Dayton Mayor ‘Blindsided’ by Council Decision

Dayton Town Hall

On Thursday, Sept. 2, the Dayton Town Council voted 4-1 to relieve current mayor Norm Anderson, who is in his second term, of his powers.

The council declared a state of emergency, by doing so the council moved to limit the mayors power immediately.

“This has been brewing for a couple of years, and the council asked me to resign, but I told them I would not resign.” Anderson stated in an interview adding that the move, “…blindsided me. With three council members who were against me, there wasn’t much I could do. One employee did his best to undermine me.”

Anderson was elected mayor in 2014, and said that according to Wyoming law, an elected official cannot be recalled.

“I guess they just can take my duties away from me.” Anderson said. The mayor still has some duties, he can still preside over council meetings and execute contracts, but he can no longer do budgeting for the town or set agendas for the meetings. These duties will be split between Clerk/Treasurer Hanle Visser and a new two-person administrative oversight committee which will be created.

“I guess I’m mayor in name only,” Anderson said, and added there was no concrete reason for the decision. “I’ve done nothing illegal. The council felt they should be notified on every little decision, but sometimes the mayor sees what needs done and does it.”

Former Clearmont Mayor Chris Schock, who plans to run for Clearmont mayor again in the next election, said that when he was mayor he had several interactions with Anderson. He said Anderson was “Very active around the state, attending the meetings and doing his best for the town of Dayton. I think there was a communication breakdown between him and town council. The mayor is there to supervise, and the council is there to make sure he does his job right. I felt Norm did a great job and he got along with everyone.”

Anderson said he felt he did a lot of good for Dayton, he added money to the town and applied for and received some grants.

“I got a lot of support from the town of Dayton. Many community members told me they were disappointed with the council’s decision. I love Dayton, and I don’t want to see it go to pot,” he added.

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Update:  The original version of this story stated that an executive session was held before the public meeting in Dayton on September 2^nd when in fact there is no confirmation of that fact.  The special meeting that limited Mayor Anderson’s duties was held completely open to the public so as to be perceived as honest and transparent by the town council.  We regret the implication of this error.