Brooklyn Park Mayor Jeffrey Lunde is resigning from his post of 10 years in the north metro suburb to instead serve on the Hennepin County Board, prompting a special election in 2021.

Lunde, whose resignation is effective Jan. 3, has two years left in his term, which means the council will have to appoint a pro tem mayor in January to assume duties until the special election.

The council officially declared a vacancy at its Monday night meeting and by law is required to order a special election within 45 days. Candidate filing will be open Feb. 2-16. A primary election will be held in April if more than two candidates file for the vacant seat, followed by a general election in August.

Brooklyn Park's last special mayoral election was held in April 2011 following the death of former Mayor Steve Lampi.

Lunde at the time was a City Council member and one of a dozen candidates who filed for the vacancy. He won and maintained the position, even in 2016 when he tossed his hat in the race for state Senate District 36 in an unsuccessful bid to oust DFL incumbent Rep. John Hoffman.

Lunde, 53, is one of three new commissioners elected to serve Hennepin County, the state's most populous county. He will represent the First District after securing more than 50% of votes in the Nov. 3 election.

On Monday, Lunde summed up his city government tenure in a tweet featuring a masked selfie in an empty council chamber: "After roughly 700 meetings, 2,800 hours, 168,000 minutes, this is not how I pictured my last BP City Council meeting as Mayor ... So 2020," he wrote.

Kim Hyatt • 612-673-4751