The Saratoga set

Saratoga candidates joined by state representative candidates at July 23 forum

Candidates for District 47 Representative, District 11 Senator and Saratoga Town Council participated in the first of two candidate forums hosted by the Valley Service Organization (VSO) on July 23. Saratoga residents in attendance were scattered through the Great Hall of the Platte Valley Community Center. The event was live-streamed by Saratoga Sun via social media.

VSO member Sue Jones, who moderated the first half of the forum, invited the state candidates up to the front of the room to begin the event at 6 p.m.

State Candidates

Incumbent District 47 Representative Jerry Paxton (R-Encampment) and challenger Julie McCallister (R-Rock River) and District 11 Senator challenger Lee Ann Stephenson (D-Riverside) were present. Incumbent Larry Hicks (R-Baggs), who had been invited by the VSO, was not present at the forum.

The candidates were given a few minutes to introduce themselves and provide any experience they had for the position they were running for. The first to go was McCallister, who reminded the audience about the size of District 47.

"This is a big district, it's a big job. It's almost impossible to do right unless you're willing to take on the challenge," McCallister said.

During the question and answer portion, McCallister was asked by Saratoga resident Steve Nicholls what experience she had with politics and the legislature.

"That's a very good question. My answer might please you or upset you, but I'll just tell you the truth, so how about we start there," answered McCallister. "A Master's in Public Administration preceded by a Bachelor's in Political Science. As far as actual legislative elected experience, I have none."

Paxton followed McCallister and informed the audience of his experience in politics starting with serving as mayor for the communities of Riverside and Encampment as well as serving on the town council. Before becoming the District 47 Representative, Paxton was a Carbon County Commissioner. Paxton also noted committees he has served on since being elected to the legislature.

"I'm on the revenue committee which is probably the most challenging committee to be on because their just isn't a lot of appetite out there for raising taxes," said Paxton.

Stephenson rounded out the introductions by informing members of the audience of her time before moving to Riverside and running Lazy Acres Campground with her husband, Leroy Stephenson, in Riverside.

"A lot of you probably know that part of me, but you probably don't know that I'm a retired state employee from Cheyenne. I worked for the Attorney General's office in (the) Victim Services Division," said Stephenson. "I have experience working with different groups of people with different competing interests."

Politics and Opioids

The first question of the evening came from Jones and concerned the issue of "petty politics" and "power play" in the Wyoming Legislature between the House of Representatives and the Senate. The question specifically referenced a bill to amend the "Move Over" law to include maintenance, construction and utility workers which passed in 2018. The bill, however, had been introduced originally in 2017 and had died in the Senate on the third reading after being voted against by 25 senators including Hicks.

Paxton was the first to answer the question and noted that this last legislative session had been "probably the most contentious session I've been through." He then went on to recount a meeting the revenue committee had with Senator Eli Bebout (R-Riverton), who serves as president of the Senate.

"Sitting on the revenue committee, when the president of the Senate gets up in front of you at your very first meeting and says 'There's no use trying to pass a revenue bill because it won't pass in the Senate' it doesn't really incentivise you to go out and work really hard to find some revenue sources outside of what you already have," Paxton said.

Another question asked was how the legislative candidates would approach the opioid epidemic.

"I feel that there could be some coordinated efforts on the local level. The answers that they have in Cheyenne may not work in Rawlins, for instance," said Stephenson. "The answer to the opioid addiction is going to take all of us. It's not going to be answered from the legislature, it's not going to be answered from the Department of Health. It's going to take involvement from our churches and our communities all the way through."

McCallister stated that the issue with the opioid epidemic reminded her of Wyoming's issue with methamphetamine–and that she felt that "we're behind the eight ball in Wyoming."

"We're not going to legislate our way out of this," said McCallister.

Dark Money

Another question, this one from Saratoga resident Kate Sherrod, raised the issue of dark money and campaign finance reform. Sherrod, in her question, informed the candidates of a movement to force a constitutional convention that could lead to the adoption of a 28th Amendment to limit the amount of money special interests groups can spend in an election.

"There's a draft bill ready, there are volunteers ready to go. We need someone to take this to the Wyoming Legislature," said K. Sherrod.

