Candidate forum Tuesday night

By VIRGINIA GIORGIS Pioneer Editor vgiorgis@bridgervalleypioneer.com
Posted 8/12/22

Candidates give views and try to sway voters for votes in the Primary

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Candidate forum Tuesday night

Posted

LYMAN — A candidate forum Tuesday night at Lyman High School PAC gave candidates a chance to pitch their reasons for running and their qualifications and stands on issues.

In addition to the many who attended the forum, it was streamed on Facebook so no telling how many tuned in to watch.

The forum sponsored by the Bridger Valley Chamber, according to moderator Thayne Petersen, was “an emphasis on county and local races.” In addition, Petersen urged people to vote in the primary.

A spokesperson for Governor Gordon said Gordon regretted not being able to attend. She added Gordon was a rancher and was committed to Wyoming and its residents. Also on hand was Rex Rammel. He said he started this issue 15 years ago and still believes “all western states need to take back their pubic land from the federal government.”

The overall consensus of candidates running on the local level in all races was people need to work together and they need to respect each other and their views.

The section of the forum, which focused on Uinta County Commission was attended by five candidates. The candidates included incumbents Eric South and Mark Anderson. Also up front were Dawn L. Clegg, Joe V. Hickey and Jesse Lind. All candidates are running as Republicans.

LYMAN — A candidate forum Tuesday night at Lyman High School PAC gave candidates a chance to pitch their reasons for running and their qualifications and stands on issues.

In addition to the many who attended the forum, it was streamed on Facebook so no telling how many tuned in to watch.

The forum sponsored by the Bridger Valley Chamber, according to moderator Thayne Petersen, was “an emphasis on county and local races.” In addition, Petersen urged people to vote in the primary.

A spokesperson for Governor Gordon said Gordon regretted not being able to attend. She added Gordon was a rancher and was committed to Wyoming and its residents. Also on hand was Rex Rammel. He said he started this issue 15 years ago and still believes “all western states need to take back their pubic land from the federal government.”

The overall consensus of candidates running on the local level in all races was people need to work together and they need to respect each other and their views.

The section of the forum, which focused on Uinta County Commission was attended by five candidates. The candidates included incumbents Eric South and Mark Anderson. Also up front were Dawn L. Clegg, Joe V. Hickey and Jesse Lind. All candidates are running as Republicans. 

All candidates stressed the need for Bridger Valley to be treated as the Evanston area and the need for services. South and Anderson both said they thought the commission had currently served the county as a unit, not one side over the other.

The two candidates for the Uinta County Sheriff’s position included current Sheriff Doug Matthews and challenger Andy Kopp. Both men stressed the need for on-going, intensified training to adequately take care of issues on the street and the changing world.

Matthews has served as Sheriff for the last 7½ years and seeking reelection. He said he was born and raised in Uinta County and said Bridger Valley was just as important as the Evanston area and that is how the Sheriff’s Office has operated under his tenure. He stressed the need for training of deputies to be able to operate in the field. He said the cost to the department for the deputies is $125,000 per year, which includes their salaries, equipment and benefits. Mathews said it takes two to five years before a new deputy is truly comfortable in the position as “there is so much to learn.”

Kopp said he had served 15 years as a member of the Uinta County Sheriff’s Office and was currently a patrol sergeant. He said he felt officers in Uinta County were “pretty well respected.” He said when hiring new officers, the Sheriff’s Office does extensive background checks as part of the process in determining if an applicant would be a good hire.

Both stressed the need for law enforcement officers in Uinta County to work together, and both said they thought this was being done.

In HD19, current representative Danny Eyre will step down so the position is open. Two of the three Republican candidates were at the forum, Karl Allred and Jon Conrad. The third candidate Andy Stokes was not available due to having to work.

Allred said he had helped with and worked on the Republican platform on the local and state level. Conrad talked about the “election is all about you,” instead of talking about the Republican platform.

Both address the suicide issue in the state. Conrad noted the state had implemented the 24-hour help line for suicide. He also said schools need to address the issue. Allred said suicide was a big problem, but the real way address to the issue starts at home and in the churches, “…kids don’t belong to the government, they don’t belong to the schools.” He said the government was “taking good values away and we need to get back to family.”

Both candidates for SD 15 were on hand for the forum. Wendy Schuler is the incumbent and is being challenged by Robert (Bob) Wharff. Wharff has previously served in the House. He said he opted to run for the senate this time as he and others in the Evanston area had decided it would be good to have “a conservative majority” in the state senate.

Both candidates talked about abortion and how it is now being handled in Wyoming. Schuler talked about the exception of sexual assault, but the need also to “protect life.” Wharff talked about the “life of the baby” and also said as far as proving sexual assault, that comes under the realm of law enforcement.” He did say, “…believe abortion is actually taking a life, if you believe it is an actual baby.”

Wharff also addressed the outside entities getting involved in Wyoming’s election like the “attack ads” on himself. The state reported earlier this week it is an outside coalition based in Colorado which is sending many of the ads delivered to residents’ mail boxes attacking certain candidates in certain races across the state.