EDMONTON -- It was a "cold, COVID" day that former city councillor Kim Krushell handed in her nomination papers to be Edmonton's next mayor. 

Standing outside City Hall, with temperatures hovering in the minus teens and snow falling softly around her, Krushell explained her desire to return to politics was due to a deep love for the city, its residents and its future.

"I think most people that remember me when I was on council and I was in politics know that that care is genuine."

Krushell served as Ward 2's councillor from 2004 to 2013, when she stepped down to spend more time with family and later launch two start-ups focused on streamlining commercial lending processes.

She said Wednesday morning those businesses were "surviving COVID" but that she hadn't been unaffected or blind to the pandemic's impact on the business sector and city.

As such, she said her campaign will make proposals on three fronts: economic recovery, core services, and supports for Edmonton's most vulnerable.

The city has a role to play, Krushell told reporters, in "looking at things like local procurement, by being smarter in where we spend money, and by focusing where we can on common sense innovation to look at new ways to do things to provide those services for citizens that they deserve."

"I represented the northwest for nine [years]… And I also understand the challenges of the southwest when I was working for a former city councillor. So I think that experience puts me in a position to really move our city forward.

"And I've got the hutzpah," Krushell said, citing her work on the city's airport closure, negotiations on the U-Pass and Edmonton's neighbourhood renewal program. "I've never been afraid to stand up and be bold."

Of her known competitors Ward 11 Coun. Mike Nickel, Innovate Edmontons' Cheryll Watson, and Crestwood Community League president Diana Steele, Krushell said Nickel likely had the most name recognition but that there was a "distinct difference" between them.

Nickel's team said he "wishes every candidate who puts their name forward the best of luck."