Austin Rodemaker announces bid for Laramie County commission seat

Feb. 21—CHEYENNE — Austin Rodemaker has announced his Republican bid for a seat on the Laramie County Board of County Commissioners.

He said his top three priorities, if elected, will be to focus on fiscal responsibility, public safety and economic development.

"To make sure we're properly stewarding the tax dollars," Rodemaker said. "And then, in my opinion, growth is coming to Laramie County, whether we want it or not. And so, we need to find ways to accept the growth that helps with the culture of Wyoming."

He described the culture of Wyoming as having a sense of independence, but also a sense of reliability on each other.

"You can do most everything on your own and pull yourself up by your bootstraps, but at the same time, everybody's willing to help when the time comes," he said.

Rodemaker said he sees serving on the county commission as another way to participate in and serve his community, adding that others encouraged him to run.

He's currently involved in multiple organizations in the community. In 2018, he founded the Cheyenne Youth Lacrosse Club, where he served as founder, director and coach for three years as a volunteer. He remains a volunteer coach for the club in Cheyenne, as well as the University of Wyoming's men's lacrosse team. Rodemaker is also a member of the Rotary Club of Cheyenne.

"I like to think that I'm a pretty community-oriented person," he said, "and this is just another opportunity to serve in that capacity."

Before he was chief operating officer for the Laramie County Community College Foundation, he worked as executive director for the Unaccompanied Students Initiative, a nonprofit that serves homeless teenagers.

He said that during his time with the nonprofit, he helped triple fundraising, increase capacity for students and open a new location in Laramie.

"I've seen both sides of it. I've seen the side where it's the lowest of the low, where we have homeless teenagers that are just struggling to try to graduate high school," Rodemaker said. "But I've also worked with companies, you know, multi-billion-dollar companies, working with them on priorities and things that they need. So, I feel like I've seen the whole spectrum of what's in Laramie County. And having that full-spectrum understanding allows me to make qualified decisions."

On current county issues, like the uptick in applications for live horse racing and gaming in the past few months, Rodemaker said he is not necessarily in favor of or against these potential developments, but believes they are worth talking about.

"We'd be crazy to turn down a conversation about economic opportunities, right? This is an economic opportunity; the conversation needs to at least be entertained," he said.

For community issues like this, Rodemaker said the key to success is in collaboration between community stakeholders and being available for conversation with constituents.

He said each situation will be different and requires its own cost-benefit analysis to come to the proper conclusion. The same principle applies to tax spending for Rodemaker.

Going into the election, he said it is important to maintain the mindset of "Do you feel your tax dollars are being used wisely? If not, why?"

"At the end of the day, are we using our tax dollars wisely? Are we investing our tax dollars in things that make sense? What's the return on investment for the constituent?," Rodemaker said. "I mean, that's what it is; they pay taxes for public services, and do they feel that the public services they're getting match what they're putting into it?"

He said this mindset isn't driven by any current misuse of county tax dollars, but rather that he believes he can be a good steward of county funds.

Born and raised in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, Rodemaker attended Virginia Military Institute before enrolling at the U.S. Air Force Academy and graduating in 2016. He was first stationed at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and then came to F.E. Warren. In 2019, he graduated from Troy University with a master of science in international relations. In 2023, he became chief operating officer of the LCCC Foundation.

He was also included in the Wyoming Business Report's "30 under 40" in 2022, and works part time for the Wyoming Air National Guard.

On the 2024 ballot, two of the five commissioner seats will be up for election, as the four-year terms for Commissioners Brian Lovett and Buck Holmes will come to an end. Neither have announced whether they intend to seek re-election.

The candidate filing period is open May 16-31 to anyone who wishes to run for office, with the exception of school, college and special district positions. These positions have a later filing date that begins Aug. 7.

Noah Zahn is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's local government/business reporter. He can be reached at 307-633-3128 or nzahn@wyomingnews.com. Follow him on X @NoahZahnn.