Cary Bozeman's decision to leave his job as mayor of Bremerton has some wondering about the city's future direction and others taking calls about their possible interest in replacing him.

Bozeman said the decision to resign as mayor to become the Port of Bremerton's chief executive officer was made in his own best interest, and that history will determine whether it was the right choice for the city.

"Change is inevitable," he said. "I'm just proud of what we've been able to do."

He said he may be able to do more to support Bremerton's economic development efforts in his new role than he could with four more years as mayor.

The port is in the process of trying to fill its new marina and to recruit businesses to the South Kitsap Industrial Area, which was recently annexed into Bremerton.

The mayor has been the city's cheerleader-in-chief during his two terms as mayor and has pointed to his city as an example of successful revitalization efforts. He's made frequent invitations to leaders from other cities to look at the changes to Bremerton's waterfront, including the conference center and the Harborside Fountain Park.

Most recently, he made regional headlines for being critical of 50 years of Seattle leadership that he said did not take advantage of that city's waterfront. His comments drew criticism that drew attention to him and to Bremerton.

Bozeman had been planning to run for re-election in November. To date only City Councilman Mike Shepherd had signed up to run against him. Shepherd said he planned to run a vigorous campaign before Bozeman announced his resignation and that won't change.

'I'll continue campaigning, the effort to get out and meet all the people," Shepherd said. "I don't know if I'll have an opponent or not, but it really won't change my approach."

He'll know by June 5, the end of the week in which Kitsap political candidates can file for office.

Bozeman will leave office June 8. Whoever wins the November mayor's race will be sworn in once the election is certified instead of waiting until the new year.

For now Cecil McConnell, city council president and mayor pro tem, will handle most of the document-signing responsibilities while city attorney Roger Lubovich will take on the administrative work of the mayor.

Two who say they have been receiving calls inquiring if they will run to replace Bozeman are Bremerton attorney Ed Wolfe and City Councilman Will Maupin.

Maupin said he's thinking about it. Wolfe is running for municipal court judge and planned to have his first fundraiser for that job Tuesday night. He said so far he hadn't thought about the mayor's job.

Wolfe and Maupin both said they were disappointed Bozeman was leaving the city.

"I'm disappointed, because I think that we have come a long way in the last seven-plus years and I think we have quite a ways to go," Maupin said. "I think with Bozeman's contacts and leadership ability I was looking forward to making a lot more progress in the next four years. I think this means we won't make as much progress in the next four years."

Wolfe said he was "shocked" when he heard the news, joining a long list of people who professed no prior knowledge of the Tuesday announcement.

McConnell said the mayor contacted him Monday and asked to meet with him at 9 a.m. Tuesday. When McConnell arrived, he saw the mayor was joined by Lubovich and Ken Bagwell, assistant city attorney.

"I couldn't for the life of me think what I'd done wrong," McConnell said.

When the mayor told him the news before the port's Tuesday meeting, McConnell said he was shocked but also happy for Bozeman. "I've never had anything against somebody taking a job" they think they can do well at, he said.

George Behan, chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, said he was in an Interior Appropriations Subcommittee hearing when he got the message on his Blackberry. He passed along the news to the Congressman. Dicks, a Bremerton native, "was absolutely stunned," Behan said.

Shepherd said he hopes Bozeman will be an effective salesman for the Bremerton Marina.

McConnell said he thinks Bozeman will do a good job leading the effort to develop SKIA. "The mayor was a big booster of that. I'm glad that that got done before he decided to leave," he said.

According to documents filed with the state's Public Disclosure Commission, Bozeman has about a balance of $23,700 in his campaign fund for the 2009 mayoral race. Bozeman said Tuesday he plans to donate that money to the Harrison Foundation, a charity fund for Harrison Medical Center.