This is the question many Chelseaites were asking when the challenger to the far-more-recognizable Caryl Green surfaced in the final moments of registration for Nov. 1′s municipal election. Fitzgerald may have waited until the last minute to enter the mayoral race, but he says he had been paying attention for some time, following the rumours about Jean Perras, Green and Bruce Langer and accumulating the signatures necessary for his candidacy.

When it looked as though Green would be acclaimed, Fitzgerald stepped up.

“It’s nothing personal against Caryl but her views are not aligned with mine,” he said, adding that he would still have run against Langer.

Born in Leeds, England, and still exhibiting a subtle trace of an accent to prove it, Fitzgerald moved to Ottawa at the age of 10 when his father was recruited to set up Carleton University’s law department. He attended Glebe and Woodroffe high schools before studying marine and small engine mechanics at Toronto’s Centennial College.

“I worked in that for 12 years until I smartened up,” he said, listing mechanic jobs at Sears and Camelot Golf and Country Club. “Unless you want to open up a business, which I didn’t particularly want to do, it’s a young man’s game.”

Fitzgerald, 48, married Chelseaite Kate Stefanuk – who works for the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) – and moved to Chelsea in 1994. He said Stefanuk convinced him to return to school for a programming diploma, which he got at Algonquin College. He worked at Jet Form after graduating and is now in quality assurance at Ubitech in Kanata.

He first got involved in Chelsea’s civic affairs when he worked on the ‘No’ campaign against the Meredith Centre. This is first foray into politics.

With outgoing Mayor Jean Perras giving Green his endorsement, Fitzgerald is underdog in this election.

When asked about why he threw his hat into the ring – whether he wants to beat Green for the mayor’s seat or if he’s simply trying to create debate – Fitzgerald is a bit coy, saying we won’t know the answer to that until Nov. 1.

“I think there’s enough support for an alternative view and I think it is possible,” he said. “If it was impossible I wouldn’t do it at all.”

Regardless, he said he’s happy to raise questions that wouldn’t have otherwise been asked. And as he puts it, “there is a lot of asking going on.”