County addresses state funding

As the Wyoming Legislature prepares to debate and pass a budget for the state, local governments are reminding legislators they need funding.

For Sweetwater County, a proactive message through the Wyoming County Commissioners Association aims to dispel the idea local governments only want state funds to increase their employee numbers.

“That’s not true with Sweetwater County,” Johnson said.

In a letter to the commissioners’ association, county human resources director Garry McLean state the county has made significant strides in controlling headcount. The county has utilized two early retirement offerings and staff re-organization to reduce staff in response to declining oil and gas revenues for the county.

“It has been our belief that the time to take action is when you have the money, not when you don’t,” McLean wrote.

While the county has taken over some services, such as juvenile probation and veterans’ services, McLean does express frustration with the county being required to spend some of its savings in making additional room for district court rooms, which was a state mandate. McLean also said three counties make up a lion’s share of the state’s mineral-based revenues. With those revenues they turn over to the state, come other impacts to infrastructure and local economies.

“With nearly 2,000 miles of roads in Sweetwater County, most supplying uranium, coal, trona or oil and gas production, reduced road funding alone, could have deleterious consequences for both Sweetwater County and the entire state,” McLean wrote.

Selecting a chairman

While Johnson was again voted as chairman of the board of county commissioners, the vote was not a unanimous one. Commissioner John Kolb voted against Johnson’s nomination after Kolb’s nominee, Randy Wendling, declined the nomination.

Johnson has served as the board’s chairman since his election in 2010, having been nominated and voted in each time. Kolb thinks the position should rotate amongst the commissioners to prevent one commissioner from consolidating power by being a long-standing chairman.

While Kolb nominated Wendling, other commissioners supported Johnson in continuing in the role. Don Van Matre said Johnson has done an excellent job in the role, while Reid West said he understands Kolb’s position but isn’t personally interested in becoming the chairman of the board.

Wendling believes he’s still too inexperienced with the duties involved with being a county commissioner to be effective as its chairman.

He also doesn’t believe in making a change without significant reason to do it.

“Change for change’s sake is not always for the best,” he said to the other commissioners.

Johnson simply said he would follow whatever the rest of the group decided.

He views the group’s successes not as a result of his work, but because of the work the board does as a group.