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GALLAGHER
Orion Gallagher, incumbent councilmember for Place 2, Dublin City Council, is seeking reelection against Nancy Williams.
Gallagher, who has served for two years on city council, may be familiar to many for a number of reasons including his community service spirit, involvement with Things Celtic or acting as the town’s resident leprechaun at many city events.
Gallagher originally felt compelled to run because no one had signed up.
“I’m constantly saying we don’t have enough people interested in doing things for this community, so if no one else was going to, I was going to,” he said.
Gallagher said his attendance at city council meetings prior to his being elected to the office helped with the learning curve associated with being a city councilmember.
“I had missed a couple before I was elected. I haven’t missed any since I was elected,” he said.
Since being on council, Gallagher said he is proud that the council has been able to expand the city limits. “It’s a trend that we need to continue doing and hopefully by expanding outwards, especially toward Hwy. 377 we will bring more business in and increase the tax coming into the city, which will help us afford more improvements,” he said.
Gallagher said if he is elected again, he would like to see work done on the downtown stoplight, especially where running red lights are concerned.
Gallagher’s work history includes nine years of service in the U.S. Navy with four of them in data processing and journalism part of the time on the USS Midway.
He has also served as a cook in a variety of capacities and did extra work in Austin for theatre. Moving from Austin to Dublin six years ago with his girl Lanora Davidson, he found that the town was welcoming to him as an outsider.
“Even though I still am considered an outsider, I still feel like I’m part of the community,” Gallagher said. Gallagher said he loves many things about Dublin, but he especially loves the slower pace.
“Going to the grocery store is not as big of a problem as it was when I lived in Austin,” he said.
When it comes to giving back to Dublin, Gallagher is currently on the Dublin Public Library board and the Dublin Historical Society board, associated with the Dublin Historical Museum. He volunteers at both locations each week as a retired citizen.
“I love Dublin,” he said. When he isn’t busy volunteering with the store or on boards, Orion enjoys spending time with Lanora in their beautiful home on Patrick Street. “I’m out doing stuff or at least trying to. I just want what’s best for Dublin,” he said.