The race for Social Circle's mayor has drawn a third candidate, Hal W. Dally.

The Social Circle native on Monday announced his campaign to succeed Jim Burgess, who has decided not to see re-election after 14 years in office.

Dally is a Social Circle native and has a long record of service to the community, including 16 years on the City of Social Circle Board of Education. He retired from the school board in December 2009. He cites as accomplishments that the board was able to construct new facilities and improve education while holding its taxes lower than surrounding school districts, according to a release.

Since leaving the school board, he has served as chairman of the Social Circle Downtown Development Authority and serves with the Social Circle Industrial Authority.

He worked with the committee that created the city's downtown improvement plan. He said in the release that he is an advocate for the plan, and for the Mill Village redevelopment and the plan for the promenade from downtown to the Blue Willow.

He said in a release that his goals are to keep taxes low, to set priorities through strategic planning with citizen input, and to work on projects with general funds and grants.

He served on the Social Circle Planning and Zoning Board prior to his school board stint.

Dally is a 1970 graduate of Social Circle High School and earned a bachelor's in accounting in 1974 from West Georgia College in Carrolton.

His work experience includes time with the family agricultural business, then a stint in banking, including the Bank of Covington (later Main Street Banks). He completed the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University in 1990, and became executive vice president and senior credit officer with Main Street until it was sold to BB&T.
He joined Fidelity Bank and worked there until his retirement in 2009.

Dally cites his work with the Boys & Girls Club in Social Circle as a highlight of his community service. He served on the board for the Walton County Boys & Girls Clubs, then helped in the creation of the Boys & Girls Clubs of North Central Georgia.

A member of First Baptist Church of Social Circle, Dally served as church parliamentarian and chaired the church budget and finance committee when its sanctuary was built. He's also a member of the Covington Kiwanis Club for more than 20 years, including time as president and service on the board of directors. He also is a member of the Rotary Club of Social Circle.

Dally's wife, Becky, has served 20 years as municipal court judge for Social Circle. She would resign her post if he was elected mayor, to avoid any potential conflict of interests.

They have two children, Patrick, 27, a U.S. Navy veteran who has just completed a degree at West Georgia College, and Melissa Strickland, 25, who is in her second year teaching first grade at Social Circle Primary School.

Qualifying is set for the week of Aug. 29. Other candidates in the field include city resident Hosea Jackson and Social City Councilman David Keener.