Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Where do you currently live and how long have you lived in Washakie County?
My wife and I both have lived in Worland all of our lives. We were both born in the library (old hospital).
Why are you running for Washakie County Commissioner?
I have wanted to run for county commissioner for the last, I believe, 10 years. The only problem was I was the maintenance man for the county. And I liked my job too well to just quit my job. I couldn't be a maintenance man for the county and be a county commissioner, obviously. So I chose to stay with my job, even this last term. When Terry [Wolf] and Morgan [Martinez] ran, I was contemplating it and thought, well, I want to work a year or two more. I worked until my 68th birthday. And I worked for the county until I was 68. I had no reason to quit before that.
Serving as commissioner takes a lot of time and commitment. Do you feel you have the time to serve?
I do have time to be a county commissioner. I am no longer taking on construction projects. And so yes, I'm going to be available every day to be a county commissioner. And I will have time to go and look at the roads, the buildings, to go to conferences, meetings ... whatever it takes to go to I will have the time to do that.
What do you feel is the best option for funding our emergency services - ground and air medical transport?
I just actually saw the 24-25 budget yesterday for the first time. And, you know, four years ago, the commissioners, two of them that are there now, they didn't see this coming. They didn't see that pandemic coming any more than anybody else. Before that they were helping fund a part time ambulance crew, but nobody saw this idea of having to help fund a full time ambulance crew coming. Right now, they don't know how they're going to fund it (after the 2024-25 fiscal year). And I don't know how they're going to help either.
The only thing that comes to my mind right now, besides lobbying the legislature is maybe a percentage of the one cent sales tax. They've always had to stay away from that. And maybe it's time that we have to go after one quarter of a penny or something to help fund this.
The toughest issue facing the commissioners is going to be the ambulance and the air ambulance. That's not going to get cheaper by any means. And it's been a wonderful thing. I've been life flighted twice. And so that's saved me a lot of money.
It's one that I'm going to have to help tackle so we can continue the air ambulance and ground ambulance services.
With rising costs and ever tightening budgets, how would you address increasing revenues or cutting costs for the county?
Nobody wants to pay more property tax. I agree with that even though I think we live in kind of a tax friendly area. I don't know how we can increase revenues. I know how we can save money. But that's tightening the budget. And really the only ones that I'm familiar with right now are roads and bridges and the maintenance.
I don't have an answer for it.
What is one other issue that you feel needs to be addressed by county and how would you address it?
I do plan on getting very involved with Road and Bridge and making some changes in the way we look at Road and Bridge and get a couple of employees in Ten Sleep with a couple of employees in Worland. We're in the Road and Bridge maintenance, not the Road and Bridge building business.
I do have some ideas about saving a little money in that department.
There are needs that are coming in the assessor's office regarding the floor that is sinking. There is an old courthouse that will be requiring updates.
We are going to get stuck with an empty Lighthouse (with the Oxbow Center constructing a new facility). One of the hardest things to maintain is an empty building. One possibility is moving the assessor's office there while we fix the building.
