Campaign Phone
3072759556
I am running because I love Wyoming. I was born in Laramie County and have been here most of my life. I am running for County Commissioner because change is on the horizon and more people in the county should have a voice in those changes. My career as the environmental manager for a multinational corporation provides me with experience in industrial siting and utilization of scarce resources like water and power that will be vitally necessary in the near future. Additionally, my involvement in the development of large industrial projects provides me with the experience in consensus building and community involvement that local officials sometimes lack.
Ensuring that our scarce water resources are managed and developed in ways that ensure that our grandchildren will have enough water for a high quality of life is the challenge that must be met by residents of Cheyenne and the rural county alike. There is less water in the Ogalla Aquifer every year.
Water scarcity is part of a broader challenge to make science-based decisions that will impact our future. Unfettered access to information is a critical aspect of this decision making. That is why the work of the Library Board is critical to me and choosing board members wisely will be an important aspect of what I hope to accomplish as a county commissioner.
Data centers are controversial because they bring obviously good things as well as obviously bad things to the county. Jobs are great. Good union jobs are even better. However, noise, water use, power use, and the impact on the community of a huge influx of people are all negatives that must be addressed. I am a proponent of ensuring that all data centers and data center expansions that meet a threshold criteria of water use, power use, and construction employees go through the Wyoming DEQ Industrial Siting process regardless of the cost of the expansion or whether the expansion occurs in a pre-zoned industrial business parks.
The current process leaves almost no voice for county residents who do not live in the city. My view is that all annexations should be approved by the county commissioners after a well-publicized public comment period. The city should not be able to unilaterally annex county land without county commissioner and resident approval.
Campaign Phone
3072229312
Running as a Democrat in Wyoming, I'm not a typical candidate. I grew up in Pennsylvania's Rust Belt, where blue-collar jobs and steel were king and which exposed me to issues not unlike the coal and oil industries here. Wyoming is special, but it's struggling. What I offer comes down to this: showing integrity and respect in dealing with all people, tempering tradition with opportunity, taking pride in honest work, and building a strong community that can face rapid change head-on. Over a span of 50 years I've gained broad experience facing challenges with rapidly changing technology, computer use in schools, applying climate data research for sociological benefit, and designing the National Science Digital Library for K-16 education.
Navigating tradition vs. change vs. opportunity when they seem to be mutually exclusive. This means managing the wave of change with intention. Data center development is here. We must review and bolster our county guidelines in this new light to assure we do not jeopardize the health of our residents, our precious resources, the beauty of our natural environment, and our budgets.
I support economic growth when it aligns with a broader, intentional plan that considers the wellbeing of constituents and environment. Data centers in Wyoming offer the potential for life-altering growth and may well make sense but have arrived like a train rushing full bore when no tracks have yet been laid. To many in the county it feels like a train wreck in the making. It came with quiet secrecy by city and county officials, lack of public explanation, compounded by refusal to seriously consider reasonable pleas for time to build the needed infrastructure plans and has bred mistrust at a deep level.
City annexations of county lands for data center development in my view are being done hurriedly and disingenuously at the least, and possibly employing questionable workarounds to avoid responsible safeguards that are built into the industrial development ordinances involving the Department of Environmental Quality. The result seems to be insufficient regard for many issues known and unknown that are unquestionably inherent in any volatile, erratic, frenzied introduction of world-altering change (such as AI demand) in an already tumultuous political environment.
