Commissioner Scheel clarifies his stance on GOP resolutions

At the March 19 Hot Springs County Commissioners board meeting, Commissioner Phil Scheel was not present. Therefore, Chairman Tom Ryan suspended the regular use of Robert’s Rules of Order. 

Chairman Tom Ryan read a statement from Commissioner Phil Scheel. Commissioner Scheel’s statement said, “In regards to the information presented in the Independent Record about the Republican County Convention resolutions passed by the Committee in convention, the resolutions do not represent my views as an elected Hot Springs County Commissioner. I’m not in favor of hand counts for all elections, nor am I supportive of Republic Review or any action taken as an elected County Commissioner to identify constitutional violations. I encourage members of the public to engage in the process in order to be informed and help shape the message coming from our local political party organizations to the state level.”

Chairman Ryan added, “There was a little discussion [at the Republican Party Convention] about a review that was a constitutional review. They were planning to have a committee, and the party specifically stated Hot Springs County Commissioners, which the commissioners have not discussed.”

The commissioners voted and passed the approval of the Revenue and Expenditures Report, which is a new item that will regularly appear on the agenda going forward. They also voted and passed the approval of the Ratification of Rawhide Mechanical Inc. Payment for $157,684.50 for the Law Enforcement Center and the Special AP Warrant Register for $63,903.70. 

The commissions held a discussion about the United States Forest Service Management (USFSM) for Old Growth. They received a letter from Micah Christensen who serves as the Wyoming County Commissioners Association’s Natural Resources Counsel, supporting the State’s county commissioners on federal natural resources issues across the state, advocating for greater local involvement in federal decision-making, drafting comments on regulatory processes, representing commissioners in cooperator’s meetings and participating in litigation when necessary. 

Christensen was seeking if Hot Springs County was interested in serving as a cooperating agency. During the discussion, Chairman Tom Ryan and Commissioner Paul Galovich both expressed interest in doing so. The commissioners voted and passed the approval to submit a letter of interest to move forward with the USFSM.

County Attorney Jill Logan reviewed a Memo to Confirm Official Bonds for County Elected Officials. This memo would transfer the bond to the position and not the individual. This measure would allow smooth transitions should an elected official retire or leave their position and would prevent redoing the work of the bond.

In other business, the commissioners voted and passed the approval of the Ratification of Support Letter for the Long Distance Rail Study for Amtrak. The study would explore the possibility of having a passenger train travel from Billings to Cheyenne either through Wind River Canyon or near Interstate 25. They also voted and passed the approval of the Ratification of Support Letter for the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization to Representative Hageman.

Additionally, the commissioners voted and passed the approval of the Interagency Agreement with the Wyoming Office of the Secretary of State. This is a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that is part of the Help America Vote Act (HAVE) and uses computer technology to do live vote registration and verifications at the polling stations. This technology does not involve ballots. County Clerk Becky Kersten said that this would allow more efficiency in verifying voter registration with her limited staff or poll judges. Kersten told a story about how this was in a beta test in Fremont County and prevented a felon from voting. The technology also would monitor to prevent potential multiple voting at different precincts. The commissioners voted and passed the approval of the MOU. 

The commissioners also voted and passed the approval of a Request for Reimbursement #1 for $4,754.40 for the 2024 NAVAID Maintenance and the Request for a Facility Use Application for the Annex Meeting Room for the HSC Predatory Management Spring Meeting.