Fremont County is large, diverse, and filled with opinions, or “talk in the 10.” “Talk in the 10” is an opportunity for you, our readers, to articulate and share your thoughts about what is happening in the community with the community. Letters may have been edited for clarity and length, but generally have been published exactly as received. The views expressed in the following are solely those of the author. Send your letters to our editors by emailing opinion@county10.com
Gosh, it’s been probably seven years since I sat in on meetings between Riverton and SageWest when we discussed our concerns with the local hospital and services moving to Lander. Top hospital management at the time tried to frame our movement as a kind of illogical territorial rivalry between Lander and Riverton. That sort of thinking led them to discount the concerns of both communities.
Today Riverton looks forward to progress on the healthcare front, and Lander’s hospital administration I believe views the issues differently now. A lot of lessons were learned.
Chief among them is that the Lander/Riverton differences are NOT driven by a lack of logic, but by the fact that these are two, very different communities, with different values and different expectations. Our economies are different, our values and priorities are different, the community assets and resources are different, the energies are different and the histories and politics are different. There are enterprises in Riverton that would not be welcomed or successful in Lander (such as Walmart) and vice versa. There is nothing surprising about this as there are a lot of miles separating these two communities. Think Rock Springs and Evanston, nearby, but not the same. Laramie and Cheyenne, nearby but definitely not the same. Why would we ever think Lander and Riverton should be, other than we live in the same county. Nor is there anything wrong with this; each community should be happy with itself while it still looks for avenues for improvement.
In Wyoming, we are nothing if not practical. There are lots of things our communities can do to collaborate for the good of the county as a whole and our own local towns, such as passing both the Half % Economic Growth and Fix Our Road funds, which we administer individually as each community sees fit. Unlike other taxes, these funds, without mandates from the state, the county or any others, focus funding on each local community’s needs, with decisions made by local participants. How great is that? How effective is that?
I for one celebrate the best of Riverton, and enjoy experiencing the best of Lander, with no expectation or desire for uniformity between them. I appreciate that these funding mechanisms recognize these differences and provide us all a voice. Please vote Yes in November for the Half % Growth Fund and Fix Our Roads funding.
Sincerely,
C. Cline
Riverton