New commissioner: no agenda, just what the people want

The Carbon County Commissioners at its recent meeting appointed Elk Mountain resident Garrett Irene to fill a vacant seat on the Board.

The position became available when Byron Barkhurst resigned with one year remaining in his term.

Irene said in an interview he has lived in Wyoming his entire life. His family has lived in Carbon County since the late 1800s.

Making the motion to appoint Irene, Commissioner John Johnson said Irene fills a demographic that has been missing on the Board.

Irene will be sworn into office on December 5. His term will expire January 2025, after which he would have to run to be elected to the office, if he chooses to do that.

Having attended Casper College, Irene earned an associate degree in machine tool technology, he said.

Irene owns Irene Energy Services, an Elk Mountain-based welding and machining business, he said. He sells his services to wind energy, oil, construction, farm and ranch, and agricultural industries as well as to individuals.

“I have been doing this pretty heavily for at least three years,” he said.

Irene is also a full time mechanic at HF Sinclair Parco Refinery, he said.

“The refinery is one of the biggest reasons I am able to do this,” he said. “I want to thank HF Sinclair for allowing me to be able to serve my community as a county commissioner and allowing me to have a flexible schedule to be able to serve the county residents as well as the county government.”

He said he applied for the appointment because he wants to serve the community.

“I have been active in my community,” he said. “I wanted to step up in our local community and have a say on local issues that affect me, my family and friends and the community.”

“I have no set agenda. My agenda is having a voice for the people and doing what the people of Carbon County want,” he said.

Irene is married to Shantel Irene and they have five children.

He has done a lot of volunteering for the community, he said.

The mayor of Elk Mountain, Morgan Irene, is his father, he said.

“Ever since a young age, I’ve been volun-told,” meaning volunteered by his father, he said jokingly.

“My main thing is I am very active in the local fire department,” he said. He goes out on calls and helps with fundraising and training at the Elk Mountain Volunteer Fire Department.

“I help at the VFW food drives,” he said. The VFW provides a luncheon on Memorial Day for the veterans and families and puts on Memorial Day services.

“I built a sign for the Elk Mountain Cemetery, and a metal holder for the Elk Mountain Library,” he said, when asked about his volunteer work.

He said his family owns a ranch north of Hanna, Wyoming and in the Coyote Canyon area.

“We all ranch and raise cattle,” he said, referring to himself, his brother, brother-in-law, sister and mother and father. The family raises cattle as beef producers.

Irene qualified to apply to be appointed because he is a registered Republican, he said. The seat being vacated is held by a Republican. The local Republican Party interviewed him along with other candidates and he was selected in the top three to go before the Board to speak.

The other two finalists who spoke before the Board are Emilee Berger and Joey Correnti.