Former Casper mayor becomes Natrona commissioner

CASPER, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) - A couple of weeks ago, Natrona County swore in two new commissioners. And one of them is already the chairman. So how did this rookie to the Board become the leader so fast?

Newly elected commissioner Steven Freel got elected as chairman of the Board on day one. But he’s not new to politics. He formerly served as a mayor and councilman for Casper.

“There was an opening over here, as far as finishing up a two year term. And... I wanted to take it to the next level. So... Leave out of city government, come over to county. And just apply what I learned over the last four years (to) over here,” Freel says.

Though he’s only been on the job for around 10 days, Freel has already noticed some differences.

“At the city, as mayor, I had a city manager. A city manager form of government. So, I had somebody guiding what we did on a day to day basis. And obviously there’s a lot going on over there. There’s a lot going on over here... But we don’t have the luxury of having a manager. It’s us.”

He says one thing he’d like to see tweaked is the county website.

“Kind of wanting to update some things on the website. Be a little bit more... Get as much information out to the public as we possibly can. I think it just shows a little better transparency.”

And one project he’s excited about is the joint effort between the county and city to build a new Health Department. Freel says as many roles as the Health Department fulfills, their current location has become inadequate.

“You’ve got so many other things that they handle... And they have so many irons in the fire... And that facility is woefully under... It is not where they need to be. So I think that it’s a great project that we’re moving forward on.”

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