. 25, 2010. The position is currently held by Larry O'Brien, who had not yet said whether he will run for re-election.

Nominations for mayor, city councillor and school board trustee positions are being accepted Jan. 4 to Sept. 10.

Cullen launched his mayoral campaign with a 10-slide news conference focused on integrity, experience and leadership. His platform advocated for a lobbyist registry at city hall, but Cullen said he is staying away from hot-button issues and will take a patient and deliberate approach instead. That's one reason why he is registering early, he added.

"I think from the last election people are going to be wary of simplistic slogans," Cullen said. "I think people were burned on 'zero means zero.'"

That was the slogan used by O'Brien, who promised a four-year tax freeze during the 2006 election. The city's 2007 budget did include a tax freeze, although there were some user fee hikes. However, following heated debates and public consultations, city council passed 2008 and 2009 budgets that both included 4.9 per cent property tax hikes. Another tax hike has been proposed for 2010.

Waiting for Watson

Peter Hume, city councillor for Alta Vista, is also rumoured to be considering a run for mayor in 2010. He said he and others are watching for a big name to show his cards first.

"Everyone's waiting for Jim Watson," said Hume, referring to the sitting Ontario municipal affairs minister and Liberal MPP for Ottawa West-Nepean. "He's the elephant in the room. He will certainly be someone who determines the make-up of the field."

In his year end interview with CBC News, Watson said people are pressuring him to make another run for the job he held from 1997 to 2000. At the time, he himself was non-committal.

Meanwhile, the nominations are trickling in for other positions. As of Monday at noon, longtime Kanata community activist Allan Hubley had already announced that he was running for city councillor in Kanata South, which is currently represented by Peggy Feltmate. Catholic school board trustee Stephen Blais said he was running for city councillor in Cumberland ward, a seat currently held by Rob Jellett.