Appointed members seek to retain council seats

WORLAND — Two appointed council members are hoping to retain their seats on the Worland City Council.

Gary Gerber, who represents Ward 1, was appointed in June 2017 to fill the term left vacant after the resignation of Jacque Ernest.

Gerber said, “The city’s been good to me. I just thought I would like to give something back. I just wanted to help.”

Gerber retired at the end of January 2016 as the co-supervisor for the water and sewer department, just two months shy of making 45 years on the job.

He said looking ahead at the challenges for the city, funding will be the biggest challenge for Worland. He said funding of streets, parks and police and other items in the general fund come from tax revenue, which has been declining.

He said the city has been fortunate to obtain grant funding when available, including for the recent 15th Street project and the upcoming Culbertson project, both funded in part by one-cent sales tax money and grants from the State Loan and Investment Board.

Serving on the council “is everything I expected. I attended council at times when I was assistant superintendent,” Gerber said.

He said he has enjoyed serving on the council and while feeling he first represents Ward 1, he also feels a responsibility to the entire community because the decisions the council makes impacts everyone.

Christy Schneider was appointed to a Ward 2 seat on Aug. 15, 2017, replacing the late Bud Callaham, after Callaham had submitted his resignation. Schneider grew up in Texas. She and her family have lived in Worland for 24 years.

When submitting her letter of interest for the appointment, Schneider said, “I just feel like it’s the next step to be able to serve the community. I look forward to being here and to being able to help.”

In an interview Wednesday, Schneider said, “I am seeking to retain my seat on city council because I feel it is way to give back and to be active in the community. I have enjoyed being on the council and find it very interesting. I feel like I am learning so much.”

She said the biggest challenges facing Worland is the decline in businesses downtown and lack of growth.

OPEN SEATS

There are also three seats open on the council with no current candidates. Lisa Fernandez in Ward 1 and Michele Rideout and Loresa Brinkerhoff, both in Ward 3, all opted to not seek re-election. No one filed for the seats during the filing period.

As for not having anyone file for three of the open seats, Gerber said, “People have a lot on their plate and a lot of people are already involved with different organizations. Council takes up some time.”

Schneider said, “I am not sure why no one filed for the open seats. I believe we all live very busy lives. With most people working and being active in other organizations, church, children activities or sports, it leaves little time to serve on the council or other boards.”

Worland City Clerk/Treasurer Tracy Glanz said write-in nominations can be made during the upcoming primary election Aug. 21. A candidate needs at least three votes to qualify as a write-in candidate.

She said if more than one person receives write-in votes, the person with the most write-in votes will be contacted first to see if they want to accept the nomination. If they accept the nomination they would then have to come to city hall and fill out the application and pay the $25 filing fee so they can be placed on the November general election ballot.

Since the council positions are non-partisan the top two vote-getters in the primary advance to the general election. Glanz said potentially there could be two write-in candidates accepting nominations for the open seats.

“I hope we get some write-ins,” Glanz said. If there are no write-ins, Mayor Jim Gill will make appointments in January with the council approval to fill the vacancies.

Ward 3 is west of 10th Street. Ward 1 is the north part of the city and Ward 2 the south part of the city. For a full map see the city’s website, cityofworland.org