Outgoing members discuss time on council

WORLAND — Two long-time council members and two short-time members participated in their final regular council meeting last Tuesday, Dec. 15.

Keith Gentzler and Mandy Horath have served together on the council for the past eight years, each serving two terms for their respective wards, Gentzler in Ward 1 and Horath in Ward 2.

Gentzler opted in May during the filing period for city council not to seek a third term.

“I enjoyed making decisions and I enjoyed helping run the city, not rule it but run it,” Gentzler said. “It is time for some new ideas, some younger ideas. I’m glad to see younger people in this city are taking an interest to try and help it.”

When he first ran for office, Gentzler said he felt like he owed the city of Worland. “The city has always been a nice, good, welcoming place to live. It is one of the best places in the world to raise kids. We (he and his wife Caroline) raised two boys (Pete and Pat).”

Gentzler said that when he was city police officer he had a lot of respect and admiration for then council member Gerry Geis. “He was one of those who was honest and loyal to the city and I wanted to be like him.”

“He told me once to set goals so that’s what I did, that’s what I do. You set goals so you are always busy and doing something, something that is good for the community and good for yourself,” Gentzler said.

In eight years of service, Genzler said he can look back and see many things that the council accomplished that he is pleased to have been a part.

“Working together with other people to try and get goals accomplished, one of those was getting a new building inspection program going,” Gentzler said.

He said prior to his time on the council the city had adopted the Universal Building Code but there are many things in the code that do not apply to the City of Worland.

“These are things that we as the council tried to work on and improve,” Gentzler said.

Gentzler said as a council member he feels being involved in hiring of the department heads and crew are important.

“I can’t take credit for the job they do, all I can do [as a council member] is to help them in any way I could. That’s what I was really trying to do, if they need time off, give it to them, if they need a piece of equipment, let’s get it for them,” Gentzler said.

“We have one of the most outstanding police forces in the state,” Gentzler said. He praised the city crew, noting they are cross-trained on multiple pieces of equipment and said they do a “fantastic job” sweeping the streets, plowing and sanding the streets.

Gentzler praised the department heads, noting especially the work of City Attorney and Kent Richins and Clerk/Treasurer Tracy Glanz.

He said the city has a great engineering representative in Mike Donnell, and while not directly related to the city, the city has a great volunteer fire department.

Gentzler said one of the hardest part of a council member’s job is putting up with criticism when people do not understand how things work in the city or why things happen or do not happen.

“Not everybody is perfect, not every city is perfect,” he said.

Another issue has been trying to replace good people who leave for different reasons.

He said the council gets blamed for empty storefronts in the downtown area. “It’s not the city’s fault. It’s really nobody’s fault. [Downtown] is not the gathering place it used to be. New businesses build new and that becomes the new gathering places for people,” he said.

While on the council, Gentzler served on the Worland Aquatic Center Joint Powers Board, Local Emergency Planning Committee and served as president of the council. He also served on the budget committee.

Gentzler said when he started on the council he wanted to get the students involved in city government and they did for a while but the program did not last. “It was hard to keep the students interested,” he said.

Gentzler said he encourages the new council members coming in to not come in with an agenda, but do come with an open mind and a willingness to work with everyone.

MANDY HORATH

Horath sought a third term but voters chose not to send her back to the council in the November election.

She said when she ran for office the first time she had always been interested in politics and government. She said she would read the council minutes in the paper and make comments and people told her to throw her hat in the ring.

“There was an opening for Ward 2, I was interested in how government runs and I had a passion for it,” Horath said.

Horath said going into council it is hard to know what to expect. “There are so many ins and outs of how the city runs,” she said, adding that one of those things is realizing what things can be funded with what pool of money.

Looking back over the past eight years, Horath said it is amazing to learn everything that is involved in how the city runs.

One of the accomplishments that Horath said she is proud to have been a part of is increasing the street improvement projects and showing the citizens that the one-cent funding is used to improve city roads.

“We started big projects and got them completed,” she said, including the recent Culbertson Street project and double-gutter projects the past two years.

Some challenges incurred on the council, Horath said, “You get elected and think you can do stuff but you hit a wall, citizens don’t understand you can’t change things with a snap of a finger. One of the hardest thing I learned is that the first two years you can be lost in all of the workings you are taking a lot of stuff in and learning a lot of things.”

Another issue, she said, “Sometimes asking the hard questions can result in criticism.” Horath encouraged the new council members to “stand behind what you believe in.”

Horath said, “You have to look at every issue with the whole picture in mind and then stand behind what you think is the best for the city.” She added, “You have been elected into a position, be committed, show up and be present, so much information is presented at each meeting it is easy to get behind. This is a job, it is not a three-meetings-a-month job.”

During her tenure on city council, Horath said she served on the budget committee, was the representative for the Worland Aquatic Center, served as president of the council, served on hiring committees and raises committees.

Outside of council, but during the same timeframe, Horath served on Absaroka Head Start Board.

As for what’s next, Horath said, “I wish the council the best of luck and encourage them to be budgetary responsible. It’s going to be a hard couple of years.”

She added, “I thought I was doing a well enough job to continue to serve, and I enjoyed it. I thought I was a good voice, but I’m OK taking a step back.”

Besides serving the community, Horath said she will also miss getting to know the city employees.

“I have been asked about running for future positions … if I feel I can help the community in a positive way then I would consider it,” she said.

CALEB VIGIL

Caleb Vigil was appointed in August 2019 to fill a vacancy in Ward 3 left by the resignation of Melissa Rivera. He opted not to seek election to retain his seat during the filing period in May of this year.

He said when he sought the appointment he wanted to serve his community to make it safer and better for his children. “We had just moved back and I wanted to make this a better place for my children.”

Vigil said initially he had wanted to continue to serve on the council but at the time of the filing in May he was farming and it was difficult to find a balance between farming and serving on the council so he opted not to file.

Today, however, Vigil now works for Security State Bank so he will be looing for an opportunity to serve the community and said he would consider running for the council again in the future.

One of the issues the council addressed while Vigil was on the council is working on the nuisance ordinance in hopes of making people clean up their homes and property.

Another issue was addressing the depreciation reserve for out-of-town city water users.

Vigil said one thing that was unexpected while serving on the council, is dealing with irate customers and trying to help them understand that the decisions made by council members are what’s best for the entire city.

KEN SHEARER

Kenneth Shearer was appointed in March 2020 to fill a vacancy on the council left by the death of Gary Gerber. He filed seeking to retain his seat but voters chose Adam Martinez for the open seat on the council.

Shearer said, “I loved my time on the council.  Every member was and is striving to help everyone in Worland. This council works great together.” 

Shearer has submitted his name for the vacancy in Ward 1 left by the resignation last month of Delayne Renner Newton.

New council members to be sworn in on Jan. 5, 2020, will be Wendy Fredricks, Adam Martinez and William Worley. Current council member Kodi DeMunbrun will also be taking the oath.

The council is expected to act on the vacancy for Ward 2 at the Jan. 5 meeting.