Election 2009: Sandy mayor earns 5th term

Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan sailed to his fifth term in office Tuesday with 57 percent of the vote, according to unofficial returns from Salt Lake County.

"I'm pleased that the (residents)of Sandy want to see me serve for another four years and hopefully together we'll make the city a better place," Dolan said Tuesday. "We'll just continue the high quality of services that our residents have experienced."

Dolan beat out Sandy newcomer Dave Perry, who first decided to run after learning that Dolan had no other opponents. But despite spending only a fraction of the cash used for the Dolan campaign, the challenger received about 42 percent of the vote.

"I think we actually did better with our resources than he did," Perry said.

"I figure I've done my duty. We gave it our best shot."

Perry, whose campaign focused on shrinking city revenues, predicts that the Dolan administration will have to raise taxes in the coming year.

The vice chairman of the Utah Constitution Party, Perry said that although he was not elected, the issues he raised over the summer would be important in the future.

In response to Perry's predictions, Dolan pointed out that taxes haven't been raised in 16 years and that he and the City Council have set a goal to keep it that way.

The full-time mayor said during his campaign that changing city leadership during the worst economic times in recent history was the wrong move.

Dolan pointed to his record on economic development and new parks and open space as reasons to re-elect him.

Over the next four years, Dolan said he wants to further develop the land around City Hall.

City Council incumbent Stephen Smith was re-elected Tuesday with about 66 percent of the vote. He beat out challenger David Kingsbury, corporate director for Idex Corp.

Incumbents Scott Cowdell and Bryant Anderson will also continue on the City Council. Neither faced opposition in his re-election bid.

e-mail: rpalmer@desnews.com