Irmo’s mayor is seeking re-election, hoping to see multiple major projects to the finish line, but he faces a challenge from a member of Town Council.

Barry Walker has held the position of mayor for the town of nearly 12,000 for four years, extending his service to the town as a public official, which spans almost two decades. Mayor Pro-Tem Bill Danielson, who has filed to run against him for mayor on Nov. 7, has been on council since 2020.

“I've been on council. I've seen the transition between two mayors,” Walker said. “My vision, my passion, my vision is solid. Personally, I want to leave Irmo better than I found it when I first became a council member.”

Danielson is nearing the end of his first term on town council and is now taking the plunge for the mayoral seat. He is running for mayor  from a “safe seat,” as his term doesn’t expire until 2025.

The mayor pro-tem told the Chronicle that he is running for a variety of reasons, one being that he feels like he has the vision to make Irmo an even better place to live and do business.

He said he has some concerns with threats to the town’s quality of life.

“Rising crime is affecting all of us and as mayor I will lead the way in supporting our police and first responders with every tool required to get the job done,” he said.

Danielson said he would do this by hiring new people, offering competitive compensation packages, acquiring updated vehicles and equipment, training, and adding license plate readers and personal identification cameras areas hit hardest by crime.  

Walker told the Chronicle he is seeking another term to truly start implementing his plans for the town, as the country was hit with the COVID-19 pandemic three months into his first term.

“We had to do some radical things in America to save us,” he said. “And of course, that being my third month as mayor, we had to do some radical things to save our citizens and to make our citizens safe.”

The incumbent emphasized that as a brand-new mayor he had to deal with COVID and its aftermath, and didn’t get to start implementing his ideas until 2021. These ideas included adding multiple committees in an effort to help the town’s residents become more involved in their government, helping shape proposed initiatives such as an expanded events calendar, a dog park and a skatepark.

Walker said he wants to experience a full four-year term without a pandemic shutting down the town for two years, adding that he would like to see multiple large-scale projects through.

Some projects that Walker would like to see come to fruition are the construction of a new town hall, the competition of Rawls Creek Park, and the expansion of Broad River Road.

The mayor said he and Danileson have similarities – including the choice to run from a safe council seat for mayor, which Walker did when he first won the town’s top job.

“Bill has nothing to lose and I would suspect that he would have been the one [to run], either him or another council member, but him in particular,” Walker said. “I wouldn't allow my current mayor to run unopposed. We don't do that anymore.”

Walker said that Danielson is a great council member and brings a lot of ideas to the table, adding that they may not always agree on things, but that isn’t a bad thing.

When it comes to businesses within the town, Danielson said it’s the mayor's responsibility to support local businesses and to help them grow. He pointed to town residents not paying a millage tax leading to the town being supported by business license fees along with hospitality and accommodations taxes.  

“It should be a top priority for the mayor to make sure businesses of all sizes thrive in our town,” he emphasized.

Danielson said the town is living in uncertain times, and he wants to bring a fiscally conservative approach to council. He added that the future success of the town is dependent on its ability to “tighten our belt,” prioritizing spending and saving money for a rainy day.

“As mayor, I will continue to work closely with council members and put the citizens of Irmo first,” he told the Chronicle.

As to how the sitting mayor will run, Walker told the Chronicle that he will use his resume as mayor and as a council member to highlight what he has accomplished in the town.

Earlier this year, the mayor and council faced public backlash following an effort to build a downtown for Irmo in an area that is currently home to many Black residents. The ordinance that could make way for the development remains in place, but the project is on pause, with funds set aside for it having been repurposed.

Walker didn’t have an answer when asked by the Chronicle as  to whether this project will have an effect on his possibility of reelection, calling the effort ill-fated. The mayor said council spreading word about the development and not bringing landowners into the conversation was the town's first disrespect towards residents, with the second being that instead of attempting to do damage control the town started touting eminent domain as a possible next step to get the land.

Despite these challenges in his campaign, Walker looks forward to what will happen in the town.

“I am excited about the direction that the town is going. I mean, if you go and look on Google, pull up Irmo, you'll see some great things, good news stories coming out of our community,” Walker said. “It wasn't like that four years ago. We had stories coming in our community but they were bad.”