Longtime city council member and former Mayor Allen Settle has decided not to run for mayor this year.

Settle told the e-Insider today that he has decided not to run for mayor because his constituency is similar to Jan Marx’s and that if he ran, he could have become a spoiler in what likely would have been a three-way race that includes Paul Brown.

Settle is throwing his support to Marx. Except for a two-year break, Settle has been on the San Luis Obispo City Council for 30 years. He cannot run for council this year because of term limits.