Mayor plans re-election campaign

Pete Rust announced he plans to seek a second term as Green River’s mayor Tuesday afternoon.

Rust said he wants to see some of the work started during his term through to the end, believing that work would be much smoother if there isn’t a change. He also said he has a passion for the community and the job and has been involved in public service in multiple positions throughout the last 37 years.

Rust’s top goal is ensuring the city provides public safety by supporting the police and fire department. He said the city continues to seek and apply for grant funding to pay for new equipment and training for the city’s officers and firefighters.

“Always, the number one priority is the safety of our citizens,” Rust said.

His second priority is economic vitality. He said exciting things are scheduled to happen in downtown Green River with continued work on the U.P. Depot building and activity around the Tomahawk building. The Depot is especially exciting because he sees that as an asset similar to renovated U.P. buildings in Cheyenne and Evanston.

“The building holds a lot of promise,” he said.

Rust said his third priority is working on developing the city’s river corridor. He said there might be an opportunity to work with the county and the Joint Powers Water Board to create mutual agreements to help develop both the corridor and downtown Green River.

Rust said he believes his most important role is to help foster cooperation between the city and other local governments and stakeholders. He sees the working relationships help maximize their pooled resources to benefit everyone involved.

He also said he does not want to micromanage the city’s offices, saying the city administrator and department heads should be left to run their offices as they see fit. Rust also has a lot of confidence Reed Clevenger, the city’s administrator, saying he believes Clevenger is the best city administrator in the state.