Borrego Sun - Since 1949

Being part of a family who has been working and living in Borrego Springs for nearly 44 years and holding his dad's legacy high and proud, Dan Wright continues to serve the community in more ways than one.

Dan Wright was named by the Chamber of Commerce to replace former Co-Honorary Mayors Jim and Anne Wermers, as Honorary Mayor of Borrego Springs.

"The Chamber Board of Directors all agreed there was no one more deserving than Daniel Wright for Honorary Mayor of Borrego Springs. Daniel has continued to follow in his family's legacy of giving back to Borrego Springs in more ways than the community even knows," Françoise Rhodes, Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce, said. "He truly loves Borrego Springs and this is an honor long overdue."

Though when being honored, it was not much of a surprise for Dan Wright.

"I've been on the Chamber Board for at least two cycles and I knew that my name had come up before, and I wasn't surprised," he said.

However, he shares that he was a bit hesitant in accepting the honor.

"I didn't know how my wife Nancy would feel about it. She's a fairly private person and doesn't attend a lot of community functions. She was very supportive of it, and therefore, I got over my hesitation and accepted it."

So for the next two years, besides representing the town and giving it a voice, one of the sole jobs Dan Wright has is to make sure that pesky traffic light never sees the day in Borrego, so it is currently sitting in front of his fireplace at home.

"First and foremost duty is to make sure none are installed in Borrego," he joked.

"But, the mayor's position gives us, those of who have served, a chance to use our voice to help the community to spread the concept of community and how we are dependent on each other when we live here, and we all have a duty to take care of our neighbors, take care of our children, take care of our elders. That's the main thing I see. It's a chance to voice that community spirit."

In his tenure, he hopes to work on communicating the community spirit, as well as continue his work with the various non-profits he is involved in town.

His involvement includes being on the Board of Directors on the Chamber of Commerce, Board of the Youth and Seniors Center, which operates the Children's Center and the Seniors Center, Board of the Borrego Festivals Foundation, which is the 501c3 charitable non-profit that supports Borrego Days and formerly supports the Film Festival.

Although he is not very active with the Film Festival, he is one of the founding committee members of the Festival, which is now considered one of the top Film Festivals in the nation based on the ratings from the filmmakers.

His legacy is a continuing story as he is picking up where his father, the ever so loved, the late Bill Wright left off.

Bill Wright was the most beloved, admired, and respected resident of Borrego Springs, who carried a legacy of generosity and work ethic as a true champion for Borrego Springs.

Bill and Dan Wright developed and built the Borrego Springs RV Resort from scratch and it is now one of the highest-rated RV parks in North America.

Despite not owning it anymore, Dan Wright still works there part-time, and would say that it was professionally one of his greatest accomplishments.

He does share that personally his greatest accomplishment is being married to his wife, Nancy Phillips Wright for nearly 44 years.

In 1980, his family purchased the Roadrunner Club and owned and operated it for 37 years.

"I started coming to Borrego even before that and then after my parents began doing business here and bought a house, I began to visit at least once a year," he said.

"Then around 1996, I became a commuter. I lived in Seattle and would fly down every other week and spend a week here, working on the Roadrunner and working on building the Springs."

He eventually moved to Borrego Springs full-time in 2009.

Despite not having "lofty" goals, he is working on a few things for Borrego Springs, reflecting his dedication and significant contributions to the town.

They are currently working on a new fire station, a new firehouse medical clinic and also some affordable housing, as well as other projects for use on a 22-acre parcel that his family owns next to the Library.

"When my father originally purchased the land, it was 25-acres." He and my mother (Jenny Wright) donated three acres for the Library, and now we're working on developing the other 22-acres for either charitable or specific community-minded purposes," Dan Wright said.

"We are actively developing the plan to donate the land for the fire station, we're working with San Diego County Fire to make that happen and we hope to add what's called a firehouse clinic and this is an idea that has been done in other locations and one of the primary benefits of it would be you usually have four paramedics or EMTs at the fire station that could see people if they urgent medical problems and we're looking for a medical provider that would work with us that could bring a full fledged medical clinic that could bring doctors to this location."

He added, "I do think it would benefit the community to have a full-fledged medical clinic in the center of Borrego Springs. "

Dan Wright truly embodies the qualities of what it means to be Honorary Mayor of Borrego Springs with his constant involvement and dedication to the community and all he has done and currently does to help those in need. He spreads the community spirit to all he meets, and for those who have never visited Borrego Springs, let alone heard of the town, he says this, "As a tourist, we have our wonderful weather, and our beautiful scenery. Those are the first things that meet the eye when you first come to Borrego. But there is much more to Borrego than meets the eye."

"One of the unique things about Borrego Springs is, as you know, we are isolated from everybody by time and distance. And what that means is we have to take care of each other. That's why I work for the youth and seniors. We have operated the food bank for two and a half years."

He shares a story of a man he met while at Christmas Circle during the Farmers Market who asked him to give him one word that gives the essence of Borrego and Dan Wright said he didn't have to think long and responded, "Yes, I can, the word is community."