Make our newscast part of your daily listening routine. Subscribe on Spotify (or wherever you listen to podcasts).
Jackson Mayor Arne Jorgensen, Town Councilor Kevin Regan and Town Manager Tyler Sinlair made a trip to the nation’s capital ahead of the Halloween weekend.
Planned as part of an annual trip, the trio met with federal agencies and the U.S. Senate’s second-highest-ranking Republican, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), during a government shutdown that’s on track to break records as the longest.
The focus of the trip revolved around building relationships, grant funding for transportation and public safety projects, U.S. Forest Service housing and conservation, according to Jorgensen.
“We added meetings with the Department of [the] Interior and Department of Agriculture around a more general touch point,” Jorgensen said. “And building relationships on the importance of the public lands to our community.”
The senator’s team said the meeting was “productive” in a statement shared with KHOL. Earlier in the day, Barrasso met with Jackson resident Jillian Arnold and congratulated her on running the Marine Corps Marathon.
Jillian Arnold met with Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) after finishing the Marine Corps Marathon. (Courtesy)
Wyoming Representative Harriet Hageman and Senator Cynthia Lummis were unable to meet in-person so members of their staff did instead. Hageman’s team did not respond to a request for comment. Lummis’ team said she was called onto the floor at the last minute and “regrettably couldn’t attend the meeting.”
For town councilor Regan, the trip was, in part, a return to his roots. He launched his career in the federal service, working for the Department of Justice in the Environment and Natural Resources Division before eventually making his way to Wyoming.
“Having spent some time in D.C. previously, I’m looking forward to continuing to deepen federal relationships and work hard for our town and our community,” Regan.
The mayor said the shutdown, and the politics surrounding it, was less of a focus. Though, he noted that reminding Washington how important federal workers are to Jackson came through in the meetings.
The halls still felt emptier as a result, Regan said.
“Definitely at each of the meetings, we recognize the context that we’re in,” Regan said. “The town council has voted to send letters to our federal electeds to share our perspective about how the federal shutdown is affecting our community.”
While noting that Washington’s policy agenda varies from Jackson’s, Jorgensen said there’s still some common ground where objectives can align.
“We also can find areas of agreement,” Jorgensen said. “Our economy is based on our natural environment, our natural resources, and that’s really important for everyone here to understand.”
