OLDS — Dan Daley, a Town of Olds councillor finishing up his first four-year term on the job, is running for mayor in the Oct. 20 municipal election.
He joins former mayor Mike Muzychka in the race for the mayor’s chair. Muzychka announced his candidacy for the post in January. He served one term as mayor from 2017-2021.
“I have submitted my nomination papers for the candidacy of mayor,” he told the Albertan in mid-July. “I've done that just to carry on the good work that this council has already done.”
Daley said as a first-term councillor “I see now what needs to be done in this town and I'm committed to my time and my passion to move this town forward, to make it a better place for tomorrow.”
Daley said over the past three-and-a-half years, the current council has worked hard to ensure improvements are made to town infrastructure (things like roads, sidewalks, sewers, water services).
He said the next council needs to make sure that infrastructure is “in good working condition going forward.”
“We need to get that in place to be able to continue to grow and to be sustainable,” he said.
Daley noted that for example, over the past few years, the Town of Olds has spent millions of dollars attacking its I & I problem -- including water flowing into sewers -- and the municipality having to pay the Mountain View Regional Water Services Commission for that extra water.
“Over the years, we've spent millions of dollars on water loss and potable water being delivered up to the treatment plant,” he said.
“If we talk about being sustainable, being sustainable is, of course, being accountable for our dollars and getting the best bang that we can out of our bucks. And so we've already seen a positive turn on the on the I & I situation that's going on here in town and I want to continue with that,” he said.
“I want to continue with building the infrastructure for the town of Olds to be reliable for the future generations of town residents.”
He said over the years, the town's council has worked hard to ensure it spends money wisely, only in areas that it should, such as on core services like infrastructure, pathways, municipal law enforcement and RCMP, community services, the town’s administrative office and recreational facilities.
He wants to ensure that the next council continues to focus on those services.
Daley said an example of spending outside core services would be the Town of Olds constructing a building.
“It's just keeping an eye on our dollars and making sure that we spend them where they need to be spent,” he said.
“We only have a finite amount of dollars right now, and we need to be able to use those to supply the town with that core services and not go outside of that and frivolously spend our money.”
Daley said all those services need to be maintained and money set aside for some big expenditures like renovating or replacing the aging Sportsplex. He noted a study on those options will begin around the end of this month.
It was pointed out to Daley that he could still push for those priorities as a councillor, so why go for the mayor’s chair?
He said it’s “a contribution I can make” after one term’s experience as councillor plus the leadership skills he honed at Olds College, where he spent 12 years as dean of the School of Trades.
Daley said he’s fully aware that that job of mayor is virtually 24/7; often seven days -- and nights -- a week.
Currently he’s doing some contract work for the college but said he would drop that if his run for mayor is successful.
“It would be my full commitment,” he said.
Daley said he’s done a lot of volunteer work over the years. He’s also put in many extra hours as a councillor on many committees, so he’s confident the extra hours put in by the mayor would not faze him.
Daley said he loves being a councillor.
“I like the being able to contribute back to the community and being able to make the right decision or the right choice for our community as well, so that down the road that we can see the benefits of that,” he said.
Daley said he likes being able to explain actions or decisions of council when he meets town residents and “they ask me questions on the street or in the grocery store and stuff.”
“The Town of Olds is a wonderful organization, as far as the employees and the management of the of the town and just what we have here for assets within the town,” he said.
“I'm so proud of what we've done here,” he added. “It's often been said that the town of Olds punches over its weight limit, and that is so true.
“There are so many people that come to visit us here in this town and go, ‘wow, look what they’ve got here.’ And it I believe what we’ve got here is because we've all worked so well together in the past years to build what we have, and that's through relationships and good choices being made.”
