Ewen stepping down after 2 terms

WORLAND — One seat is open on the Board of Big Horn County Commissioners and with current commissioner Jerry Ewen announcing he will not seek a third term, the seat is wide open.

As of Wednesday morning, according to the Big Horn County clerk’s office, four candidates have filed for the seat — former Big Horn County Emergency Management Director Rich Fink of Lovell, Chuck Hopkin of Basin, County Planning Commission member Dave Neves of Emblem and former Lovell Chief of Police Nick Lewis of Lovell. All have filed for the Republican nomination.

Filing continues through next Friday. The primary election is Aug. 16.

When contacted Wednesday, Ewen said when he was first elected he initially wanted to serve just two terms, but admitted being uncertain at the start of the current term.

“It’s the right time for me to leave the job,” Ewen said, “I’ll be almost 70 when this year is over. It’s time to do something else.”

He said he would remain busy, including looking at other areas of community service.

Ewen said the past eight years did not hold many surprises for him. However, he said, the extent of the public land agencies and the amount of time and number of issues the county has to deal with federal agencies was a surprise.

“They reach into every area of our lives, not just public land management agencies but others too, FEMA, the DEQ, just to name a couple,” he said.

Looking back

In looking back at his tenure as commissioner, Ewen said, “The thing I’ll leave behind that I’m most proud of is some very, very good people that we hired and put into position over past eight years. Big Horn County is very well staffed at this point. We always tried to recruit really good people and then give them the space to do their job.”

With seven months left in his term, Ewen said he realizes he is going to miss the people he works with. “I’m not going to miss going to meetings, there’s lots and lots of meetings. It’s not just the commissioners, that’s twice a month, all the other appointed boards, and the BLM, Forest Service, Medicine Wheel Coalition, Big Horn Mountain Coalition and others.”

In looking to his successor, Ewen said, “Whoever decides to run needs to make sure they have the time to do the job justice. They need to be open to listen to everybody’s ideas, try to set aside preconceived notions and be someone who is willing to negotiate and meet people with differences halfway.”

Hot Springs County

In Hot Springs County there is also one seat open on the board of commissioners, currently held by Brad Basse. According to the clerk’s office, one resident has filed on the Republican ticket, Joe Casciato.

Basse said Wednesday that he is undecided if he’ll seek another term. “I’ll probably decide that on the last day of filing,” he said.