As Tuesday's election nears, the Provo mayoral hopeful is too busy for a joy ride like the one he took in August to Sturgis, S.D. He has a rough campaign road ahead and a tumble of political speed bumps he has left behind.

In a race some longtime political observers say is one of the nastiest in memory, the 58-year-old retired Provo fire captain still views his second clash against Lewis Billings - he lost to the mayor four years ago by a scant 365 votes - as nothing personal.

"It's informational. I don't look at it as being unfriendly or bashing," says Bailey, who retired in February.

Trying to stay above the fray, Bailey won't comment on allegations that Billings fudged on his campaign résumé or about the recent surfacing of a purported copy of Billings' less-than-stellar grades as a student at Brigham Young University.

"It's time for a change," Bailey says simply.

"We don't need three-term mayors," adds Mary Bailey, his wife and campaign manager.

The two have been inseparable since they met when Bailey was a young firefighter in Provo, balancing work with earning a bachelor's degree in accounting at BYU.

After weathering scores of fires and other flare-ups during his 30-year career with the department, Bailey insists he can take the heat that comes from trying to unseat a powerful two-term Republican incumbent in this officially nonpartisan showdown.

Still, Provo politics are far removed from the California transplant's boyhood home in North Hollywood, where he remembers surfing, scuba diving, motorcycling and frequenting art galleries.

Bailey's father, Robert, was a pianist and musical director of "The Dean Martin Show" and played Las Vegas with Nat King Cole and other musicians. Bailey remembers romping around the stage with Cole's daughter, Natalie, while his dad and the legendary singer rehearsed.

"I really didn't think anything about it at the time. Music was just something my dad did and these [celebrities] were his friends," says Bailey, who nowadays treasures the sterling silver money clip Bing Crosby and family presented his father one Christmas.

After serving an LDS mission to Uruguay, Dave Bailey went to BYU, enlisted as a Provo firefighter and stayed on for the full 30-year ride despite his accounting degree. It paid the same as an entry-level accountant and "was much more exciting," Bailey explains.

A political neophyte in 2001, Bailey shocked many observers by nearly topping Billings, then seen as a rising GOP star destined for higher office. Bailey views Billings as even more vulnerable four years later.

"Where's the results, Lewis?" he asks the incumbent this election.

He credits Billings with overseeing construction of the multimillion-dollar Wells Fargo building downtown and a control tower at Provo's airport, but adds the building would have been built with or without the mayor and chalks up the tower to the fact Billings is a private pilot.

Even with the rising of the tower, Bailey says the city is mired in the muck on other fronts. For starters, there's the fiber-optic telecommunications system the city bonded $40 million to build in 2004. Once fully operational in 2006, the system is supposed to make high-speed Internet, video and phone service available to every home and business in Provo.

Bailey insists network revenues are lagging far behind expenses, and that the administration is using one-time money and rainy-day funds to mask its problems. If elected, Bailey pledges to have objective experts analyze iProvo and its prospects for success.

If it looks shaky, he says he will let voters decide iProvo's fate in a special election.

"The current administration got into this hook, line and sinker and they are going to follow it right down to the grave," he says. "I want iProvo to work, but I'm realistic to know that it might not."

Bailey produces various budget reports and accuses Billings of using smoke and mirrors to hide spending of city reserves to keep iProvo afloat. Billings denies the charge, noting the city has $65 million in reserves.

Bailey counters much of that money is inaccessible and includes unspent funds already earmarked for other purposes.

"It's not reserve funds," he adds. "We're told over and over as Utahns to get out of debt, to live within our means and put a little away for a rainy day. Well, [Provo] is not living within its means. It is going into debt and spending its rainy-day funds."

On the public-safety front, Bailey says Provo's 911 call center is overwhelmed. He vows to add more staff and create a 311 center to handle nonemergency calls. Asked how to pay for it, the candidate has a ready response.

"Out of that $65 million [in reserves] the mayor says we have," he laughs.

meddington@sltrib.com

Election 2005

Dave Bailey

* Age: 58

* Career: Retired Provo fire captain

* Education: Bachelor's degree in accounting from Brigham Young University

* Political experience: Lost close election in 2001 mayor's race

* Fun fact: He has logged 6,000 miles this year on his Harley-Davidson

Bailey on the issues

* What should be done about iProvo if its prospects for success are poor? Favors putting the facts before voters and letting them decide the citywide telecommunications network's fate in a special election.

* Response to critics trying to cast him as a Democrat? For the record, he's a registered Republican and adds that the mayoral race is nonpartisan. "I'm an inclusive kind of candidate who would like to get both the Republican and the Democratic vote."

* What can be done to improve Provo's financial health? Grow the commercial tax base by making Provo more business-friendly.