Cody candidates differ on issues

CODY - The two candidates for mayor of Cody differ sharply on some key issues, as well as their philosophy of city government, based on statements they made earlier this week during a forum sponsored by the Park County Republican Women.

Nancy Tia Brown, a Cody City Council member representing Ward 3, and Paul E. Rankin, a council member for Ward 2, participated in the forum. Mayor of Cody is a nonpartisan position, so candidates do not list a party affiliation when filing. Assuming no write-in candidates receive more votes, Brown and Rankin will both advance from the primary to the general election.

"I don't want to be the mayor of Cody, I want to be the mayor for Cody," said Rankin, a veteran of the U.S. Navy and member for more than 30 years of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter and its Honor Guard.

Rankin said he would focus on public safety, infrastructure and planning.

"The city needs to watch its checkbook," he said.

"I want to be a voice for the citizens," said Brown, who owns Big Horn Galleries and has served on the boards of the Park County School District, the Cody Chamber of Commerce and the Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale. "I'm an optimistic, big-picture thinker with no personal agenda."

Brown said she would focus on investing in infrastructure, responsible economic development and managed growth with a goal of maintaining Cody's Western culture.

Candidates were asked about their positions on building an event center in Cody.

"I'm against an event center in Cody," Rankin said, "because a recent study by a consultant did not have enough information, and the project may require long-term support from taxpayers."

Brown, who serves on a committee studying the feasibility of an event center, said there is not enough information yet to make a decision on the issue, but she was "open to investigating the possibility."

The candidates were asked what efforts - apart from the nonprofit Forward Cody economic development group - they might make to improve wages for local workers or attract higher-paying employers.

Brown said she favored creating a long-term plan for developing the city and its economy, including a blueprint for potential capital improvement projects and other efforts that could spur job growth.

"Cody has never been a big-paying town. If you want economic stimulus, let's have the Nielson family bring Husky Oil back," Rankin said, adding that finding high-paying jobs for Cody is not a part of the city's planning.

Park Co. raises burial payments

CODY- The Park County Commission voted to increase the amount of money paid for indigent burials from $1,500 to $2,500.

County Coroner Tim Power said the $1,500 rate was set more than a decade ago and wasn't close to funeral-home costs.

The discrepancy came to commissioner's attention last month when a Florida family refused to pay for a burial.

By law, in deaths investigated by the coroner, the county must pay for burial if family can't be found, or can't or won't pay.

Power estimated there are one or two coroner-investigated indigent burials each year in Park County.