Staff Reports
A longtime Greenfield resident first elected to the Greenfield City Council four years ago intends to seek re-election.
Dan Riley, 69, serves as the chair of the council’s budget committee and is active on a number of community boards. Even before his successful campaign for an at-large seat in 2015, he was no stranger to elected office: He previously served three terms on the Greenfield-Central School Board.
Riley retired in 2014 as director of data systems at Lilly Endowment.
He is the second person to announce his candidacy for office in the May primary and the first incumbent. All seven council seats are up for election.
Riley, who has lived in Greenfield for 40 years, said the city’s most significant opportunity is to manage growth.
“Greenfield will continue to grow with all of central Indiana,” Riley wrote in an email to the Daily Reporter. “We must assure that growth is desirable and quality growth.”
Riley points to Greenfield’s strong manufacturing base and said the city should strive for more technology development.
“We need to encourage businesses like Photon Automation and Sonicu, which are high tech companies,” he said of two promising businesses in the city. “We need to support high-tech incubator businesses that focus on coding and other businesses of the future. We need to do all that while maintaining the roads, utilities and public safety.”
Riley said the city has made good strides since he joined the council. He pointed to progress the council has made on budgeting and to improve public works.
“I am proud of all the city employees,” he said. “I believe that public safety, streets, and utilities are the most important task of the city.”
Riley said the city’s infrastructure improvements — it has done significant work on streets and the sewers under them — have shown the importance of making those investments.
In addition to his time on the G-C School Board, Riley previously served 12 years on Greenfield Park Board and four years on the Greenfield Redevelopment Commission.
As part of his city council service, he is an active member of the boards of Greenfield Main Street, Riley Old Home Society, Riley Festival and the Hancock County Solid Waste Management District. He also is an active member the First Presbyterian Church, numerous Masonic organizations, Greenfield Kiwanis, and serves as an adviser on the Greenfield-Central School Foundation Investment committee. He is active in local Republican politics, having served as a vice precinct committeeman and State Republican Convention delegate.
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Age: 69
Occupation: Retired from Lilly Endowment
Political experience: First elected to the Greenfield City Council in 2015. Before that, he served three terms on the Greenfield-Central School Board. He also has served on numerous city boards and committees and has been active in local Republican politics.
Family: Wife, Rebecca
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