SWEETWATER COUNTY—Sweetwater County commissioners are defending the work done by the Wyoming County Commissioners Association as some state legislators consider legislation that would prohibit government spending on organizations like the WCCA.
Commissioners were in Lander for WCCA meetings May 15-16. A recent Wyofile article sheds light on a push by legislators, led by Marlene Brady, R-Green River, to limit how local governments can spend funding with organizations such as the Wyoming Association of Municipalities and would potentially force local officials to pay for memberships out of their own pockets.
Commissioner Island Richards said the association’s meetings are always informative, saying commissioners earn the knowledge through patience and sitting through long sessions.
“I can’t tell you how valuable the information and the networking is to my role as a commissioner,” Richards said.
Commissioner Taylor Jones doesn’t believe there is a way for commissioners to share large amounts of information and have quality meetings with one another without the association. He said commissioners received information about proposed legislation and viewpoints about which directions legislators are looking to take the state during the 2026 budget session. Jones said there were also discussions about counties reducing their budgets and what could be achieved by working with municipalities. Jones said the association brought more than 20 professionals to give presentations and answer questions raised by the state’s county commissioners, saying there is value in the services the WCCA provides.
They are not Wyoming people, these are not Wyoming ideas, so please keep that in mind as some of our legislators are being directed by out-of-state organizations.
Sweetwater County Commissioner Taylor Jones
“For those folks saying the association shouldn’t be funded with taxpayer money, I say you are severely lacking in knowledge of how important these meetings are and how valuable the association is, in order to help us do our jobs,” Jones said. “Which in turn, is extremely valuable to our constituents – the people.”
Jones said the commissioners themselves don’t have time to arrange meetings that would include the same diversity of panelists and presentations.
Jones alleges organizations in Washington, D.C., and Virginia are the “Geppetto pulling the strings and dictating to our legislators what legislation they should push.”
“They are not Wyoming people, these are not Wyoming ideas, so please keep that in mind as some of our legislators are being directed by out-of-state organizations,” Jones said.
Jones said some legislators believe they know what’s best for local control and government by stripping local government of local control, saying they’re displaying a tremendous amount of government overreach. Jones cited what he views as further hypocrisy, saying some legislators would prefer that commissioners meet online, while currently they meet in person.
“It’s obvious they believe heavily in ‘rules for thee, not for me,’” Jones said.
Jones further alleged that the legislators are uninformed about the effects their actions have on people and want county commissioners to govern in the same uninformed manner. Jones took aim at claims made that commissioners could fund the association out of their own pockets or have the association funded privately, suggesting a privately funded WCCA would push an agenda supported by whichever private group is financing it, possibly not having anything to do with what’s best for county residents. Ultimately, he believes transparency could be impacted if legislators get their way.
“So the potential exists legislation may be passed and our constituents will not know about it because they’re all private discussions, unlike what we’re doing right here, this very minute,” he said. “Their plan will remove transparency and accountability.”
