Now I know you can't rehearse everything

Laramie County, Wyo. Commissioner Gunnar Malm discusses what it takes to be a county commissioner. Photo by Charlie Ban

Key Takeaways

as told by Gunnar Malm, Laramie County, Wyo. commissioner

I thought I knew exactly what I was getting into when I joined the Laramie County Board of Commissioners, because I watched four years of meetings when I was starting my campaign. 

The commission records their meetings, so every night, I’d watch one. I wanted to get an idea of the breadth of issues the commissioners could face so I would be ready if I were elected. Much to my wife’s dismay, I’d watch 2-3 hours a night. 

I saw how our development process works, our land use policies. I learned about all kinds of interesting issues around fireworks, malt beverage permits, motorcycle gangs. I saw how the work was done and what people expected from their commission.

I met with anybody who would talk to me — former commissioners, current commissioners, department heads — I just tried to get a handle on what county government did. I met with the Wyoming County Commissioners Association to get an idea of its role and the interplay between the counties in our state.

I felt like as a commissioner, it was really important that I understand the funding structure for the county government. I felt like I had a good handle on the budget and how we work with our federal partners and grants to accomplish things. We’re a small county of 100,000, but we’re the largest in the state of Wyoming.

I was always interested in politics—when I was in fifth grade, I wrote a letter to President Clinton, telling him how to solve all of these different problems. I was the public policy director for the state for the National Association of Realtors and always knew I would run for office. But I wanted to make sure it was the right time — I have a hard and fast rule to not run just to run — so I would only run if there was an opening or if someone wasn’t doing a good job. Then there was an opening in 2018. With my background in land use and private property rights, I felt like commissioner was the appropriate role for me, rather than city council or the Legislature. And I’ve really, really enjoyed my time as a commissioner, it’s given me a chance to learn even more about the community where I have been living for 40 years and my family has been living for 150 years.

What strikes me is that with all of that research and all of those meetings, I  watched, within a month, I was dealing with issues the county hadn’t dealt with before. In a year, we were all dealing with issues nobody had considered for 100 years. They don’t put global pandemics in the pamphlet “So you want to be a county commissioner.”

 It was an interesting time, a trying time, but ultimately, a rewarding time to see our community ultimately come together. 

Tagged In:

Related News

Senator-elect Angela Alsobrooks (center) serves as the county executive for Prince George’s County, Md. She is one of two candidates with county experience to be elected Nov. 5 to the U.S. Senate.
County News

Counties see electoral news in down-ballot races, initiatives

The ranks of federal and state officials will be re­freshed with county govern­ment veterans in 2025, with two new senators and three new members of the House.

THE_County Countdown_working_image-4.png
Advocacy

County Countdown – Oct. 22, 2024

Every other week, NACo's County Countdown reviews top federal policy advocacy items with an eye towards counties and the intergovernmental partnership.