Three commissioners serve four-year staggered terms, with no term limits. Salary is $30,000 with some benefits. Two seats are open for this election. The top two in each party will advance to the General Election, and may be joined by others such as independents, for whom there is no primary. The two elected will serve with Thad Hoff (D), whose term expires in 2028.
Campaign Phone
3072140510
I have been serving on the Albany County Planning and Zoning Commission since 2023 and participated in updating zoning and conditional use regulations including the protection of the Casper Aquifer, Laramie Growth Area Plan, and the new wildlife-friendly fencing rules. I taught and led the Wildlife Program at the University of Wyoming for 25 years, was the Director of the Program in Ecology and the chair of the Department of Zoology and Physiology. I also served as the treasurer of Albany County Democratic Party for 4 years, am leading the effort to construct a new dog park in Laramie and am the treasurer of the Wyoming Coalition of Animal Protection. These experiences will allow me to better serve the community as a County Commissioner.
Water security: retention of water in the valley; development of infrastructure for water delivery; smart planning based on increasing demand from new housing and industrial development; protection of river and aquifer from over consumption by data centers and other new heavy users.
Energy independence: rooftop, community co-ops, and plugin solar; public solar installations; level 3 EV charging stations; EV credits.
Wide, open spaces: smart development planning; supporting working landscapes; collaborating with landowners, state and federal agencies to protect wildlife habitat.
Reduction in property tax violates the section of the Wyoming constitution that calls for all property to be taxed at its full value. Such reduction in taxes will impose a difficult situation on county commissioners (and others) because they would need to cut crucial services. If faced with this difficult situation I will prioritize maintaining the public health and welfare programs, and reducing costs associated with road and bridge, search and rescue and planning and zoning. At the same time, I will try to supplement these programs with external (e.g., federal, private developers – see below) funding.
Currently we don’t have enough water for proper irrigation and may impose water restrictions by the end of summer, so any discussion of data centers is mute. Data centers, even those with closed system cooling, require large quantities of water. But I would not support an indefinite moratorium on data centers because: 1. The cooling technology is likely to improve in the future 2. We can condition their construction on self-energy generation using renewables 3. Condition their construction on mitigation of water toxicity, noise, vibration, light pollution, etc. 4. Negotiate “Community Benefits Agreements” with the developers (e.g., generation of electricity for the entire city of Laramie; construction of wildlife overpasses over I-80).
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