Four candidates vie for two Hot Springs County Commissioner seats

Four candidates will face off in the 2022 Hot Springs County Commissioners race, including incumbents Jack Baird and Tom Ryan along with challengers Paul Galovich and Joe Martinez. All four candidates are running as Republicans and only two will move on from the Primary Election in August.

Jack Baird

Jack Baird is running for re-election for Hot Springs County Commissioner. Baird has served for the past four years in his first term. When discussing his accomplishments, Baird mentioned his work on improving Black Mountain Road and getting the records in the clerk’s office digitized.

Baird also said, “I’m disappointed that we didn’t get anything done as any better rural water or any better water for the town and for the whole county. It shouldn’t be just rural water. I really think the city needs to get on board and find a better water source. But that’s one of the things that I kinda wanted to get done and we never got that.”

When asked how he would build a bridge with the Town Council to have his goal met, Baird replied, “I really don’t think that there is as big a gap as what the stereotype is. I don’t understand what the gap is over anyways. We’ll put it that way… Yeah, probably a lot more openness over joint ventures.”

Baird continued and explained, “I’m saying mainly talking about the landfill and the transfer station, in my opinion, how they didn’t really do that openly, to begin with. They should probably have brought the county in. Now, that was before I was even elected… But I really don’t think that there’s as big a gap there as what we want to make it to be.”

As far as why people should re-elect Baird, he said, “I’m getting a lot more understanding of the budgeting process, just how things work.” Baird added, “I’d probably try to get our reserves built up. Well, just like the courthouse roof, it seems like we’ve been doing a lot of maintenance that was not done in prior years. And we’re trying to get that caught up. And keep our infrastructure that we have well maintained.” 

Tom Ryan

Tom Ryan is running for re-election as Hot Springs County Commissioner. He currently is the chair and has served for two terms, a total of eight years.

Ryan noted some of his accomplishments as the Black Mountain Road project and the process of working to rebuild it. Ryan added that three to five years ago they cut over $1.5 million out of the budget and that he has “a really good grasp of the county’s finances. But I think it would be a detriment to the county to lose that knowledge.”

When it comes to goals, Ryan said, “I don’t really see a ton of change. We’ve changed how we collect our ad valorem tax, which is a huge portion of our budget. And, I guess that would be a goal just to get better at estimating that and understanding those pitfalls… the county’s doing okay. I think we need to continue to look at our infrastructure. Our courthouse is not getting any younger.”

Regarding relationships with Town Council, Ryan said, “that has improved. But I think it still needs some work. We’re too inter-related to not get along, and I think that’s a good goal. The water is definitely an issue for us as a commission. The three of us have talked about that extensively.”

Ryan added he is working on the relationship and said, “We try to open more dialog. As issues come along, maybe don’t wait until they’re burning before you sit down and have some address. It’s a two-way deal and we can help that by offering more assistance. One of the things we’ve done, that we’ve taken, they don’t pay any of the jail cost anymore. We don’t charge them for having the police department there. They do furnish dispatch, but we buy the equipment for dispatch... The relationship’s better in this last term.”

Paul Galovich

Paul Galovich is running for Hot Springs County Commissioner. Regarding the reason Galovich wants to be elected, he said, “I think that we’re facing some challenging times ahead of us. We see what is happening on federal levels and state levels as well. I’m a constitutional-minded person… some of the skills and disciplines that I have to go through in my life can be advantageous.”

Galovich has owned and operated BMG Industries since 1998 and he also has an aircraft operating out of Greybull and a light manufacturing facility in Powell. Galovich said his experience in managing these businesses qualifies him to be a county commissioner because of his “responsibility in managing a number of people through the years and controlling finances.”

Galovich describes himself as a conservative person by nature and added, “I’ve operated that way my whole life, and that’s been advantageous to me from a financial standpoint, as well as the peace and security of knowing that I’m not held hostage to financial institutions because I have been successful in my business.”

If Galovich is elected as county commissioner, he plans on donating his net income back to the community. He is “not for money but for service,” and “I’m a service-oriented person.”

One of Galovich’s top items on his agenda is about trash disposal. He said, “I do not believe it to be wise to transport our garbage,” and cites the rising costs of expensive fuel. Therefore, Galovich proposed to, “Put in another dump,” and “I think it would be wise to organize a committee within our county of volunteers to do the research to see what the cost-effective approaches are to the disposal.”

Joe Martinez

Joe Martinez is running for Hot Springs County Commissioner. Martinez has lived in Hot Springs County for almost 18 years. He has sat on the School Board for about 10 years and also on the Fair Board. Martinez said, “I’m able to step into this county commissioner position with the knowledge and the background that we have a fiduciary responsibility with the taxpayers’ dollars.”

Martinez explained why he is campaigning and said, “I want to make sure that the voters of Hot Springs County, voices are heard and that they know that there’s someone that will listen to them… And that the commissioners are making a decision based on what’s best for our community as a whole.”

Martinez added, “The Airbnbs are kind of being targeted a little bit out in the communities or out in the county outside of city limits.” Martinez is “trying to make sure that… the people that are trying to start those businesses are being heard, but that anybody close to where those businesses are going to be operating are also being heard.”

“It shouldn’t just be a one-sided deal and making sure that the businesses are following the proper processes for the land. And if it needs to be changed into a different type of use from what it was before previously, then that process needs to be followed as well. Because we don’t want to stifle business, we need new businesses. People need to be able to operate. And with the least amount of regulation, but ensuring that whatever regulations there are, that they’re being followed.”

Martinez also said that he wants to “make sure that federal regulations aren’t negatively affecting our community because that government overreach can have a negative effect on our community.”