ROCK SPRINGS — The Rock Springs City Council’s ward redistricting ordinance received criticism from a resident the night it was set to be passed into law. The ordinance passed, but not before a Council member said it chopped her ward “all to hell.”

Ward 3 resident Stephen P. Allen spoke to the Council before their vote on the ordinance’s third reading, questioning why the city hasn’t done more public outreach to educate residents about the changes in ward boundaries and voicing opposition to its passage. 

The city initiated the ward changes to make the four wards more equitable in their population distribution. According to data released by the city, Ward 2 has the highest population of 8,720, while Ward 1 and Ward 3 have 5,149 and 5,043 residents respectively. Ward 4 has 4,609 residents. The redrawn wards would more evenly distribute the population between the four, with the exception of Ward 3, which would be slightly smaller to accommodate anticipated population growth into the 2030 census.

Allen said voter rolls are not a basis for population redistributions, saying they don’t reflect the population of Rock Springs and claiming the city clerk already said that. He said leaving the wards as they are only impacts 554 voters, representing only 2% of the population.

“So I have to ask, why are we doing this in the first place,” Allen said.

Allen said other considerations need to be taken into account as well, including population, the socioeconomic makeup, and topography of the city. He also says the municipality can do “whatever they want.” 

“Key here is that these boundaries become arbitrary and capricious,” Allen said.

Allen also said the boundaries were redrawn with the current Council representatives in mind, saying that wasn’t needed because state statutes allow for sitting Council representatives to finish their terms and allow them to seek election to their new ward.

He said an option the Council has is creating equality by making the Council seats all at large, giving people a chance to vote for the entire Council. He said making all Council seats at large would also give residents better representation because they would have a say for the entire Council. 

Mayor Max Mickelson said the process was initiated by the Sweetwater County Clerk’s Office before the current administration was in place, saying the city originally didn’t act on it. He said the office approached the city a second time because it’s out of compliance with state statutes and that the wards are based on population. He admits he likes the idea of dropping wards in favor of an at-large Council, but said he doesn’t believe it would be popular in the city. 

“This is about ensuring each ward has roughly the same population so that every pair of Council members is representing roughly the same number of people,” Mickelson said.

Mickelson said his only stipulation in the process was that no sitting Council members would move wards, which he said caused “interesting configurations” in Ward 1. Mickelson said the solution isn’t perfect, but it’s one that can be accomplished before the 2026 elections. Mickelson also expressed concerns about a wealthier area able to dominate at-large Council elections because such areas would be able to field candidates who could spend more during an election and compete against lower-income candidates. Mickelson believes groups could be disenfranchised if the ward system is eliminated. He also said he would consider planning a workshop meeting to explore the idea in more detail. 

Councilman Larry Hickerson asked City Attorney Rick Beckwith how quickly the city could eliminate the ward structure. Beckwith said the city’s ordinances have required Rock Springs to be divided into wards since the late 1800s and require the division to be roughly equal. He said the Council would need to change the ordinances, saying the Council would likely want a workshop on the initiative. 

“We could probably address that in ordinances,” Beckwith said.

The Council wouldn’t have time to eliminate the city’s wards before the elections, with Tuesday night being the final night the city has to decide if it will reorganize the wards before the elections.

Ordinance Vote

The Council voted to approve the ordinance later in the meeting, passing it with a 7-2 vote. Council representatives Rick Milonas and Jeannie Demas voted against it. 

Hickerson said he had two people ask how things would change, saying there was some confusion. He said Allen was the only voice of opposition he heard about the ordinance. 

Milonas said he isn’t sure why the Council is rushing into changing the ward boundaries, saying the 2030 census is only four years away.

“Personally, I think we should wait and see how things pan out,” Milonas said.

Milonas also was critical of the city not hosting workshops about the proposed ward changes, saying he doesn’t believe the Council was involved in the decision-making process. Hickerson countered, saying the ordinance was read two prior times, both of which could have been used for further discussion.

“We don’t have to have a workshop for every amendment or ordinance we make,” Hickerson said.

Demas expressed her opposition to the redrawn boundaries, saying she lost two voting precincts across the street from her home.

“Instead … I get precinct 3-7, which is two, three miles from where I live,” she said. “This makes no sense to me at all.”

She said Ward 1 is “getting chopped all to hell from this.”

Mickelson responded, telling her the wards aren’t designed around the Council representatives, they’re designed around population distribution.

“I still don’t like it,” Demas said.

Councilman Rob Zotti said the lack of a workshop falls on Demas and Milonas because they didn’t request one prior to the final ordinance reading, with Demas responding that no one gave her an answer the last time she brought it up.

“We need to take some responsibility in this as well, and something’s here,” Zotti said. “This is real, it’s been presented, this is going to happen and I heard silence until we saw this presented and the last two meetings, there really wasn’t much discussion.”