A message from county commissioner candidate Peter Long:
JACKSON, Wyo. — Election Day is finally here. And, to borrow from the Grateful Dead, what a long strange trip it’s been.
If you haven’t yet, I urge you to vote. This election is too important to stay home.
Our community is at a crossroads. Years of kicking our challenges down the road and politics as usual has made Teton County a harder and harder place for our working class to call home. The status quo is pushing out not just our critical workers, but most workers, and quickly.
Now, more than ever, we need bold new leadership that will take on our toughest issues with common sense, commitment and civility. We need leadership that will mend division within our community. We need leadership that will put good ideas ahead of party-line dogma.
That’s what compelled me to get into this race, and what motivates me every day. From the outset, my purpose has been straightforward—to be a voice for our working class, to stand up for our workers and small businesses, and to make Teton County a place that we can be proud to hand down to future generations.
Our challenges are immediate. From a housing crisis that is spiraling out of control, to costs of living, like child care and health care, that are growing exponentially, to burdensome rules on our small businesses that make it difficult for workers to earn livable wages—it has never been harder for our working class to keep our place here.
But out of great challenges arise great opportunities. We have a chance in this election to right course and build a stronger, more vibrant community that upholds the ethos of the West that Jackson Hole was built on—conservation, community and personal liberty.
As your next Commissioner, I will fight for you on the issues that matter most.
If elected, I pledge to be accountable and transparent with your tax dollars. Just as our working families have to make difficult decisions and tighten their belts to balance their checkbooks, so too should our local government.
If we are serious about keeping our workforce in Teton County, we have to embrace good opportunities to create affordable housing. I will fight to zone new working-class neighborhoods that provide housing and rental options that will be truly attainable on Teton County wages. I will work to create incentives for property owners to rent locally and keep rents low. And I will partner with our leaders in Cheyenne to curb rising property taxes to prevent residents from getting taxed out of their homes.
Child care and health care should not be luxury goods—but for many hard-working families here they are simply out of reach. I know, because my wife and I grapple with them regularly. If elected, I will work to remove permitting costs for community child care facilities that will provide affordable day care in the neighborhoods where we live. I will partner with our small businesses and nonprofits to launch a local, affordable health care plan that will bring down costs of coverage.
Above all, I will listen and fight to ensure your voice is heard in our local government. Because we are stronger as a community when people from all backgrounds and from every corner of our community have a seat at the policymaking table.
These issues are personal to me, because my family and I deal with them daily. I had the great privilege of growing up here as a fourth-generation native. It’s an experience I hope to be able to give to my son. But that won’t be a reality, for our family or many working-class families, unless we lean in and take on our biggest challenges with common sense solutions.
Finally, let me say that I am running to be a single-term Commissioner—to make the decisions that are right for our community, implement policies that will make a difference for our working class, and then step out of the way for other leaders with good ideas to step up.
When you go to the polls today, I am asking for your support. Please vote Peter Long for Teton County Commissioner. Together, we can and will make Teton County a place that our working class, and our children, can call home.
