When Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion steps down next month, Milton Mayor Gordon Krantz will become the longest-serving mayor in Ontario -- if he wins.

And all signs are pointing to another Krantz victory.

The 77-year-old Krantz is campaigning for the 20th time, but he isn't sitting on his hands hoping to be re-elected on Oct. 27.

"We're in election mode now. That time to kiss babies and shake hands," Krantz said. "It's always a competition…to the best of my knowledge, neither of them (his competiting candidates) have any experience in public life. But you always take it seriously."

Krantz has served on city council -- either as a councillor or the mayor -- for 49 years, since a time when the community was mostly farms, with few residents.

"It was very confined, it was really small in square miles," Krantz told CTVNews.ca about Milton’s former town centre. That main part of town was "surrounded by countryside and rural farming communities."

That is far from the Milton most people recognize now, a community filled with housing subdivisions, big box stores, outlet shopping and congestion.

For the past two censuses, Milton has been the fastest-growing municipality in Canada, almost tripling in size in 10 years. "Not only have I seen a lot of change, but I've been a part of a lot of changes as well," said Krantz.

Krantz still refers to himself as a "country kid," but understands he has been a part of turning Milton into a city. During his time on council, he said Milton has grown from 5,000 to about 110,000.

Managing Milton’s growth is Krantz' biggest challenge. "It's been a challenge, but at least in my opinion, I think it's gone quite well."

In the 1980s and 1990s Milton’s population was stagnant. "We actually lost population because we were an aging community," he said.

Krantz could see possibility, being located so close to a booming population in Toronto. But he said there was a lack of resources.

In 2000, Krantz brokered a deal to build a pipeline that would bring water to the community from Lake Ontario. It took a $70-million investment from developers, but looking back on it, he said this kind of growth wouldn’t have been possible without that investment.

Milton resident Nancy Sheibel recalled what the city was like when she moved there for the first time in 2005.

"It was all the way out there," she told CTVNews.ca. "(Now) Milton is nothing by total transformation."

Sheibel and her husband, who now have two young children, moved away from Milton a year later only to return in 2013.

She said Milton offers her family the opportunity for a balanced lifestyle. "It is kind of like living in the city without living in the city. Milton gives you everything you need."

Debra Pride, a teacher, moved to Milton for work seven years ago.

"It feels like it has doubled in size since I moved here," Pride told CTVNews.ca. When she first moved to the community, there were no houses on the outskirts of town.

Both women compliment Krantz for how he has managed growth. And it’s clear from the way they talk they see Milton as an amazing, picturesque little oasis in the Greater Toronto Area -- that is until the issue of traffic comes up.

Seibel said living in Milton is only bearable because she takes Highway 407 to and from work every day -- at a cost of $386 a month.

"Right now, I don't like the construction," said Pride. "I honestly can't name a major road that doesn't have construction on it."

Krantz admits congestion is bad and the town is behind on other infrastructure. He said the hospitals and schools are built for a town of about a third the current population. Milton also has one of the youngest average ages in the country, which puts added pressure on the education system.

Despite the issues, Krantz believes he and his team are doing a good job guiding growth, saying they have the ability to properly manage the ratio between commercial/industrial and residential growth. Not only do people want to be close to work, shops and other activities, Krantz explains, but residential property taxes alone don't nearly cover the cost of running a town.

For the next four weeks, Krantz will be in full-on election mode, getting his message to voters.

He joked about wanting to be in the mayor's chair longer than McCallion. But on a serious note, he said Milton is going to continue to grow at rapid rates and there is still a lot of work to do.

Twenty years from now, he predicts Milton will be a city of 250,000 people.

While he said people have a difficult time getting their minds around that number, he wants to keep leading the charge.