Longtime Missouri City City Council member Don Smith, will not seek re-election this November, saying “it is time for a change.”

“[City government] is a living being,” Smith said. “Everything changes. Our realities change...I think it’s important sometimes to just step aside and let the new blood and new ideas take its place. I’ve always been a proponent of term limitations on a local level.”

Smith said he has no plans to serve the city in any other capacity, but intends to be active in the community, advocating for future economic and residential developments in the Texas Parkway-Cartwright Road corridor.

Smith said he has spoken to Jeffrey Boney, who is running for Smith’s seat unopposed, but declined to provide details of their conversation.

“I believe Jeff is a capable person,” Smith said. “He will find his niche and find a way to serve the citizens of Missouri City.”

Voters first elected Smith to city council in 2001. A challenger unseated him six years later, but when a position on the council was vacated in 2010 council members at the time unanimously appointed Smith to fill the vacancy, he said.

Smith’s seat on the city council represents voting District B.