League of Women Voters of Laramie Voter Guide 2004
Albany County Commissioners
Term of office is four years. There is one vacancy on the three-member
commission. Salary is $15,000 annually plus benefits. Party affiliation
is indicated by (D) for Democrat and (R) for Republican after the
candidate's name.
Biographical information:
Jerry M. Kennedy (R):
I was born and raised in Albany County; have been married for 40 years
and have two sons. I own and operate Dodge Creek Ranch in northern
Albany County with one son. I have been a fire guard for BLM for 39
years; active with the Albany County Weed and Pest District for 27
years, and have been an elected County Commissioner. Recently I was
appointed by Governor Freudenthal to the newly created Public Safety
Communications Commission.
Jim Thompson (D):
I was raised in Casper and have degrees in economics and sociology. I
am a faculty member at UW. My wife, Nancy Stanton, and I moved here in
1972 and our children, Garth and Meg, were born here. We own a small
ranch in south Albany County. I had a consulting firm in Laramie for 12
years, and worked for many county commissions, which is where I got my
interest in being a commissioner.
Question 1: Currently the County Commission meets at 9:30 a.m. on
two Tuesdays per month. How do you feel about varying the time and
possibly the location of meetings to improve public access?
Jerry M. Kennedy (R):
The first meeting of the month is to be held in the County Seat. The
meeting times are good because we have to deal with many professional
people that have to interrelate with other businesses during the time
of the meeting. The county offices have to be open and available for
support information for those involved as well. The meeting times,
dates and place are published and well known--to change them would be
total confusion. People who need to do business with the County
Commissioners are able to know when and where the meetings will be. We
also have many special meetings....
Jim Thompson (D):
Yes, I would be willing to have commissioner meetings in different
parts of the county. It might be useful to have periodic meetings in
Centennial, Rock River, Woods Landing or in other areas people might
request. But I would like to survey people in the county outside of
Laramie to see if they want meetings in other areas, and, if so, where.
Question 2: How much time can you devote to this office; do you
expect to be able to attend at least 90 percent of the meetings?
Jerry M. Kennedy (R): As my record as County Commissioner shows I
devote as much time as I possibly can to represent Albany County
locally as well as Statewide. I represent Albany County on the County
Commissioners Association as well as ALL County Government on the
Public Service Communication Commission, a Governor appointed position.
I serve as chairman for the WYOLINK Operations Group on this
Commission.
Jim Thompson (D): I will be able to make all meetings, God willing and
the crick donâ~@~Yt rise. I anticipate spending considerable time
outside of regular meetings and hearings researching certain issues
such as state financing of counties, and plan on taking leave time from
my job to lobby the legislature to equalize funding among all 23
counties. I also plan to lobby the legislature to change the
subdividing statute so that county regulations will apply to all major
subdivisions.