Four running for Thermopolis Town Council

Four candidates will face off in the 2022 Thermopolis Town Council race, including incumbents John Dorman Sr. and Tony Larson along with challengers Bradyn Harvey and Rachel Hughes.

Four candidates will move forward from the Primary Election in August so the race will be decided at the General Election in November.

John Dorman Sr.

John Dorman Sr. is running for re-election to the Thermopolis Town Council. Dorman said, "I enjoy working for the town and trying to keep things on an even keel, doing the max that we can do with the minimum amount of funds that we have to accomplish those things."

Dorman added, "We've got some real challenges going on with the transfer station. And our streets are in real need of repair and infrastructure. I'd like to continue to see some of those things get accomplished... It takes a community. It takes the whole community effort to get it done."

Dorman explained his "years of experience and business to help make smart decisions, and service already on the council" as reasons he is a good candidate.

When it comes to cooperation with other local entities, such as the County Commissioners, Dorman said, "We need to work on building that bridge and getting that bridge fixed. It takes the county commissioners and us to make this a good, viable community."

Tony Larson

Tony Larson is running for re-election to the Thermopolis Town Council. Larson explained his motivation and said, "I want to do what's right for the community. I know a lot of people don't think that I've done what's right. But there's more that think that I have."

Larson described some of the challenges he faced while in his position and said, " Yes, you upset people because you have enough people tell you that they don't want something and then you have to turn others down. It sounds like I'm a politician, and I'm not. I mean, I'm a conservative, you know, big time." 

Larson then explained some of his goals and said, "I want to make sure that the transfer station we have gets done. I mean, that's foremost right now. That's the most important thing that I can see on the table."

When it comes to the economy, Larson said, "I'd like to see more businesses downtown. You know, how do you do it? I mean, it's hard to be fair and try to, I mean, because the downtown's dying. How do we keep businesses downtown?"

Regarding some of his accomplishments as a council member, Larson said, "We're trying to maintain our infrastructure. The sewer mains and the water mains and then hopefully after that gets done, we can have money to do streets and to just try to keep the town cleaned up."

Bradyn Harvey

Bradyn Harvey is running for Thermopolis Town Council. Harvey explained why he is a candidate and said, "Over the past few years with the pandemic, it has shown us that elected officials from the local level all the way up to president need to hold their own to protect individual rights and freedoms. Property rights with businesses, not being able to operate without a government mandate. Personal freedoms. Any government being able to tell you, you have to do anything with your own body."

When it comes to what Harvey is fighting for, he said, "If in your day-to-day business the government is there, they are too big. If there's anything, I guess the big thing is with businesses being shut down and with even freedom of speech being hindered and with people being locked in homes or locked out of being able to visit loved ones in hospitals and elderly care facilities."

Harvey said he is "standing up for the residents of Thermopolis against a governor that wants to crack down on these things or even a county health official, an unelected county health official, and just being willing to stand up and speak up for the residents of Thermopolis."

Harvey also said, "I've been asked all kinds of questions about very specific things, like chickens and rainwater and that kind of stuff. And the big thing was, well, that's not our problem. The real problem is our infrastructure, our water, and our streets and all this stuff. "

Rachel Hughes

Rachel Hughes is running for Thermopolis Town Council. Hughes said, "I am running because I want to see Thermopolis more family-friendly. I'd like to see the splash park take effect. I'd like to focus on some repairs at local town parks that seem to be neglected. I want to focus on the buildings on the 500 block of Arapahoe that are in disarray."

Regarding those buildings, as a council member, Hughes said she wants to "make sure policies are in place and follow those policies so that can't happen again." Hughes noted that these buildings have been deteriorating for a long time.

Hughes continued and said about violated policies, "It's just like at a residential residence, you have weeds growing. You are notified that that's the town policy. There are fines in place. There's a protocol. But I would like to make sure that the protocol is followed, to make sure that it seems like now there's a small group in town that's kind of trying to take care of it, but I think it could have been stopped earlier on."

Hughes added, "I'm just trying to become more involved in the community, and I was encouraged to run."

Another subject that is important to Hughes is home occupancy and having home occupancy permits for businesses.