Bailey to run for Riverton Mayor; Hancock to run for Ward 3

(Riverton, WY) – Longtime Riverton City Councilmember Mike Bailey announced his candidacy for mayor this week.

“It is the season,” Bailey said during a Riverton City Council meeting Tuesday, referring to the May 14-29 filing period for elected office.

Bailey read the following quote from Theodore Roosevelt before announcing his intention to seek the mayoral position this week:

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.” 

“(That’s) from 1910, and it’s as much true today as it was then,” Bailey said after reading the passage. “So I would encourage people to get out and be involved in your community. … It takes a lot of us to get together and contribute and try to make our community a better place to live.” 

Hancock stepping down

Later in Tuesday’s council meeting, Mayor Tim Hancock announced that he would not be seeking re-election to his current position, though he plans to run for the open Ward 3 seat on the Riverton City Council that Bailey currently holds.

“My hope is that I could swap with Mr. Bailey – have him step up, and I’d step down,” Hancock said. “Of course, that’s up to the voters.”

Explaining his decision not to seek re-election, Hancock pointed out that, when he ran for mayor four years ago, “things were much different for me in terms of my family and my work.”

Now, he said, he is busier professionally, and he would like to spend more time with his family, including his young children.

“I have appreciated greatly the opportunity to serve as the mayor,” Hancock said. “I feel like we’ve done a lot of good things. I feel like we’ve made progress on matters that matter, (and) I appreciate the support that the voters have given me over the last four years. But it’s time. … It’s a good time for me to step down and focus more on my family and my other aspects of my life.”

Disclaimer: Michael Bailey has a minority ownership interest in Kairos Communications.