UPDATE: Kraft said he will not challenge Jack Young for the City Council presidency, but left open what position he might run for in the April 2016 primary: “I will have a statement at a later date.”

First District Councilman James B. Kraft told constituents last night that he won’t be running for his council seat again – but that his name would be on the ballot in 2016.

His declaration was couched this way: “While it is my full intention to be on the 2016 primary ballot, I want to make clear that it will not be to seek re-election to this seat as your 1st District Councilman.”

“It is time for me to do something different,” the three-term councilman declared during a speech to the Canton Community Association.

Reached this morning by The Brew, Kraft wouldn’t elaborate on his statement, saying he didn’t have time to talk because he was on the way to a meeting. Asked about his political future, Jeff Amoros, a Kraft aide, said, “You’d have to ask Jim that.”

In the absence of any firm statement so far, Kraft’s plans have drawn various speculation on Facebook, with several commentators attempting to connect the dots.

Council Presidency?

An attorney, Kraft could conceivably seek a judgeship, but it appears more likely that he might run for City Council President.

In the past, the current incumbent, Bernard C. “Jack” Young, has spoken of a desire to become mayor, but has not made his intentions for 2016 clear, either.

The Brew reported last week that Young has amassed a campaign war chest of $423,870 – $85,000 more than Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake – but has not demonstrated the mayor’s ability to raise large amounts of cash quickly.

Kraft’s 2014 campaign report discloses $114,720 in cash contributions, up from $99,804 in 2013.

Elected to the Council in 2003, Kraft is chairman of the Judicial and Legislative Investigations Committee and has crafted a record as an active environmentalist who has championed recycling, public transportation and historic preservation.