A. Focus on Basic Town Services to Ensure Fiscal Responsibility

1. I will focus on basic town services. These are the everyday services residents rely on: water and sewer and street maintenance. For the mayor, that means ensuring they run well, are reliable, and are funded responsibly.

2. I will ensure our water and sewer systems remain a top priority. This means I will:

a. I will develop a strategic infrastructure plan. I will seek the Wyoming Water Development Commission to help fund this study.

b. Ensure this plan addresses drinking-water quality, including copper-related compliance issues, corrosion control, source-water protection, and the condition of our water mains and service lines (the Town Council approved a lead service-line investigation and inventory project in August of this year);

c. Rank projects by urgency, public health and safety, regulatory compliance, cost, public benefits, and the consequences of delay;

d. Pursue every realistic source of outside funding;

e. Ensure that underground water and sewer work is scheduled alongside planned street and sidewalk projects, including WYDOT’s highway work through town; and

f. Protect residents and businesses from incurring higher costs! I will not support new taxes or increases in water and sewer rates to fund major infrastructure improvements.

B. Ensure Government Transparency

1. I will provide a Clear, Up-to-Date, Useful Town Website with convenient, secure online payments. The website should help residents, businesses, visitors, and investors find town contacts, Council members’ contact information, meeting agendas and minutes, ordinances, permits, business licenses, public notices, emergency information, and project updates, with links to local, county, state, and business resources. Residents should be able to pay water and sewer, and other town bills securely online where possible, while in-person, mail, and other traditional payment options remain available.

2. I will livestream Town Council meetings, set aside time for public comment after each agenda item, and post meeting documents and materials in advance so you can participate and understand decisions before they are made. After the Town Council approves them (usually after the next Town Council meeting), I will post all approved and rejected matters, along with documents explaining the decisions.

C. Keep Government Responsible

1. The Mayor’s Office will sponsor a resident survey (available online or in person) so you can tell us what works and how we can improve. Would you like me to call you back? Please include your contact information. I will personally respond to anyone who wants to be contacted.

2. Town staff should treat people with kindness and respect.

3. I will not use the Mayor’s Office for personal or private gain.

4. I will ensure responsible budgeting.

D. Determine Whether Residents Support the Town Assuming Responsibility for Highway 26 Within Town Limits.

A. Police officers.

Dubois Police Officers must maintain high professional and ethical standards. They deserve outstanding training, dependable protective gear and duty equipment, competitive pay, clear policies, and fair treatment.

B. Citizens.

Citizens deserve respectful policing, a commendation and impartial complaint process (readily accessible online or in person), and transparent budgeting practices.

C. Ambulance services.

Dubois residents need a staffed ambulance in town, with backup coverage when it is unavailable, sustainable funding, reliable equipment, and clear standards for response times and patient care.

D. Coordination.

I will secure effective mutual aid and dispatch agreements with neighboring agencies. Mutual aid means nearby police, fire, and ambulance services back each other up when one is stretched thin or unavailable. Dispatch agreements ensure 911 calls are answered, and the right responders are sent without delay.

A. Housing Task Force

Dubois can't thrive if the people who work here can't afford to live here. I'd bring residents, employers, and local experts together in a housing task force to recommend practical solutions. I would ensure that what we do:

1. respects property owners’ rights and favors voluntary solutions;

2. accounts for the full cost to taxpayers;

3. limits the town’s role;

4. removes barriers to private development; and

5. requires real evidence of the homes or apartments the ideas would produce.

B. Seven Approaches the Housing Task Force Could Explore

1. Review zoning and permitting rules to see whether property owners could more easily add cottages, garage apartments, or small homes on their own land.

2. Explore available state grants and other funding sources to help extend water, sewer, and streets to buildable lots, while carefully evaluating the costs to taxpayers.

3. Bring employers and willing landowners together to solve housing needs with their own resources.

4. Help homeowners, especially seniors and people with disabilities, connect with existing repair programs so they can stay in their homes.

5. Bring lenders and rural loan programs to town so families know their options for owning a home.

6. Make it easier for property owners to convert suitable underused buildings into homes by updating zoning and permitting rules, while maintaining necessary safety standards.

7. Get the facts on short-term rentals before anyone talks about new rules, while respecting owners who rent or who want to rent legally.

A. Clearing the Confusion

My family has run the Black Bear Inn for forty years. That experience taught me what businesses need:

1. updated, clear, and understandable regulations;

2. fair, consistent treatment from the Mayor's Office; and

3. help connecting to resources that let businesses start, grow, and stay open through Dubois's tough mud-season months. As mayor, my question will always be: How can the town help you succeed?

B. Meeting with our State and Federal Partners

I will seek to meet quarterly with the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, and the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) to learn about their plans for this area and ensure their decisions consider the needs of Dubois's businesses and residents.

Our downtown is the heart of Dubois. As mayor, I’d bring residents, downtown business owners, property owners, local experts, and other interested people together to form a Downtown Renovation Committee that recommends practical, affordable improvements.

A. The committee would focus on:

1. Sidewalks, boardwalks, streets, and crossings to make downtown safer and easier to navigate. The committee should address future street improvements (such as paving) and maintenance needs of the town that currently exist and will exist in the future.

2. Street lighting and signs that improve safety while protecting our dark skies and western character.

3. Parks and playgrounds (working with the excellent committee already leading this effort) to include outdoor equipment that meets current safety standards and accommodates a wide range of ages, as well as being certified as all-inclusive for those with special needs, and benches, to make them safer and more inviting.

4. Funding opportunities through grants, foundations, donations, sponsors, local businesses, and public-private partnerships.

5. Downtown businesses by creating a more welcoming place to shop, eat, and visit.

B. My Goal

My goal is to create a safer downtown that preserves authentic Dubois’s character, respects property rights, and protects taxpayers.

Let’s explore year-round recreation, fitness, and family activities.

As mayor, I’d work with residents, local organizations, businesses, and other interested persons to explore the feasibility of an aquatic center and climbing wall in Dubois. Like the downtown committee, I’d form an Aquatic Climb Committee.

A. An Aquatic Center

An aquatic center would serve residents of all ages:

1. children learning to swim,

2. seniors staying active through our long winters, and

3. people needing rehabilitation after an injury or surgery.

B. A Climbing Wall

A climbing wall would give young people, families, and visitors a place to learn and practice a skill that fits our mountain way of life.

C. Before making commitments, we would examine:

1. Community interest and which facilities people would use.

2. Total costs of construction, staffing, maintenance, insurance, and operation.

3. What other small towns around Wyoming have done, including their failures and successes, and the reasons for their failures and successes.

4. Funding and partnerships through grants, foundations, donations, sponsors, schools, nonprofits, and businesses.

5. Long-term sustainability without placing a financial burden on taxpayers.

6. Practical alternatives such as smaller facilities or phased development if full facilities are too expensive.

D. My Goal

My goal is to provide better recreation, make responsible financial decisions, and protect taxpayers.