CHEYENNE — The last time I saw I.M. (Moses) Hasenauer, he was waving a huge American flag while standing in front of the Capitol Building.
“Come on, Cindy. Come on, girl,” he shouted in the direction of the Hathaway Building, where the state Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Education Department had offices.
Cindy was Cindy Hill, a Republican conservative who was elected over Democrat Mike Massie in 2010.
After the election, miseries eventually set in among the Education Department offices, resulting in written reports and employee complaints.
They ranged from claims that Hill failed to observe her legal responsibilities to their assertion that she demanded their professed loyalty to her.
What followed became known as the “Cindy Hill debacle.”
The Legislature passed a bipartisan bill, Senate File 104, to put the Department of Education under a non-elected individual, keeping Hill as superintendent, but with no powers.
She sued, and the Wyoming Supreme Court agreed with Hill and gave her the superintendent’s job back. She finished her term but did not seek re-election.
Her return to office the day after the court decision was announced was what Hasenauer, (he prefers to be called “M. Lee”), was waving his flag about.
The Cindy Hill case had shown how difficult it is to to dislodge a legally-elected official whose office is identified in the state constitution.
That day other supporters were there outside the Hathaway Building waiting for Cindy. Most of them were Tea Party activists like Hasenauer, who was an organizer or leader, although he denied both labels.
At that time Hasenauer also was a member of the Laramie County Board of County Commissioners.
The longtime Tea Party activist was elected to the Commission in 2010, but lost his bid for re-election in 2014.
Hasenauer had a tumultuous stint as a commissioner. He irked his fellow commissioners, in particular, by his practice of summoning his supporters to commission meetings to back him up.
They viewed the displays as grandstanding and as an attempt to intimidate them. A couple members said privately he was not too bright, and did not read the documents required for their meetings.
Persistent, he ran again for the county board two or three more times before retreating.
But now he is back — one of 11 Republican candidates seeking to fill three seats on the county board.
This year he has opposition from a faction on Facebook with the hashtag “NeverMoses.” That group is putting up “#Never Moses” signs in Cheyenne.
As usual, Hasenauer is impervious to criticism.
He is optimistic about his chances this time.
And as always, he said his goal is to do what is best for the people.
In a phone conversation, he said he finds many people are “mad” at all incumbents.
I always thought the Tea Party sort of melted into the Freedom Caucus.
Hasenauer refuses to be classified. He said he supports MAGA’s ideas, but is not a Freedom Caucus member.
Anyway, he has been working on a petition to compel a ballot vote by citizens regarding data centers.
So far he has 2,800 signatures for the petition against the Cheyenne City Council annexing 3,460 acres and zoning for data centers.
He hopes he has enough votes. But, if not, he will keep trying.
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Contact Joan Barron at 307-632-2534 or jmbarron@bresnan,net
