Gubernatorial candidates visit town

If you happened to be at Storyteller on Saturday afternoon you may have bumped into Wyoming State Treasurer Mark Gordon on the campaign trail since tossing his hat in the ring for Governor.

In case you missed it, Gordon has a platform for prosperity for Wyoming that includes a stable government that lives within its means, a government out of the way so the people can prosper and extraordinary education opportunities for our youth, including continuing education.

A hot-button issue across the state is school funding, and Gordon said they tried to redress it in the treasurer's office, working very hard to get better returns on the State's investments.

"We need to get the priorities to a local level," he said. "We need to have a realistic discussion. The legislature took a look at the school district reserves and decided they could drop their funding.

"This is not good. This is an issue that is not going to be solvable in a year and we most definitely need to keep the school districts involved."

Wyoming has some of the lowest jobless rates in the country, but there is always room for improvement.

"We should be open for business," Gordon said. "We need to right our fiscal ship first, then take care of the structural deficit we have right now. We have the infrastructure, the access and the workforce right here.

"We're in a unique situation. We have a lack of regulations here that are attractive. This is a great place to start a business. Small businesses really make up our communities."

In discussing the AG sector in Wyoming, Gordon feels we are a fertile place for all kinds of innovation. Branding Wyoming needs to be looked at very seriously for growth in the AG business.

Most of Wyoming has some tourist industry in one form or another, from Jackson Hole and Yellowstone to Devil's Tower and the Hot Springs.

Gordon thinks the Wyoming office of Tourism does a terrific job, especially in helping communities.

"The question is how do we help them get better returns?," he said. "Those tourism based communities need to have some self determination, too."

His time at State Treasurer gives Gordon a different perspective on the funding streams for the state and he intends to put that perspective to use.

"We need to reexamine our tax structure," he said. "Its going to be a big challenge, but Wyoming needs diversification."