Moulton, Nunn running to retain council seats

*Editor's note: Glenrock Town Clerk Tammy Taylor confirmed at 3:59 p.m. May 26 (too late for our print edition) that Margaret Nunn has filed to run for reelection to retain her seat on council.

By Chase Vialpando

chase@glenrockind.com

Who will join – or rejoin – the Glenrock Town Council will be decided  this election cycle. The two seats open are seats held by two incumbent appointees, John Moulton and Margaret Nunn. 

Moulton took over Chad Beer’s chair in April of 2019 and is the only person who had filed for the council as of Tuesday. Nunn took Bruce Roumell’s seat in January 2019 when he was elected mayor. As of May 25, *Nunn had not indicated if she would run to retain her seat.

If reelected, Moulton said he hopes to grow the community.

“I think we need to keep the town moving forward, especially with infrastructure projects,” he told the Independent Tuesday morning.

Moulton also believes that by growing the community, Glenrock could grow its population.

“We farm our kids out (of Glenrock),” Moulton said, “It’s tough for them to grow up and have a career here. If they have more options, I think we could not farm our kids out.”

Meanwhile, as the 2020 Converse County primary election looms over the horizon, several other candidates have filed paperwork to have their names on the ballot in the Republican races for county clerk and county commissioner, thus assuring voters a choice, although candidates can still file to run until May 29.

Karen Rimmer, who took over as county clerk in January after Lucile Taylor retired, is running to retain her new position as required by law for appointed officials; Taylor’s term would not have ended until 2022 if she hadn’t resigned. Kacy Jo Hladky is also running for the seat. Both candidates are Republicans.

Two Converse County Commission seats will be up for grabs this election cycle. The seats are held by Republicans Mike Colling and Rick Grant, who both filed for reelection.

Colling and Grant, two-term commissioners from Glenrock, will be joined on the primary GOP ballot by Cruz Von Wald from Douglas. No Democrat, independent or Libertarian candidates are currently filed.

Constitutionalist Derek Joppru of Douglas, who was filed in the primary last week, has since dropped out of the race. Joppru has ran for a commissioner’s seat the last three terms.

Colling said he likes what he does as a commissioner for one reason – it is important.

“It’s important for me to look out for the county. I think it’s an important thing to do. That’s why I’m doing it.”

Grant also expressed his calling to county leadership.

“I live in the county. I represent the county. Glenrock is just my mailing address,” he said.

The 30-year-old Von Wald said he feels our county needs a younger viewpoint.

“We’ve had the same type of mentality in there,” he said.

“I’m not a business owner, I’m not a ranch owner. I want to get the average joe outlook into our higher power rather than just standing by.”

All three candidates observed the financial dip in our economy in recent months.

Colling remarked that he and the other commissioners have put some projects on hold given the situation. However, he remarked, “Our county’s sitting quite well. We’ve been fairly conservative. We make sure we have enough in our coffers. I just want to make sure we stay fiscally sound.” 

Grant also displayed a need to stay reserved when it comes to dealing with the county’s coffers.

“It’s an interesting time we have right now. We’re in the process of finalizing some designs so that when the economy turns, we’d like to do that.”

Von Wald said he feels there are opportunities the county isn’t utilizing with its spending, though he did not elaborate on specifics.

Two spots will be open on  the Douglas City Council and Rolling Hills Town Council. Lost Springs Town Council has three positions open in this election cycle. No one had filed for any of the positions as of Monday morning.

The primary election will take place in August. Those who succeed there will run in the general election in November.