Lupe Bickford

At her Powell salon, Lupe Bickford hears the complaints and concerns of many local residents. She said that got her thinking about possible solutions — and piqued her interest in city government.

Bickford attended multiple Powell City Council meetings over the past two years to learn more, and now she’s running to represent Ward 3.

“I got into this mostly because I wanted to help with the needs of the citizens,” she said.

Background

Bickford was raised in the Frannie-Deaver area and also lived in Lovell.

She obtained her cosmetology license in Denver and opened her business there. But after about five years, Bickford decided it was time to return to the northern Big Horn Basin.

She set up shop in Byron in 1998, then relocated to Powell in 2000. She’s been in the city ever since, raising her five now-adult children and running Lupe’s Beauty.

Bickford holds associate’s degrees in photography and business from Northwest College; she also has a cosmetology instructor’s license that she’s put to use at Chopped Beauty Academy in Lovell.

Bickford regularly attends Park County Republican Party meetings — she has the endorsement of the conservative Park County Patriots — and participates in a Christian ministry at the Park County Detention Center. 

“I just treat people the way I would like to be treated,” she said of her general approach, “which is friendly and carefully and gently.”

Skate park and ice skating

Overall, Bickford said she believes the city government is running “OK,” but that “there’s always room for improvement.”

For one thing, she thinks the city needs to do more for youth.

“It seems like when they do anything for the children … they don’t put a lot of effort into it,” Bickford said.

For example, she described the city’s skate park as basically just two pieces of metal. She believes it should be made more convenient and accessible, mentioning the potential of adding a small snack bar.

Bickford also said the city should consider building an indoor ice skating rink.

Although there’s a rink in Cody, “why can’t we have one here?” Bickford asked. “I believe that there’s plenty of money that they [the city] could put towards these things for the kids, for the residents.”

Business and zoning

Bickford would also like to see more efforts to bring businesses into the community.

“... most of the kids are gone,” she said, “because there’s not much around here.”

Beyond doing additional outreach through groups like the Powell Economic Partnership, Bickford suggested the city could help incoming businesses find a building or start up in Powell. However, companies would need to understand “that they would have to continue on their own by controlling their budget and keeping the business going,” she said.

When it comes to zoning, Bickford said government officials should be watchful. She noted concerns with windmills and data centers in other parts of Wyoming.

“We want to keep our … state clean and beautiful, and keep bringing [tourists] here,” she said, “because that also helps with the revenue for Wyoming.”

Property taxes

One revenue source Bickford does not support is residential property taxes. 

“A lot of the seniors that have paid their houses off for years, they’re still paying taxes on it. Why?” she asked rhetorically. “They own their property.”

Bickford doesn’t think that eliminating residential taxes — a move that would have to be made by the Wyoming Legislature — would hurt local governments.

Within the state government, “there’s plenty of money, I’m sure, that can pay for a lot of the schools, the police, the fire department,” she said. “I’m sure they can subsidize them with the money that they already have.”

Bickford is one of four candidates running for a Ward 3 seat on the council, alongside longtime Councilman Tim Sapp, Venus “Freedom” Bontadelli and Justin Waterworth. The top two vote-getters in the primary will advance to November’s general election.

Ward 3 is generally made up of everything east of Division Street and south of Third Street, including the entire south side of town.