As they compete to represent the Powell area in the Wyoming House of Representatives, John Wetzel and Matt Legler are each touting their records as leaders.

In campaign materials and yard signs, Powell Mayor Wetzel has promoted his “proven leadership,” which ranges from serving on numerous community boards to the city council.

“For 20 years, I’ve dedicated myself to city government, including as mayor, proving that things can get done when people show up, work together, and keep their eye on results,” Wetzel wrote in a recent statement.

As for Legler, the former chief information security officer in the Navy and current Navy contractor, he is burnishing his own “nationally recognized leadership.” 

At a June 8 debate in Cody, Legler said he won a Department of War Value Engineering Award for “saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars a year” and was named Navy Cyberspace IT Person of the Year for “doing things that no one else in the federal government had ever done before.” 

Legler also noted that he’d held a leadership position in a 85,000-man agency of the Navy. So as he seeks to join the state Legislature, “none of this is new or concerning to me,” he said.

Trampled rights?

During the debate, Legler said he supports an upcoming ballot initiative that would halve Wyomingites’ property taxes, saying the Legislature has only provided “limited” relief following a Covid-19-era spike in taxes.

“For some people it was great, because they had a lot of money that they could now spend, but … people’s rights were being trampled and they were being looted by the government, because they could be,” Legler said. “And that’s not Wyoming, that’s not what we’re about, that’s not what Republicans are about.”

He said Wyoming needs to protect people’s rights and their hard-earned money. Though he didn’t list specific examples, Legler said there are a lot of other ways to fund critical services, including new revenue streams.

Legler generally described himself as someone who holds conservative principles and respects the Constitutional rights of others.

“I’ve definitely seen that he [Wetzel] doesn’t always respect those rights,” Legler said, “whereas to me, they’re really my north star.”

Wetzel didn’t get a chance to respond to the remark, as he was traveling to a family member’s birthday party out-of-state. However, he did send organizers a statement in which he stated his case and shared his background.

Wetzel, whose wife is a part owner of the Powell Tribune, mentioned the 25 years he spent managing the Buyer’s Guide, a shopper that was jointly owned by the Tribune and Cody Enterprise.

“Running a business for a quarter-century taught me things that no amount of political experience can replace — how to meet a payroll, manage a budget, serve customers, and keep an operation viable year after year,” Wetzel wrote in his statement. “That background shapes how I think about economic development, government spending, and what Wyoming businesses need from their state Legislature.”

Boosting businesses

Before recently retiring, Wetzel held a couple other positions, including a stint with Impact 307. The University of Wyoming program boosts start-ups and previously partnered with Wyoming Business Council; Wetzel has been critical of some lawmakers’ attempt to defund the council in its winter Budget Session.

As for Legler, he said he has issues “with people trying to put their thumb on the scale and pick winners and losers, as was done by this particular business council.”

Beyond generally opposing subsidies, he noted lawmakers had criticized the success rate of the council’s past endeavors.

“I think we’ve just got to work with industry in general, figure out why they’re not flocking here and start addressing those issues systematically,” Legler said, “because I think Wyoming is the perfect state to conduct business in.”

When it comes to nuclear power plants and data centers, Legler said he’s not opposed to having them in the state, but the government needs to “make sure that they’re safe and done right.”

He said that can include ensuring a data center is not using too much water or that a nuclear reactor has a plan for handling its waste before approval.

“Nobody in the state is really looking at the designs for these reactors,” he added, alluding to his specific concerns with the novel design for TerraPower’s new reactor outside Kemmerer. “... I think we do need that [review], and the companies that want to place them here, they need to pay for all this.”

Watching state dollars

Asked where he might trim the state budget, Legler noted that most of the dollars go to education and healthcare.

“When you really look at what’s being funded, do I want to walk back those big ticket items? I do not,” Legler said. He said he doesn’t believe there’s a lot of fluff in the state budget that can be cut wholesale.

However, he said Wyoming should tighten its belt where it can and brought up frustration with the way school districts have handled past funds.

“There needs to be a little bit of a course correction,” Legler said, “because we want our teachers paid, but we don’t necessarily want our administrators giving themselves exorbitant raises every year while the teachers are suffering.”

In his statement, Wetzel said he would ensure the Wyoming government “delivers real value for the dollars it spends” and advocate for a government that is “lean, competent, honest, and effective.”

Wetzel said his focus over the past three-and-a-half decades has been on building community.

“I will continue to do that for Powell and for our state, and to preserve our Wyoming way of life,” he wrote.

Legler and Wetzel were set to square off at a Wednesday evening candidate forum at The Commons, which took place after the Tribune’s deadline.

Republican voters in House District 25 — which encompasses the City of Powell and surrounding rural areas — will pick between the two in the Aug. 18 primary. They’re both seeking to replace Rep. Paul Hoeft, R-Powell, who’s running for the Senate.