(Lander, WY) – County 10 contacted all the mayoral candidates across the County to ask them a few questions.
Lander Councilman Dan Hahn is running for Lander mayor. He has served on the council for four terms and has lived in Lander for 45 years. He works for WYDOT.
Below is a Q&A transcript of our interview, which has been edited for clarity and length.
County 10: What prompted you to run for mayor?
Dan Hahn: About three years ago, people started calling me, and they had concerns about what was going on at City Hall and the way the direction that it was headed and some of the voting on different subjects like zoning and the new park and flood mitigation. They didn’t feel that their voice was being heard. A lot of the people that came to City Hall, it was locked down, and they were not happy with that. So, I decided to run. This was not for me, this was for the concerned citizens.
C10: What will you bring to the table as mayor?
DH: Leadership. I’ve led the fire department, I’ve led on the city council, and I’ve led as a 30-year business owner in Fremont County.
C10: What changes would you like to see in Lander?
DH: Most of the things that go on in City Hall, like infrastructure and snow plans and water, and sewer most of that, is a work in progress. You’re constantly working on that. I think we’re actually pretty good on most of that. We’re working on it the best we can, and I’ll have no changes on that. I want to see all that go through. I think the biggest change for me is the way things are run. And the way City Hall is is locked down. I want City Hall open. I want a lot more transparency. I want to be working with the citizens of Lander. We want to open communication, and a lot of the people I’m talking to do not feel they’re getting that.
I will tell you that my priorities are safety. I want to say something about safety. Our Chief of Police is excellent. All his police officers are very pleased with him, and so am I. So I think safety is something we really don’t have to worry about. I think we have that covered. Number two is water. Water is very important to me. It always has been. Water storage plant updates. Anything to do with drinking water. Concerns I have is we have city water, and we have rural water. Those are my concerns. If we have water problems, I definitely want to establish where the water goes, and what I mean by that is we’re going to have to decide on do we send the water to drinking water for everybody. Cut lawns out? What do we do? That’s a big concern of mine right now. I would like to see a second rural water house to take some of the traffic off of the one up on Buena Vista. After water, it’s the infrastructure, the water, and the sewer lines. We’re addressing those now. And that’s going to be something that we always have to take care of. Same thing with our streets and potholes, pothole maintenance. All that’s pretty much standard. That’s what I’m talking about when we have work in progress that is something that we will always work on.
C10: What challenges do you foresee in making those changes?
DH: I don’t see any challenges at all. The city has good workers. We have very good workers, and I will say this I am not a micromanager. I don’t believe in micromanagement. Micromanaging just ruins good employees.
C10: What do you believe is the most pressing issue facing City Council this year?
DH: Right now, flood mitigation. We have a tremendous amount of people that are not happy with this. And I will say this the first two mayors, Mick Wolfe and Del McOmie, never went to this extreme. We did little or nothing on this flood mitigation. This administration is really pushing that to the extreme, and it’s turning into a big fight. There are a lot of people that are not happy with this at all. Not to mention the possibility of displacing a whole trailer park and several families. There are close to 40 families all together with no place to put them. This is most definitely the hottest issue we have going right now.
C10: What is one thing you wish people knew about Lander?
DH: Lander is awesome. Lander is a great town. We have the mountains, we have the streams. We have great people. We have great businesses. Lander is a fun place. You can get away in the trees.
C10: Anything else you wish to share?
DH: This is not about me. This is about the people. This is about listening to the people. Listening to the people’s concerns and taking their concerns seriously. This is about the people of Lander. That’s why I’m here I care about the people.
Additional questions and answers can be found here on the League of Women Voters Fremont County Primary Election Voter Guide.
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