GILLETTE, Wyo. — Darin Edmonds and Chris Smith have won the primary election bid and will go head to head on the general election ballot this fall, with one becoming the newest Ward One candidate for the Gillette City Council, according to the Campbell County Elections Office.
Edmonds and Smith received the most votes out of the total 1,420 votes cast, beating out former City Councilmember Greg Schreurs. Edmonds received 566 votes with 312 in-person votes and 254 absentee votes, per the elections office. Smith received 528 votes with 345 in-person votes and 183 absentee votes.
Edmonds
Edmonds has spent most of his life in Gillette and Campbell County and is the superintendent of the Campbell County Cemetery District, a position he has held for the last 15 years. He has served as chairman of the Campbell County Public Land Board and is currently vice president of the Wyoming Association of Special Districts.
Edmonds said he has the heart of a servant and says his service on public boards is reflective of his desire to give back and contribute to the success of the community.
Should he win his seat in the general election this fall, Edmonds says he looks to bring his skills and experience to the Gillette City Council to develop, finance and work a plan to move toward and accomplish long-range goals.
To Edmonds, the biggest issues facing Gillette are the housing crisis, the current economy and the city’s economic future. He says there are exciting possibilities being explored in Campbell County, such as coal and carbon innovation, carbon dioxide sequestration, nuclear energy and mining.
“There are a lot of smart people working on those solutions, and I truly believe that in the future there will be some exciting things created and headquartered here in Gillette,” Edmond previously told County 17. “We want all these things to ‘land’ in Campbell County, and in order to do so, we may have to build a few runways. … Runways can take many forms and be big or small, but we have to as a community all be on board with navigating into the future and provide solutions for all these things to have an opportunity to land.”
Smith
A former Campbell County GOP chairman, Smith says he chose to run for a seat on the council out of a desire to look out for the well-being of others before his own. He says the government cannot address many of the community’s needs, but it can get in the way of them.
In his responses to questions sent by County 17, Smith says he cares more about the prosperity of people than he does the government and expressed frustration for a government he believes asks for more while its residents struggle to pay for necessities.
“There is a giant problem with government spending when public safety, i.e. Gurley Overpass, takes a backseat to the precedence of endless vanity projects,” Smith previously told County 17. “There is a giant problem when a splash pad can run an endless amount of water while the people of Gillette cannot afford to water their lawn.”
Should he win his general election bid this fall, Smith hopes to air his grievances to the council and explain how the current direction is unsustainable and unattainable given the city’s population size. He hopes the council will align itself with the residents of Gillette and not just the special interests of the “bureaucratic cartel,” Smith said.
According to his candidate responses, Smith feels the prevalent issues in the community are the inability of Ward 1 residents to afford to water their lawns, misuse of the Optional 1% sales tax and an increase in crime.