All three candidates present replied that they supported the idea of campaign finance reform in one way or another. Stephenson noted that she didn't know how much influence she would have as a freshman senator, should she get elected, and added, "I just don't know what appetite there will be in the senate for that."

"Reform on the national level, I think, is more important than on the state level, but I certainly wouldn't have a problem supporting legislation placing further restrictions on that. Last thing we need is big corporations buying our vote," said Paxton.

After an hour of questions and answers, Jones thanked the state candidates for their time and invited the Saratoga Town Council candidates up while allowing fellow VSO member Kassey Westring to take her place as moderator.

Saratoga Town Council

Chia Valdez-Schwartz, Jon Nelson, Bob Keel, Will Faust and Kim Hytrek took their seats and began their introductions. Danny Burau was not present as he had withdrawn his candidacy upon being named to the Carbon County Visitors Council following Hytrek's departure.

Beginning with introductions, each candidate explained how they came to live in Saratoga and their passion for the town. Some, like Valdez-Schwartz, mentioned their generational ties to Wyoming while others, like Nelson, noted that they had come to the Valley on happenstance and had fallen in love with the area.

Medical Access

Following introductions, questions from the audience centered primarily upon medical access within the community. One of the first questions came from Nicholls, who asked the candidates about the Town of Saratoga's place in providing assistance to Saratoga Care Center.

"I'm not sure it's the city's place, or the council's place to support in dollars but support in other ways just as critical," said Hytrek. "We do need a nursing home, we do need a medical facility. I would like to see a bit of assisted living."

Faust, the only incumbent for town council, informed the audience that he had met with the nursing home several times recently and that, to a point, he agreed with Hytrek.

"There were some real issues in funding with the senior center. We've met with them multiple times and I think I'd agree with Kim that us getting directly involved financially with a private business doesn't make a lot of sense," said Faust.

Keel and Nelson echoed the sentiments, stating that while they would find ways to support the facility as members of the town council they would not get involved directly in their business.

Saratoga resident, Richard Hodges, asked the council candidates about the South Central Wyoming Emergency Medical Service (SCWEMS) and its current status following months of internal issues and board departures. This discussion took up to 45 minutes of the one-hour forum.

"You know, you can have the best healthcare in the world but if you can't get there when you need it you've got real issues," answered Faust. "There's been a lot in the news in regards to SCWEMS the past couple years, there's been some major reshuffling on the board and I think it's fairly positive to see that that board is now functioning well, or better than it was."

Keel, who has served as a volunteer on SCWEMS, added that he felt one of the major issues facing the ambulance service was funding and proper use of those funds. Valdez-Schwartz added that the ambulance service was critical to the people of Saratoga.

Volunteerism and SCWEMS

Another question, asked on the livestream, came from John Zeiger who wanted to know what the town council would do to motivate SCWEMS members to sign up for more shifts.

"Having volunteered for SCWEMS, I think one of the issues is being able to recruit more volunteers," said Keel. "Sometimes, when you're the only one on call several times in a row, it kind of wears you down."

Nelson added that he felt the amount of training, continuing education and updates to licenses was a critical reason why the amount of volunteers for SCWEMS was declining. The other candidates agreed, adding that it seemed difficult to find volunteers due to the requirements to be part of the ambulance service. Don Sherrod, a long-time Valley resident, stood up and addressed the candidates.

"I think we're overtraining or over-requiring on some of those requirements. At 2:30 in the morning, in a blizzard, you don't have time to sit around and wait for someone to show up. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do," said D. Sherrod.

D. Sherrod added that he felt "it doesn't take a whole hell of a lot of training to put a bandage on a guy's throat."

Out of Time

As the time for the forum began to wind down, Westring moved the discussion from medical services in the Valley to other subjects. Questions ranged from the ongoing issue of Staff Sgt. Tyler Pickett Memorial Park and the perpetual issue of fundraising for the project to the Town of Saratoga's continued engagement in litigation.

With the hour reserved for the council candidates expired, the first night of candidate forums wrapped up to be continued on Wednesday with the candidates for all contested county seats. Those in attendance took some time after the forum to engage in conversation with the candidates.

 

Reader Comments(0)

 
 
Rendered 02/25/2024 18:23