JACKSON, Wyo. — The primary election is right around the corner on Aug. 16. In an effort to provide more information about candidates to voters, Buckrail asked the Teton County Board of County Commission candidates and the Jackson Town Council candidates the same two questions:
- What is your biggest priority if elected?
- What prompted you to run for office this election cycle?
The Teton County Board of County Commissioners office is a partisan race with four-year terms.
Incumbents Luther Propst and Mark Newcomb are running on the Democratic ticket. Those registered as democrats will be asked to vote for no more than three candidates on their ballot.
Wes Gardner, who launched his write-in campaign during the Fourth of July parade is hoping to be that third candidate. He needs at least 25 voters to write his name on their ballots, to earn him a spot in the general election.
In Jackson Hole, successful write-in campaigns are not unheard of, current town councilwoman Jessica Sell Chambers received 193 write-in votes in the 2020 primary and went on to win her seat with 2,574 votes in the 2020 general election.
Kasey Mateosky, Alex Muromcew, Tom Segerstrom and Peter Long are running on the Republican ticket. Republican voters will also be asked to vote for no more than three candidates in the primary.
Buckrail asked each candidate via email to answer the two questions in about 100 words. Their answers are listed below by party.
Democratic
Luther Propst
What is your biggest priority if elected?
“My top priority is to protect and restore the community in Teton County. This involves addressing two fundamental challenges:
- Provide opportunities for people who work in our community to live here, which means producing deed-restricted workforce and affordable housing. Unfortunately, more market and luxury housing only worsens the housing crisis. I advocate for housing that truly benefits the people who make this place a community.
- Better manage tourism and run-away growth. I carefully evaluate proposals for new hotels, highways, amusements, and subdivisions. I have shown that I don’t just rubber stamp these proposals for more growth.”
What prompted you to run for office this election cycle?
“I am running for re-election because there is much-unfinished business – protecting water quality and wildlife, catalyzing deed-restricted workforce housing that actually benefits our local workers, defending public health, addressing increased property valuations, managing over-tourism, and generally protecting the natural assets and community character of Teton County. With my values, experience and willingness to make hard decisions, I can help lead us toward a brighter future.”
Mark Newcomb
What is your biggest priority if elected?
“It’s hard to pin down one priority out of the mix of items that require a commissioner’s attention in order to ensure a thriving community.
I certainly hope to fund and catalyze deed-restricted workforce housing in town and Northern South Park where it makes sense. I will also continue to protect rural lands and rural neighborhoods from development and resort-style use while preserving our agricultural heritage. I will also support public health and human services to ensure we remain healthy as a community. I’ll strive to minimize the tax burden by doing all three effectively and efficiently.”
What prompted you to run for office this election cycle?
“I’ve developed a passion for public service over the course of my 14 years serving the public as a planning commissioner and county commissioner. I enjoy playing a leadership role, but I enjoy even more hearing from the community and doing my best to channel the energy and good ideas of the community to tackle issues and improve this special place we call home. I find the job immensely rewarding and would love to do it for another four years.”
Republican
Kasey Mateosky
What is your biggest priority if elected?
“To represent the working class and seniors struggling to stay in Teton County.
I will create housing opportunities and property tax breaks for these invaluable citizens. These are the voters who can give this community back its vibrancy and soul that has seemed to disappear from the valley. Many local “characters” we all used to know have had to move away, because they can’t afford it. I want to get and keep you in your home. You are my top priority, you are this community.”
“Also our outdated and congested traffic must be addressed. Our traffic flow is downright frustrating as well as a safety concern. We need to not only make a plan, but implement it in a safe way while keeping conservation and our wildlife as a top priority.”
What prompted you to run for office this election cycle?
“I have heard the same story so many times. Working class people (the backbone of our community) deserve a chance for home ownership and our Seniors need to have stability. As commissioner, I can help remedy many of these issues our community is dealing with. I will care about you. I am running for County Commissioner because I care deeply about this community and this Valley, and I am worried about the direction in which it is headed. The growth in the County budget, the increase in the size of government, and the rise in taxes are all unsustainable. It is time for some new faces and fresh ideas on the County Commission.”
Alex Muromcew
What is your biggest priority if elected?
“My biggest priority if elected is to reduce the cost of living and doing business in Teton County. This means working with Teton County’s elected representatives in Cheyenne to actively lobby for property tax reform and physically going to Cheyenne. In addition, I would work to reduce the County Mill Levy.”
What prompted you to run for office this election cycle?
“I am running for County Commissioner because I care deeply about this community and this Valley, and I am worried about the direction in which it is headed. The growth in the County budget, the increase in the size of government, and the rise in taxes are all unsustainable. It is time for some new faces and fresh ideas on the County Commission.”
Tom Segerstrom
What is your biggest priority if elected?
“My highest priority is to balance Teton County’s growth with our local workforce and environmental capacities. That must done with a value-oriented view of taxpayer‘s money on the human side and a full understanding of how nature works on the ecological side.”
What prompted you to run for office this election cycle?
“My retirement has given me enough time to be a full-time commissioner without work or business interest conflicts. Being a Commissioner in the next four years will require expertise in a wide range of disciplines, which I possess, along with the willingness to listen and the collective wisdom of a well-rounded board.”
Peter Long
What is your biggest priority if elected?
“To make Teton County a place that our working class and our children can call home.
Years of kicking the can down the road has brought the challenges facing our working families to a head. From our housing crisis to our property tax crisis, we are quickly losing the people who are working hardest to keep their place in Teton County.
So many of these issues boil down to common sense — capping property tax growth; embracing good opportunities to work with the private sector to get workforce housing in the ground; and making childcare (in-home care) and healthcare (a small business insurance plan) more affordable and more accessible.
If elected, I will fight to ensure those working hardest, and our children can call Teton County home.”
What prompted you to run for office this election cycle?
“My purpose in running has always been to be a voice for our working class and a vision for our future.
Like most working families in Teton County, my wife and I understand how hard it is to make it here. We know what it means to struggle with housing insecurity, childcare, health insurance, only to feel like we are losing the fabric of our community and the chance for future generations to live and grow up in this remarkable place.
As your Commissioner, I will put you — our hard-working men and women — first in every decision. Because that’s what makes Teton County so extraordinary, you.”
Candidates participated in an online forum in June hosted by the Teton County Library and the League of Women Voters. The video recording is available here.
More information about where, when and how to vote is available here.
