Bill Thek has been involved in the community as long as he has been in Kemmerer. Not only did he serve on the police force, but he has also been on multiple boards, the city council and worked with the Bureau of Land Management.

“I have extra time on my hands now that I have retired,” Thek said. “I want to help the community get through the tough times that are ahead of us.”

Thek currently sits on the Kemmerer City Council but, come January, he will be mayor. Thek said that while he doesn’t have an agenda for mayor, he does want to get more people active on the boards for the city. Currently, there are a couple of boards without a quorum, according to Thek.

“A lot of people have opinions on how to fix problem and I know I’m guilty of it too,” Thek said. “I will personally recruit to fill the boards. I want to tell them to ‘come and help us solve this then.’”

Thek said another thing to work on is giving the town a facelift for new industries and business to come in.

A concern for many is the mine and power plant. Thek said a lot of what will happen is unknown and the budget cuts we will face this year and longer are going to be hard for the community. Thek said these issues affect more than just Kemmerer. The surrounding areas are affected as well and the Kemmerer City Council needs to know their decisions affect more than just Kemmerer, Thek said.

Thek said he is going to work as hard as he can to get the community through it but he knows it is going to take more than him.

“I don’t have any magic bullet. There isn’t any,” Thek said. “It’s going to take all of us to get through it.”