JACKSON, Wyo. — Local election season is underway with five County Commissioner candidates running for two open seats on the Board. The candidate filing period closed in late May, so it’s off to the races for three Democrats, one Republican and one Independent, ahead of the Aug. 20 primary. Two candidates from the Democratic and Republican parties will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot. If Independent candidate Vicky O’Donoghue collects enough signatures, she will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot as well.
Here’s a look at the five candidates vying for your votes.
Natalia D. Macker
Democratic Incumbent Natalia Macker is running for a third term. She was first appointed to the Commission in 2015 to fill a vacancy and was elected for a four-year term in 2016, and again in 2020. Macker is currently the Vice-Chairwoman and has previously served as the Chair.
Macker says she initially got involved in local government because she was disappointed with the lack of women in elected office in Wyoming.
“I have continued to run for office and serve because I am passionate about working side-by-side with the community to solve problems, steward our ecosystem and improve the quality of life for all of our hardworking folks,” Macker said.
“I love local government, especially because we get to work on a wide cross-section of services and issues that impact the basic day-to-day lives of people,” Macker said. “I am honored by the trust that has been placed in me over the last nine years, and I take the responsibility of representing others and serving the public with great humility.”
She says her experience, commitment, relationships and “stamina to deliver for the community” make her a great commissioner.
“The juxtaposition of our resilience and fragility is urgently motivating,” Macker said. “This moment requires action-oriented leaders who seek progress over perfection.”
Building on her nine years as a commissioner, Macker says her top priorities are implementing the water quality management plan to bring clean water access to Hoback, expanding access to childcare and early childhood education and continuing to focus on innovation within the delivery of affordable housing. She says she’ll continue to collaborate across the state on the gender wage gap, maternity care desert and healthcare access.
“We have big issues to work through that bring out a wide variety of passionate perspectives,” Macker said. “We can only solve them by working together, not seeking division or defaulting to ideology. I’ve got my own lived experiences to bring to the table as a working mom and from my professional work as a producer, performer and nonprofit leader.”
Jim Rooks
Current Town Councilor Jim Rooks wants to jump over to the County side of things come November, following the completion of one term as a Town Councilor.
Rooks, a former educator at Jackson Hole High School and fifth-generation local, was first elected to the Town Council in 2020 and announced in March that he would seek a second term, before pivoting and filing to run for the Board of County Commissioners.
In a press release announcing his decision, Rooks said, “After four years on the Jackson Town Council, I am fully prepared and highly motivated to move ‘across the street’ to serve as a County Commissioner. I pride myself on being a common sense and practical delegate of the people and will run as a ‘Wyoming Democrat.’”
“I am a balanced, well-informed and common sense voice in local politics, working hard to forge agreements about actionable solutions,” Rooks said. “I also have extensive relationships across the State of Wyoming and years of experience advocating for our community in Cheyenne.”
Rooks says his top priorities are land, water, wildlife, housing and transportation, and those priorities “transcend political boundaries.”
“We are facing a seemingly infinite number of challenges and must therefore act quickly and effectively to conserve our land, water and wildlife, build significant affordable community housing and maintain and enhance our transportation infrastructure.”
With the campaign slogan, “Unity in the Community,” Rooks believes he is uniquely positioned to forge a stronger partnership between the town and county.
Len Carlman
Len Carlman says he is running for a seat on the Board of County Commissioners because he brings a depth of experience and readiness for action that has taken 41+ years of living in Jackson Hole to build.
Carlman, a Democrat, said he’ll be an effective leader because of his skill set and temperament, citing his decades of community service, 28 years as a lawyer in Wyoming and experience growing up with a father who was the town manager for his hometown in Illinois.
“I understand the legal context and the practical role of the County Commission,” Carlman said.
He says he’ll bring three core values of service to the Board: civility, advocacy and team building.
“As every good lawyer knows, after we bring our best arguments and make our strongest cases, after we’ve agreed and disagreed after we’ve found common ground where possible and accepted conflict as needed, we’d better be ready, soon enough, to greet opposing counsel on the next case, work on behalf of the next client, and get the best possible outcome,” Carlman said.
Carlman says his top priorities are conservation and housing.
“My approach to conservation is grounded in respect for science, effective grassroots advocacy, listening to feedback and then pushing forward,” Carlman said. “I’ll push for completion of the Kelly state land parcel purchase. I’ll push for the adoption of the conservation plan for the Munger Mountain School Section. I’ll push for better monitoring and stewardship of our groundwater. I’ll push for a lasting answer to the ongoing drinking water disaster at Hoback Junction.”
To combat the housing crisis locally, Carlman says public funding has to fill the gap between the capital cost of housing and what the local workforce can afford. He supports SPET ballot initiatives related to creating housing and says he’ll push for policies that favor affordable and workforce housing developments over market housing.
Melchor Dylan Moore
Melchor Dylan Moore, a local artist and sixth-generation local, running as a Republican, says he was inspired to run for a seat on the Board of County Commissioners after talking to members of the construction board and Department of Workforce Services about the mill levies and school construction, along with his family’s long history in the county.
“I’m sixth generation, so think wagon trains through Mormon Row into downtown migration,” Moore said. “I know how much work my uncle Rudy Sanford put in to make sure that Wayne May Park was developed [into a park] when so many agencies wanted to put other types of density development into that space.”
Moore says, if elected, some priorities he would address include job creation in Teton Valley, Idaho, and cutting back on consultant spending by the county.
“I’m interested in collaborating with the Victor/Driggs job creation for Teton Valley, Idaho, residents so that they can avoid the commute to our town since so many people say there are no jobs over there,” Moore said.
“In my experience and seeing the work being done for some of the agencies here in town, consultants tell you a lot of what you want to hear and are usually lobbying for profit in some manner,” Moore said. “To use an example we are all familiar with, I was talking to one lobbyist about the Rodeo and they didn’t even know who the Wilsons are, nor that they are a six-generation family that employs all of their family members to run the event when they’re not raising stock.”
“We are the people that build the government of our town and county, and not the outside corporations funding projects and development,” Moore said.
Vicky O’Donoghue
“Ms. Vicky” O’Donoghue is running as an independent. Pending a petition with 202 verified signatures, her name will appear on the general election ballot. As of June 23, she’s collected 247 signatures, and Teton County Clerk Maureen Murphy says her office is in the process of validating those signatures.
O’Donoghue owns the Jackson Hole Driving Academy and says she was inspired to run for a seat on the Board by members of the community.
“Because of this nudging by the people, I feel compelled to do what I can for the people of Teton County,” she said.
“I have lived in this area for over 27 years, and proudly raised my son in this community,” O’Donoghue said. “I now have the time and means to give back to this precious community that I value so much.”
A self-described “people person,” strong listener and communicator, O’Donoghue says her leadership skills were first honed through her experience as an athlete, which led her into a career with the United States Field Hockey Association, training players and coaches.
She says her mottos are, “Unity with the community through communication,” and, “Keep Jackson the Old West.”
If elected, her goals would center on “properly stewarding the resources we have been entrusted with,” (naming roads, infrastructure and housing) for the full strata of the community.
Emphasizing communication, O’Donoghue says she will work to create a better working atmosphere and good relationships across county departments and with the Town Councilors.
