Dear Editor:

In response to the letter in the Aug. 6 edition of the Powell Tribune, Mr. Wysocki should really check his facts before he goes public with a laundry list of false accusations against me.

He stated that he only saw me twice in Powell City Hall. I went to the Powell City Hall countless times. I would always ask, “Is Jim Wysocki here?” They would answer, “No, he’s not in his office.” Perhaps that’s the reason he only saw me twice.

I was the commissioner’s liaison to the Park County fair board. I spearheaded the effort to modernize our Park County Fairgrounds. It started with a situation where our kids and their livestock were actually getting shocked in the livestock barns. It was an extremely dangerous situation. We did a four-phase total revamp of the electrical grid. Then, we replaced the roofs on all the livestock barns, and finally we fixed the drainage on the north half of the fairgrounds. I helped to correct years of neglect.

As for his comment on the new exhibit hall, again, it was an unsafe situation. The old exhibit hall was being propped up with 2x4s because it was collapsing. As to challenging the board to raise $500,000 towards construction, when we saw that the fundraising effort wasn’t going anywhere, we found a way to get the building done anyway. His criticism of the fundraising is even more interesting, since we never did get a donation from Mr. Wysocki. Apparently his check was lost in the mail.

Now to his next comment about serving the ag community well, but not paying attention to anything else that Powell needed. Powell is a farm community. Powell was established because of the ag community.

Some other items of interest for your consideration:

• When the Powell road and bridge shop was located on the western edge of town, we were receiving complaints from the citizens of Powell, due to the road and bridge crew starting their diesel trucks in the morning. The smoke from their equipment would drift into town. The road and bridge shop was old and outdated. It was too small to store the newer, more modern equipment. A new shop was built west of Powell on Avenue E. We chose a spot that was not prime farm ground — it was dry grassland. Powell Valley Recycling was located next to the city shop at the time, and they didn’t have room to properly handle the recycling, so we sold the old R&B shop to Powell Valley Recycling at half price to help the people of Powell with their recycling needs.

• We also spent a considerable amount of money to remodel the Park County Annex located in Powell, and the Powell Branch of the Park County Library.

• I was deeply involved in the remodeling and efforts to save the old log building that houses the Homesteader Museum. Also, the county funds their entire operation.

• I encouraged the Wyoming Highway Department to extend the five-lane section out to Road 8, so that our students and others could safely get to and from the new Powell High School.

I could go on, but I think you get the idea. If I didn’t care about the people of Powell, other than the fairgrounds, I never would have taken care of those other projects. Powell is my hometown. I attended schools in Powell, I raised my family here, my children attended Powell schools and now my grandchildren go to school in Powell. We shop in Powell and we do a lot of business in Powell.  I love Powell, and I resent the accusation of neglect that has been implied by Jim Wysocki. In closing, Jim, I respect your right to endorse whomever you want, but at a minimum, get your facts straight.

Sincerely,

Tim A. French

Powell