State of Wyoming Treasurer Mark Gordon paid a visit to the Platte Valley on March 26 as a part of his statewide campaign for election.
For Gordon, making a stop in Saratoga was not only essential to his campaign, but he personally desired to pay a visit to the Platte Valley.
"Saratoga is on the way from everywhere," Gordon said. "It is a town that I really liked when I was on the Wildlife and Natural Resource Trusts. We did a lot of projects here," Gordon said.
Gordon's first term in office was anything but traditional. After the passing of former treasurer Joe Meyer, Governor Matt Mead appointed Gordon to Treasurer; a position, Gordon said, he was happy to accept.
"It was if I could be of help to the state, I should put in," he said. Gordon became treasurer in 2012.
Gordon said he wanted to run for election to continue the projects he began in his first term.
"There are a lot of projects that we have started that I want to see come to fruition," Gordon said.
"We are redoing our portfolio, it started with fixed income and we got that done last year. What we did there resulted in record returns to the state," Gordon said. "The biggest thing we are trying to do there is protect ourselves from big drawdowns. So if we have another stock market crash, this state is well protected."
Gordon said he wishes to continue is the relationships with other states. Most notably, this includes continuing to run a railway, transporting coal, from Wyoming to the Pacific Northwest. The plan has seen some opposition from residents in Washington, Oregon and Montana, however Gordon said he wants to work with legislatures from these areas.
"I hoping I meet and better appreciate Washington's stance on this, so we can break the log jam, so to speak," he said.
In small communities, Gordon believes that effective bank systems are essential to towns like Saratoga.
"I am very interested, and I have spent a lot of time working to make sure that we have good, viable community banks. It's a tough time for community banks, but the state has funds available, at very low rates, to help banks make money," Gordon said. "Businesses are going to come and they are going to go, but if you have a good and well-capitalized banking segment, it can help promote [entrepreneurial] businesses."
Gordon is currently running unopposed. Primary elections will take place Aug. 19.
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