Discussing his time in office, Lancaster Rick Gray pulls from his pocket a copy of the city's strategic plan.

The city is seeing existing large businesses, such as Fulton Bank, expand. He cites the openings of several restaurants as examples of small business growth and the creation of jobs.

The city has made strides in promoting the downtown as a entertainment destination; renovated parks and raised rental housing standards with a systematic inspection program.

Those efforts, and others, such as the 25-year effort to promote "green infrastructure," won't be completed under Gray's watch.

Yet, he said Wednesday, he's not done.

Gray, who was first elected in 2005, announced he will seek a third term as city mayor.

If Gray, a former defense attorney, is reelected, he would be the first mayor to serve a third term in 40 years. The last mayor to do so was Thomas Monaghan, who was city mayor from 1958-1962, then again from 1966-1974.

Gray, 68, announced his intention to members of the city's Democrat party at their meeting Wednesday.

City Republican party Chairman Christopher Larsen did not return a call about that party's plans to field a candidate.

Pete Ruggieri, the "editard" of the "People of Lancaster" Facebook page has also announced he will make an independent bid for mayor.

Gray said he made his decision months ago to seek reelection after conferring with family members and friends.

Although he has been elected to the post twice, Gray said he will actively campaign up until the November election.

"I'm looking forward to the campaign. I love going door-to-door," he said, adding that he would do so even if he were unchallenged.

In a third term, Gray said he wants to continue to improve the physical aspects of the city, such as the parks and public arts. Those initiatives improve the quality of life for city residents and encourage people to live in Lancaster.

He pointed to the U.S. Census figures showing the city with more than 60,000 residents for the first time in a half-century as evidence the initiatives are working.

The city's attention to rental housing, inspection and citations for owners who fail to maintain their property has also improved the quality of life, he said.

And Gray said he hopes to continue representing city residents before state lawmakers. He has argued for relief from unfunded state mandates and urged legislators to adopt different ways cities can levy taxes.

The property tax simply cannot sustain the costs of police, firefighters, public works and schools, he said.

Gray said he has heard people say Lancaster is lucky not to have the financial problems of other Pennsylvania cities, such as Harrisburg and Reading.

"Luck has some to do with it, but hard work has a lot to do with it," he said, crediting his department directors.

Early in his first term, Gray said he would govern as though he would not run again. That approach has made it easier to tackle difficult issues, such as adopting a residential single-hauler trash system, he said.

Doing so has led to a cleaner city, "but it's not as clean as we would like," he said.

Government should always be working to make things better, he said.

"If you have a good government, you never finish what you start," he said.

bharris@lnpnews.com