Paying for politics

As the Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Corporations Committee continues to discuss and debate their current redistricting efforts, the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) are concerned the rural residents of their county will be left without a voice in Cheyenne.

Those concerns were raised by the commissioners at their January 4 meeting as they received an update on the redistricting process from Carbon County Clerk Gwynn Bartlett. According to Bartlett, her primary concern in regards to redistricting was to keep voting districts intact. At least two plans previously presented to the Joint Corporations Committee split two Carbon County municipalities between two separate House Districts. One would have split the town of Hanna and a more recent one proposed by Senator Charlie Scott (R - Casper) would split the city of Rawlins.

“I’ll leave the politics of where the districts lie to all of you, to the city councils, to the parties and to the legislators. I’m just trying to make sure that those voting boundaries are followed,” said Bartlett. “I don’t know if you’re interested in sending any kind of letter, or if you’ve been following it close enough to do so, to anybody how you feel about a large area of Green River in with the very rural Sweetwater and Carbon county.”

The currently adopted statewide proposal would remove House District 47, which is the largest district in Wyoming and represents a number of rural locations such as Farson, Eden, Point of Rocks and Bairoil. Also included in the district are the Upper Platte River Valley, the Little Snake River Valley and the Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow area. 

In place of House District 47, which is currently represented by Representative Jerry Paxton (R - Encampment), House District 39 would be expanded from a portion of Green River to the lower portion of Sweetwater and Carbon Counties. Additionally, House District 15 would be expanded to include Hanna and Medicine Bow.

“It doesn’t make any sense to me,” said Chairman John Johnson. “I think our representation is going to be really hurt by this proposal.” 

Commissioners Sue Jones agreed with Johnson, stating a “one-size-fits-all” approach would not work for Carbon County.

“It was up to our representatives to have these meetings, which ours did not in Carbon County. I don’t know if it’s worth it to reach out to them to have a meeting. It also does not work in our county, being as big and vast as it is, that we put Hanna (and) Medicine Bow in with Rawlins. One size, as we’ve learned through many things from Covid to political districts, does not fit all in this county,” said Jones. “I don’t know if we reach out to them, if it’ll do any good, or if we just wait until the process gets to rolling in Cheyenne in February and we show up then with our concerns.”

As discussion continued, the commissioners considered drafting a letter to the Joint Corporations Committee expressing their concerns over the proposed redistricting plans. While the commissioners appeared to express their preference for House District 47 and House District 15 to be left alone, Bartlett explained why it was not possible following the 2020 Census. 

“We have too many for one and not enough for two house districts,” Bartlett said.

According to information from the Wyoming Legislature, the ideal population for a House District following the 2020 Census is 9,614. As of April 1, 2020 the population of Carbon County was 14,537 while the population of Rawlins was 8,221.

The county commissioners, however, believed the current statewide plan had more to do with Laramie County and Wyoming Legislature politics than it did following best practices.

“I think this is about politics in Laramie County and Carbon County is paying the price for it,” said Commissioner John Espy. “I hate the thought of the Upper Platte (River) Valley and the Little Snake River Valley losing their voice clear to Green River. That is my fear.” 

“Could we draft a letter that’s, maybe, stating what we want to do is keep the rural voting population intact and not really delve into the semantics of helping them get their narrative because they’re going to do what they want to do,” Johnson said. “It may help. I don’t know if we’d come up with solutions for them but I’m not 100 percent committed to that. I don’t have an answer. I really don’t.”

With no clear answers but a desire to keep House District 47 and House District 15 as intact as possible, the commissioners requested Bartlett draft a letter to be sent to the Joint Corporations Committee.

The next meeting of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners will be at 9 a.m. on January 18 at the Carbon Building - Courthouse Annex in Rawlins.