Diverse topics reflect residents in County Commission race

Issues as diverse as the residents of Albany County defined the race for Albany County Commission between Brian Harrington and Thad Hoff.

For Harrington, the current city of Laramie mayor, his emphasis was on the success of the city and county’s joint work on protection for the Casper Aquifer.

The aquifer provides water for the city of Laramie and county homeowners in the underground water supply’s recharge area. An updated protection plan was adopted by the city and county in 2023.

Harrington cited emergency services as another example of cooperation.

“People saw value in the city and county working together,” Harrington said.

Hoff found that while the aquifer was a concern, county residents also wanted to talk about road access and maintenance, grazing and windmills.

“The county is so diversified it kind of depends on the location of the people you are talking to,” Hoff said. “It is not a one-issue county.”

When talking about the aquifer, Hoff said he heard some resident think that there are enough regulations; something the protection plan is an example of government overreach, and some think that not enough has been done.

Getting expert-based factual information out to the public is key to their understanding, he said.

Hoff said that type of information is important to clarifying the status of wind energy in the county.

“Wind turbines always come up in conversations. I don’t think people realize how far along that evolution is occurring, and how much that’s already gone on, how much back and forth has already occurred,” he said.

Hoff said the county needs to address issues that will be faced by the presence of additional employees, such as installation crews, maintenance crews, managers and others in the growing industry.

Harrington said his understanding of county, rather than just city concerns was brought home by a Rock River resident talking about the “doughnut” around the town.

The “doughnut,” he explained, is a description of about a mile of county land that is adjacent to a city. Residents there have a relationship to both the city and county and look to both entities with questions and problems.

Locally, both candidates made it a point to keep their contest what Hoff called “clean and above board.”

Harrington thanked Hoff for that, but added that a political action committee’s video about him crossed a line.

“A locally-run PAC put out a video about me, I felt like it was almost comical in its absurdity, with clips of comments I made as a mayor but with all the context cut out. So they just tried to paint me as stupid. It seemed like a weird direction, and for somebody to spend money, it seems like a weird way to do local politics,” Harrington said.

“My campaign has been focused on what we want to do for Albany County,” he said. “Any time anyone is willing to serve in public office they have a deep love for the place. That is sure true for me, and I have to believe that’s true for my opponent. So I just think the respectful, the Wyoming way of doing things, is what the people expect.”

Hoff said he was surprised about the amount of education voters needed about the role of the county commissioners.

“The fact that since this is a county position that’s not really taught in a civics class, a lot of people don’t know what the county commissioner does. So it was a matter of having to educate people — some were very aware of what the job entails, from having a situation that had to go through the county commission prior. Talk to people in the city limits and they didn’t have an idea,” he said.