Wyoming gubernatorial candidate Eric Barlow proposed an idea the other day that resonated with me, and it’s worthy of your consideration.
Speaking to the Wyoming Association of Municipalities, Barlow suggested establishing satellite offices around the state wherein representatives of the governor's office would be available to interact with Wyoming citizens daily.
I like the notion of dispersing the executive presence of the governor outside the confines of Cheyenne, and making the governor’s eyes and ears more accessible to folks who live in our “small town with unusually long streets."
If this can be done with no net gain in government bureaucracy or expense, emphasis on “no net gain,” it’s a great idea, and would make our entire state feel more like our Capitol.
I first heard that “small town, long streets” description of Wyoming from my old boss, former governor, Mike Sullivan. And it was Sullivan who took steps to shorten those streets with his Capitol for a Day initiative.
Once a month, Gov. Sullivan assembled key staff and department heads, traveled to a far-flung town, and set up shop to talk with and listen to local folks. Sleeves were rolled up, ties loosened, and government did business with the governed on their own turf.
I called Gov. Sullivan to get his thoughts on what worked and didn’t work with Capitol for a Day.
Sullivan remembered how happy folks in our remote towns were to have their governor visit. High school bands greeted the governor’s caravan at the edge of town or the airport.
Local dignitaries showed up to shake n’ howdy and get their photos taken with the chief executive of Wyoming. Everyone was proud to show off their town, and gave the visiting bigwigs from Cheyenne the grand tour of local high points.
Ribbons were cut, babies were kissed, and then everyone got down to business.
Sullivan recalled that citizens who lived too far away or were too busy in their daily lives to come to Cheyenne weren’t at all shy about bending the ears of visiting officials about local issues and problems.
The conversations were substantive and constructive.
He opined that the only thing that didn’t work about the initiative was the weather when, a time or two, blizzards closed the roads and airports.
I then called another former governor, Dave Fruedenthal, because I recalled he had a similar program.
Dave graciously took a break from yard work to tell me that my memory isn’t slipping. He regularly traveled the state with cabinet members, and met similar reactions from local folks, and had similar results.
Freudenthal reminded me that both Ed Herschler and Stan Hathaway had dipped their gubernatorial toes into the same “take government to the people” waters with their own official road trips.
Much has changed in Wyoming since those former governors occupied that office on Capitol Avenue in Cheyenne. But one thing that hasn’t changed is the number of miles between that office and folks in Lusk or Pinedale.
So I applaud candidate Barlow for proposing to do something about that. It’s just Cowboy as hell.
Wyoming still bears strong sense of neighborhood, despite our small population and the wide-open spaces that separate us.
Perhaps there is no state in our republic where bringing government closer to the people is still possible, other than right here.
Our small population makes it possible for our governor to get up from his desk and meet his fellow citizens around their own kitchen tables and hear their ideas.
Nothing says grassroots government more clearly than that.
Whoever is our next governor will have the chance to assemble his or her own staff, and to place them where they’ll do the most good.
We already have plenty of state-owned buildings scattered around Wyoming, so no new capital construction should be necessary.
A few good outriders can be sent to the distant ranges of Wyoming to rep the brand without adding to the taxpayers’ burden.
But that shouldn’t relieve our new governor of the responsibility to show up in person for meaningful face time with the citizens.
A dispersed staff could handle those logistics, freeing the governor to kiss the local babies, and get an earful from the folks.
Our history confirms that a program like that will be successful, and will shorten the distance between our citizens and their Capitol.
Rod Miller can be reached at: RodsMillerWyo@yahoo.com
