County seeking candidates for board seats

The Crook County Commissioners will appoint new members to several important county boards at their upcoming meeting and strongly encourage members of the community to consider offering their service.

“The world runs on volunteers – and the county especially,” says Commissioner Jeanne Whalen. “It seems like it’s the same ones doing the volunteering over and over again; we need some new people.”

Among the board appointments to be made are three-year terms for the Crook County Library Board; the 6th Judicial District Child Support Board; and two for the Crook County Promotion Board. The promotion board appointees will represent the county and the Town of Moorcroft.

“The child support board meets a few times a year. They look over what the people who collect the child support money do, and that’s really interesting,” says Whalen, who has served on the board herself.

“In our area of Gillette and western Crook, the rate of collecting child support is really high and that’s something to be proud of.”

These positions will be appointed on June 4 at 1 p.m.

The next day at the same time, the commissioners will appoint two people to serve three-year terms on the Crook County Land Use and Zoning Commission. For these positions, the commissioners request that applicants come to the next meeting to visit with the board before the decision is made.

“We want somebody who is interested in what’s going on in the county. They work so much with subdivisions and different laws and do a lot of the background work before it ever comes across our desk, so it helps if they’re a realtor or an electrician, somebody who puts in septic tanks or a surveyor or something like that,” she says.

“We personally like to have somebody who has some kind of skill towards that because it is a little more complicated than some of the other boards.”

The county is still seeking applicants also for the predator board, which serves as the “middle man” between state and federal money and the residents who benefit from it. Though a couple of the seats have been filled, one remains open for a sportsman.

“That board has certain slots for a cattleman, sheepman, that kind of thing. This one is strictly for sportsmen – someone who hunts, fishes, traps or is a supporter of the elk or turkey foundations,” Whalen says.

Whalen points out that applications for any county board are welcome at any time, whether or not a position needs to be filled at that moment.

“We never know if someone is going to move away or can no longer serve with any of these boards. We keep them on file and when we have an opening we get hold of them to see if they are still interested,” she explains.

While the commission is still finalizing how and when board training will be provided, Whalen confirms that the intention is to make it available to all new and current board members to assist in learning the responsibilities of the role.

“We want every board to take the training and it’s on us to get the right one that’s the least amount of pain for everybody,” she says.

For anyone interested in a seat who would like to know more about that board’s role, Whalen recommends checking the county website to find out who is currently serving and visiting with those board members.