Scott Mangold

A longtime voice of Powell wants four more years to finish off what he started on the Park County Commission.

Scott Mangold has been the voice of Powell for decades, from his work as a part owner of the local radio station and announcing Powell sporting events, to serving two terms as mayor of the town he’s lived in for more than 40 years to serving as the rare Park County commissioner living within Powell city limits.

To be clear though, he wants only four more years. He said it was his decision while mayor to voluntarily limit himself to two terms and thus is doing the same on the commission.

“It's self imposed, but I would like everybody to follow that example,” Mangold said. “Because if you can't get it done in two terms, then stop doing it. Plus, you get to the point of, in a county with 30,000 people, somebody else should be able to have some new ideas too.”

Mangold still has some ideas stored up for a second go-around.

One major issue he wants to see to fruition is creating new regulations to go along with the new land use plan he was a part of putting together in the last couple of years.

“We're dealing with so many subdivisions that are popping up and especially in Powell,” he said, adding, “So just dealing with the balance between private property ownership and … making it still livable.”

He also wants to ensure the eastern part of Park County maintains representation on the commission — he’s the only one of the six candidates for the two commission seats who doesn’t have a Cody address.

“I know a lot of farmers here in this area and tend to listen to them … even little things like pickleball people needing a place to play, they'll contact me and let me know about little things like that,” Mangold said. “Also, the fairgrounds is big and I live not too far from the fairgrounds … that's important to our area as well and important to Powell … even though a larger part of the population is inside Cody — over 10,000 people — we need some representation over here too. There's more to Park County than just Cody, Wyoming.”

Mangold served as mayor from 2004 to 2012, then rejoined the city government as a councilman from 2017-2021.

Mangold has also been involved with the Powell Elks Lodge, the Powell Athletic Roundtable, the Trapper Booster Club, the former Park County Boys and Girls Club board and local Jaycees.

He said his knowledge of Powell issues and his experience with municipal issues in general makes him an important voice. For instance, when he was mayor he and then Cody Mayor Roger Sedam started the tradition of having the mayors talk with the county commissioners to help the county leaders understand minimal issues.

He also knows the work and time the role of county commissioner takes — it’s at least a part-time job. And, he said, he understands the balances approach needed to maintain Park County’s best assets.

“It’s keeping Park County as probably one of the most livable areas in the world… it’s being able to ride your bike to the park, send your kids to school, and not have an armed guard with them.

"Making it besides being livable, a good place to retire but also a good place to, if you graduate high school, why not stay here?

“I think a lot of people are looking for quality of life and Park County to be the best place in Wyoming.”