Town employee should withdraw from council race

Dear Editor:

When I decided to run for one of the open Town Council seats, I made sure I was qualified to run for the office by going to wyoleg.gov and the Wyoming Secretary of State’s web site and reading the statutes regarding running for Municipal office.

Here’s what I found:

22-23-301. Municipal officers.

 All candidates for municipal office shall be nominated at the municipal primary election. In order to be eligible, a candidate must be a registered voter and a resident of the municipality and ward which he seeks to represent on the day the petition is filed and shall not be an employee of the municipality. As used in this section, the term “employee” includes only those persons receiving an hourly wage or salary from a municipality. A person who provides volunteer services to a municipality shall not be considered an “employee” under this section based solely upon coverage under the Wyoming Worker’s Compensation Act or other pension, death or disability program.

However, we currently have Mike Dellos running in the general election for one of the seats and he is currently working for the Town of Basin as the Public Works Foreman. Mike received enough write in votes to get on the ballot and submitted his paperwork and $25 to run in the General Election.

First of all, it’s clear that Mike didn’t do the required research to verify that he could run. If you read the above Wyoming statute it definitely states that he cannot run. From a purely ethical perspective, doesn’t it seem like a conflict of interest for someone working for the town to be running for Town Council? He spends every day working with town residents in and out of their homes and could campaign while he works. The other three candidates are not afforded that same opportunity. 

He’s clearly not following the statute so I’m asking that he withdraw from the race. 

Linda Weeks

Candidate for
Basin Town Council