Dolan's success attributed to maturation of suburban city

SANDY — When Mayor Tom Dolan first took the helm of this south valley suburb in 1994, the municipality was in the throes of labor pain.

Its booming population growth was served by just a spattering of commercial businesses, taxes were high and development conflicts were at a climax.

Sixteen years later, Sandy has matured into one of Utah's most influential cities. It has its own major league soccer stadium and multiplex theater plus loads of influence, having garnered "hundreds of millions in funding" from county government to federal transportation spending, Dolan said.

But not everything has changed. Dolan, once an unknown medical salesman from Colorado, is running for his fifth four-year term.

"I think it's very important to look at the next four years and determine the long-term direction that Sandy will go," he said sitting next to a hired campaign official intent on his every word. "I don't think it's the right time to leave office when the city is going through struggles with the major recession. I think I can be helpful."

Before Dolan was elected, Sandy and the powerful "Sandy Republican Club" had a reputation for spitting out mayors after just one term in office. In fact, Dolan was the first two-term mayor in 29 years, according to Deseret News archives.

After Dolan beat Sandy Mayor Larry Smith in a primary, the behind-the-scenes club threw its weight behind the new guy, Smith said.

That left Dolan poised to reap the benefits of Smith's and his predecessors' work.

"The increase in tax revenues in the previous four years were the most dramatic of any in Sandy's history," Smith said. "That laid a base for them to continue to increase. I think (Dolan) mostly came in at the right time."

Dolan agrees that much of his success coincides with the maturation and calming of Sandy politics. But the mayor's knack for relationship building and long-term planning have also helped the city.

In fact, Dolan still plays golf with colleagues and business people two or three times a month. And because he started playing late in life, he still doesn't keep score.

"I don't expect to be very good at it, but its great," he said. "It's a way to relax."

Overall, Dolan doesn't seem too concerned about keeping score for the upcoming election, either. But in this case, it has nothing to do with a skill deficiency.