Wyoming Coffee Klatch: Chandelle from Riverton…

The Chandelle café group doesn’t mess around.

It meets weekly at the Chandelle Events Center, a stone’s throw from the Riverton Airport, and is generally made up of men between the ages of 50 and 80.

This iteration of the group formed in approximately 2020.

They may not always solve the world’s problems, but they have become a main stop for local politicians on the campaign trail.

They hosted Cheyenne attorney Darin Smith and a film crew during Smith’s run for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022; and they let opposition state legislative candidates fall on deaf ears every election season.

They’ve even welcomed women, like state Rep. Pepper Ottman, R-Riverton, and Fremont County Republican Party Vice Chair Ginger Bennett.

But on Wednesday the group was calmer. His regulars ate buttermilk donuts, slowly, and drank black coffee.

Although the Chandelle Event Center is huge and echoey, the men crowded around a solitary table 10 feet from the kitchen, where two coffee pots were ready.

The host, former Riverton Mayor Ron Warpness, rose to place a chair in the core each time a new attendee arrived. Regular customers also include farmers, ranchers, veterans, businessmen, a former long-time paramedic, and a former puppeteer, to name a few.

They are all on the conservative side, so they resort to the fine print of the US Constitution and the drama of local government to fuel their disagreements.

“A lot of people like to put restrictions on the Second Amendment,” said Richard Turek, sitting with his arms crossed, showing tattoos on his forearm that read “virtus junxit” and “mors non separabit” (Latin for “What virtue is has joined?”). “Let death not separate.”

“If you took those same restrictions and applied, say, the First Amendment to them,” Turek continued, “reporters would have to pass background checks and have permission from the government to be reporters.”

He said this by nodding his head to the journalist who was in the room.

Directly to Turek’s right, Chuck VanBrunt, 80, said it’s the different wording of the Second Amendment that sparks the debate over gun regulations.

“They used the words ‘well regulated,'” VanBrunt said. “What definition do you want to give to the word ‘well regulated’ in terms of firearms? “It’s just talk.”

The men then wondered if the Second Amendment requires militias.

It’s really hard to sue the government

Wayne Dick, an outspoken community conservative, informed friends that his lawsuit against the Fremont County Commissioners over the Commission’s restrictions on public comment was dismissed due to a technical error in the way he submitted his complaint to the officials.

It is very difficult for an average citizen to represent himself in challenging the government, Dick lamented.

“All I wanted was clarification on whether or not their rules and regulations are a violation of the Wyoming Constitution,” said Dick, who has theorized that by approving restrictions on public comment, commissioners may have violated their oaths. in office.

The restrictions on public comment came after attendees read aloud at a Commission meeting from books with sexual graphics found in the youth section of the public library, Dick said. The attendees did so as a protest against the making of books available to children.

ask the mayor

VanBrunt said everyone should listen to Warpness’s opinions, since he is the politically experienced person in the group.

The entire society is calcifying around legal formulas, was Warpness’ response.

“We have become very litigious in many areas,” the former mayor said. “Are you familiar with the term ossification? You become like a bone. “That’s what our entire legal system has become: a bone.”

There’s no government conspiracy to exclude well-intentioned lawsuits, it’s just the way the system is designed, Warpness said, with a wry glance at Turek, who Warpness said likes to float theories about government conspiracies.

Pat Mossbrucker got up, fetched a pot of coffee, and walked around the table, filling everyone’s cups.

With surprising quickness, Dick grabbed his cap and swatted an autumn fly on the table.

Failed.

Despite the boom, no one at the table jumped.

Warpness handed Dick a fly swatter and Dick placed the hat back on his head. The cap read: “Protect the Second Amendment.” Not everyone wore hats, but everyone in attendance had something to say. Two said “Power of the High Plains.” One read “Trump” and another read “I miss the United States I grew up in.”

Despite their flashy hats, some men didn’t talk at all, like Richard Haun, who in his farming days grew corn that made other farmers green with envy.

‘Sounds like a retirement community’

Men were drawn into the dangers of “snake oil salesmen” who sell plant-based dietary supplements that are not all they claim to be.

Jason Lewis, a 55-year-old chick, responded by saying he swears by a plant supplement to treat his gout. The gout is his father’s fault, Jason said, smiling at his father Jack Lewis, who was sitting to his right.

The table resounded with approval when someone mentioned the health effects of beets.

But no one should talk about the prostate, because there was a lady in the room, VanBrunt said, referring to the journalist.

The men were skeptical of chiropractors and worried about big pharma.

Turek, who is also 55 years old, frowned.

“Does anyone have anything new?” he demanded. “Something we haven’t talked about, so we don’t look like a retirement community?”

Oh, that tax

They could always talk about the half-percent economic development tax, which must be approved again in the Nov. 5 general election, said Ernie Schierwagen, who makes delicious sauerkraut.

“Oh, our favorite song,” Turek joked.

Scheirwagen lamented that the tax benefits upper-class people, like many business owners who have received subsidies worth tens of thousands of dollars, but taxes everyone, even the poor.

He’ll probably vote yes, but he’s still struggling, Schierwagen said.

This is because the tax is heterogeneous: 20% of its revenue goes to local air service and 10% to ground transportation. The other 70% is distributed among companies, entities and other private groups, including the local university, which is a public entity.

Lonnie Woodard, who runs a propane business, said the community is “evolving” its approach to the tax and learning to use it better. He supports it, he said.

In fact, the city and county governments are scheduled to give a portion of the tax revenue to the county’s private ambulance provider if voters approve the tax this year. Ambulance workers have complained about poor conditions in the past and unionized last year.

VanBrunt, a former paramedic for three decades, spoke about the need for quality, passionate paramedics in the county.

“Can I honk at you a little, Chuck?” Ken Watts asked in an evocative outburst. “I remember in the ’70s, when you were a paramedic, a lot of doctors would say, ‘If I’m in an accident, this is the guy I want to pick me up… he’ll gift wrap them.’”

VanBrunt thanked Watts for the compliment.

Watts told Cowboy State Daily that he supports the tax, noting that his son, an artist, he benefited from it.

Turek, who does not support the tax, said he nonetheless approves of the subsidy Watts’ son received because Watts’ son, Shannon, does not compete closely with other businesses in the county; He represents the county in a positive light on his many business trips and is the type of business that many banks would overlook.

“This is the type of business they should support,” Turek said, adding the hypothesis of “not choosing between one gas station and another.”

In the end they took a vote. Woodard and Watts were the only two who really supported it, not counting Russell Lewis, who said he would vote yes if he could, but his vote comes from Hot Springs, not Fremont County.

Warpness, who has publicly spoken in favor of the tax in the past, said he is now “on the fence” because the campaign signs announcing it do not accurately reflect the language on the ballot, and he finds that distasteful.

Some of the men said they favor its provisions for ground and air transportation, but hate local governments’ subsidies to private entities. The majority of them voted “no,” with that caveat.

“According to this survey,” Woodard said, “it won’t pass.”

Clara McFarland can be reached [email protected].