Lander mayoral candidates talk transparency, housing, pool funding, and more during local forum

(Lander, WY) – The three candidates running to be the next mayor of Lander shared their thoughts on government transparency, high housing costs, pool funding and more during a forum the League of Women Voters of Fremont County hosted last week.

The two candidates who receive the most votes in the August primary will proceed to the general election this fall.

Transparency

When asked what she would do to maintain or improve transparency and accountability in city government, Mayor Missy White, who is running for election to her appointed position this year, said she is proud of the steps Lander has taken to increase transparency at City Hall during her time in leadership.

For example, she said, the city continues to make council meeting recordings and livestreams available to the public, and meeting agendas have been modified to be more user-friendly for readers.

“We are incredibly responsive to public records requests, (and) we have tons of information on our website,” White continued. “We answer the phones, we welcome folks in, we encourage people to ask questions, we enjoy interacting with you, and we do our darndest to provide as much information to you in as timely a manner as we possibly can.”

Candidate Michelle Motherway said she hears otherwise from community members she speaks with, who say they’re frustrated by a lack of access to the City Hall building.

“We have the inability to walk into our City Hall and chat with people,” she said. “I know that the employees have some safety concerns – and as the mayor, I will address those concerns with them specifically (because) I want our employees in any situation to feel safe – but we also are a public building, and we are there for the people, and they also need to be open Monday through Friday. That is a big thing for me: To have transparency also means that you have access, and access right now is difficult.”

Candidate Alan McOmie agreed with Motherway, adding that more transparency is needed among members of the city council, too. 

“With the council meetings I’ve been attending recently, I hear a couple council people saying, ‘I didn’t know about that,’” McOmie recalled. “And why is that? It’s because there’s no transparency. There’s no talking back and forth. … We need to inform those people of what’s going on.”

Housing

McOmie advocated for enhanced communication when it comes to addressing local issues related to housing, too.

Specifically, he said city leaders need to have “really tough” conversations with local developers who say they don’t want to work in Lander, in large part due to zoning issues and fees.

Those fees are usually passed on to buyers, McOmie explained – and “that’s what’s driving the cost up” for housing in Lander.

People who move in from out of state can afford those higher prices, he added, but “we can’t here in Lander.”

Motherway agreed that it can be difficult for local residents to afford housing, noting that, “at any one time I have an unhoused employee – and that is hard.”

“It is definitely one of the No. 1 problems and crises in Lander,” she said, adding that she has also spoken with contractors who “will not work in Lander right now.” 

“We have a shortage of builders that will work in our town. … So I would like to work with (the) housing board, the planning and zoning committee, and those kinds of things to figure out why our contractors are refusing to work with the city and in town. That’s a huge problem.”

The city has already established a working group made up of bankers, community members, state legislators, and city officials who are studying “all the ways that we can impact housing positively,” White said during her response, noting that one of her “core beliefs” is that everyone who works in Lander should be able to afford to live in the city – “including our friends and neighbors who are on limited income.”

“We are rapidly pricing folks out,” White said. “(But) we are incredibly fortunate that the legislature this year has dedicated a substantial amount of land for us to be developed for housing. We have the opportunity to do that really well. It is a little challenging because we don’t have major developers here, (but) we have the ability, through a lot of creative ways – changes in our code, working with banks, a potential housing trust – to be able to make Lander affordable for all.”

Pool funding

White said she has also been working with local school officials to come up with ways to provide funding for the Bruce Gresly Aquatic Center, which has been financed entirely by Fremont County School District 1 ever since the city pulled out of a previous joint funding agreement about a decade ago.

Since that agreement was terminated, White said pool funding costs have “escalated well beyond” the annual amount that the city formerly contributed (about $67,000).

Now, she said, the shortage sits about almost $400,000 per year.

“That’s a huge hit,” White said. 

In order to address the issue, White said the city has asked that pool funding options be included in a recreational study that is currently being conducted.

“The city is absolutely willing to step in (here) because we have a little greater latitude in funding,” she said, expressing faith that community members would also “step up and pitch in to make this pool work – and even more importantly, the replacement pool that’s going to have to happen in the future.”

Motherway also called on the community to “come together” and “think outside the box” to address the pool funding issue, which she called “unfortunate,” recalling that her grandfather and McOmie’s father were instrumental in bringing the facility to Lander.

At that time, she said, the school district was only supposed to cover 40 percent of pool costs – and that was only during the academic year. 

“(They) can’t pick up the slack for us anymore,” she said, advocating for a renewal of the 40-60 split agreement while also acknowledging that “money is a hard thing to come by right now,” so it will be necessary to seek outside funding streams to fund the pool regardless.

McOmie wondered whether the legislature might allow more flexibility with school district budgets next year, giving Lander schools the ability to allocate more funding to the pool.

Barring that, however, he agreed that “the city should go ahead and start helping out – because we do not want to lose the pool.”

In order to provide funding in the “long term,” McOmie also suggested creating a “park district” that could levy mills to help fund the pool and other recreation-related projects in town. 

McOmie is a lifelong local resident who worked for the Lander Police Department for 41 years.

In his opening statement, he said one of his top priorities as mayor would be to address infrastructure needs in town.

He also called for increased opportunities for public comment during council meetings, and for steps to be taken to protect Lander’s water supply. 

Motherway was born and raised in Lander – a town she described as being made up of “unique and diverse” groups of people that have “different beliefs, ideas, goals and missions.”

Regardless, she said, “the majority of us want basically the same things: We want safety, reasonably priced housing, access to good water, infrastructure that’s maintained before it’s critically broken, above-average schools, and activities for our children and our families to partake in.”

“I think Lander is at a tipping point, and we need to prioritize our needs over our wants,” she said. “I want to concentrate on the basics, (and) I promise to be transparent to the people, to aid the city council in prioritizing the needs of the city, and to be the mayor elected by the people for the people.” 

White has called Lander home for almost 40 years, and she has spent more than a quarter of that time working with other local leaders to improve the quality of commercial air service in Fremont County

She was elected to the Lander City Council in 2018, and since then she said the governing body has put “major focus” on infrastructure improvements – many of which have either been achieved, are in the process of being completed, or are designed and awaiting funding.

“We are fortunate to have a group of extremely dedicated and highly talented staff who do the work of keeping the city running,” White said. “They’re critical to getting things done. It’s been a tremendous honor to work with them to help them find ways to be more efficient, to create long-lasting solutions, and in doing so, make a difference in your lives.”

To watch the entire debate, click here.