DALTON GARDENS — Robert Wright said he wants to be elected mayor of Dalton Gardens so he can continue to make the city a better place to live.

Wright, a former member of the city council, said he is proud to be a resident of Dalton Gardens and has called the town home for more than 20 years. He added he fell in love with the area the minute he saw it, and is running for mayor because he feels there is a lot of room for improvement.

"My management style would be very different from the current administration," Wright said. "I envision the role of mayor as one of making sure that the members of the city council have the resources and information that they need to make the best possible decisions for the entire city."

The most important issues facing Dalton Gardens have to do with quality of life and the impact of increasing growth in the areas surrounding the city, Wright said. Those issues, he added, have to do with the things that make Dalton Gardens a unique and great place to live.

"We are facing more traffic on our streets, increased development in the commercial zone due to the introduction of sewers, and a slowly increasing crime rate," Wright said. "These pressures will only increase with time, and it is up to us now to do everything we can to preserve the essential character of this city. If we lose it, we can never get it back."

If elected, Wright said, his primary goal is to increase the role citizens play in Dalton Gardens' government by making participation easier and providing access to the information residents need to keep informed about city business. Wright said that would mean using every possible method of communication including the city's website, emails, reader board signs, newsletters and city hall.

"It would mean that the public would have the opportunity to give input and ask questions at all public meetings, without any artificial constraints," Wright added. "I have always felt that the public is the most important part of public meetings. Without their input, I don't believe it is possible to properly represent them."

The first action Wright said he would take if elected would be to form committees to examine the major issues in Dalton Gardens. According to Wright, the committees would represent the widest possible range of viewpoints and be tasked with coming up with two to three solutions for each issue facing the city, which would then go through a period of public review and feedback.

"Those solutions would (then) be presented to the council for a decision," Wright said. "I've used this method before, and have found it results in solutions that best meet the needs of the greatest number of people."