Local locksmith Thad Hoff aims for Albany County Commission
Local locksmith Thad Hoff aims for Albany County Commission
Hoff will compete against three other Republicans in this year’s Primary Election. His main focus is funding and he hopes rare earth mining can bolster economic development.
Thad Hoff, owner of Wyoming State Safe & Lock Co., has thrown his hat in the ring for the open Albany County Commission seat appearing on this year’s ballots.
Hoff is one of four candidates competing for the Republican Party nomination. The winner of that primary will likely square off in the General Election against Brian Harrington, who is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
Primary campaign season is now in full swing, and Hoff has set himself apart from the competition by drilling down on his top priority for the county: Funding and economic development.
“Albany County has always struggled with funding and how much money it’s got in the coffers,” Hoff said during a League of Women Voters forum last month. “There’s just an incredibly small amount of money coming in compared to other counties, and such a large area to service.”
Hoff added the county has gotten skilled at stretching a dollar.
“The county has always made what was available count,” he told the Laramie Reporter. “Essential services are always available, the courthouse remains open for business, the rural fire departments respond to calls, and [Albany County] Road & Bridge keep the roads passable.”
But Hoff is hoping that rare earth mining in the northern part of the county can play a significant role in bringing more economic development to the area.
“We definitely have minerals in the ground,” he said. “I’m hoping that has some benefit. If there’s lithium or anything that can be used in electric vehicles or that kind of thing … then the state or the county should get involved and try to cultivate that.”
It will take work, however, to translate “minerals in the ground” to “money in the coffers.” And Hoff said that starts with infrastructure. As a locksmith, Hoff speaks to a lot of business owners as they’re just starting out. Last month, he told the LWV forum audience that newcomers from Colorado often say they’re tired of Colorado politics and “all the legislation down there.”
“And when they get to Laramie, they’re not looking for Fort Collins,” Hoff said. “So the city and the county cannot be the hindrance for them not wanting to move here or relocate.”
He added those newcomers are just as concerned about the lack of infrastructure.
“Now, sites are zoned, ready to go, ready to build lots — but there’s not sufficient piping in the ground,” Hoff said. “There’s not accommodations for natural gas, there’s not enough power, there’s not enough three-phase … The county and the city need, to various degrees, to bring that infrastructure up. And I think everybody’s a little behind. I think Cheyenne has done a very good job of trying to entice, and I think we’ve got the Laramie Business Alliance in place, and we can lean on those folks.”
But it will be a lengthy process, Hoff said.
“Anything that gets started now, we’re going to see the ramifications for in two or three years,” he told the Reporter. “Any economic development, you’re probably not going to see the fruition of it for another ten. It takes that long to build out infrastructure, get roads built, mines processing, developments … even housing here seems to take forever.”
Laramie’s locksmith
Hoff was born and raised in Riverton and earned his bachelor’s in criminal justice at the University of Wyoming. He started working as a locksmith for Albany County Schools in 2000, but moved to Colorado Springs after graduation. He did work on government installations in Colorado, including the Air Force Academy and NORAD, before returning to Laramie — at the age of 23 — to buy out a local locksmithing company.
“I kept getting people going, ‘Oh, you’re too young. If you survive five years, good luck to you,’” Hoff recalled. “Over 20 years now and it’s going fine. I’m way too busy for my taste and way too busy for my wife’s taste. But I’m kind of a workaholic.”
Most locksmiths are older; Hoff said it’s often a retirement gig for folks who can no longer do other forms of handiwork or physical labor or who simply get tired of what they’ve been doing for decades and are looking for something new. But it’s always been Hoff’s passion.
“I love picking locks,” he said. “I love mechanical stuff, safe crackings. I love doing it. I love figuring out the mechanics of why it’s either not opening or what the combo is or why the malfunction’s happening.”
Today, Hoff is a familiar face around the community, performing locksmith work for a great number of commercial and government entities through his business Wyoming State Safe & Lock Co. He was formerly a volunteer with Albany County Search and Rescue and is active in the local amateur radio community. Hoff also maintains a private pilot’s license.
Hoff has run once before, in 2018, in an unsuccessful bid for the same position he is now seeking. As he is once again, Hoff was one of four Republican hopefuls in the primary six years ago. But in 2018, there were two commission seats on the table, rather than just one, and the primary allowed the top two vote-earners to proceed to the general. Hoff came in third place, 32 votes behind the second place candidate.
Where Hoff stands on the issues facing Albany County
Hoff has shared his political stances across a number of platforms, including in an interview with the Reporter, in response to the Reporter’s candidate questionnaire, through his campaign website, during the League of Women Voters forum on June 20 and in response to questions published by the League of Women Voters to Vote411.org.
Property tax
Recent action by the legislature provided property tax relief for some Wyoming homeowners. Champions of this relief argued it would help those struggling to pay rising taxes; others worry it will hurt the counties and schools that rely on that tax base.
“It is going to hurt the county, no doubt. I would have supported some kind of percentage reduction on a schedule to give more time for fiscal planning,” Hoff writes in response to the Reporter’s candidate questionnaire.
He added, in a statement published by Vote411.org, that “reasonable reductions will need to take place.”
“I would like to meet with the nine other elected officials that have, hopefully, a firm grip on department needs and where their expedited cuts could take place,” Hoff writes. “My priority would be essential services and continuing business as usual in the county. Additional spending requests would need to be merit based and depend on benefit to the county and its [residents].”
Aquifer protection
The Casper Aquifer, located just east of Laramie, serves as the city’s main source of drinking water. For years, activists have led a campaign to establish stronger protections for the underground aquifer.
In 2023, they achieved two significant victories. In February of that year, the county commission passed new amendments limiting what can be built on the ground above the aquifer. In July, the commission and the Laramie City Council approved a unified guiding document known as the Casper Aquifer Protection Plan.
The presumptive Democratic nominee in this year’s commission race has made holding the line on aquifer protection a cornerstone of his campaign. Whether the protections in place are appropriate or adequate divides the candidates.
“I should hope that after all the research and consulting expenditures that the Casper Aquifer is all but sealed up tight,” Hoff writes in response to the Reporter’s candidate questionnaire. “However, it seems that over the years adjusting the boundaries and surface regulations has become gerrymandering at its finest. I feel like some of the changes made to the zone have been political and not based entirely on testing or science.”
County emissions and energy efficiency
Both the city and the county have made efforts to bring down carbon emissions while making government facilities more energy efficient. Like many climate solutions, the green option tends to be more cost effective in the long-run, if not also in the short-run.
“The county can and should consider ways to correct inefficiencies in its buildings and operations,” Hoff writes. “Even minor changes that can increase efficiencies would be helpful at reducing any environmental impact, with a bonus, decrease in operating costs.”
Renewable energy development
Despite vocal opposition from some citizens, wind energy development has generally enjoyed bipartisan support in Albany County. Republicans on the commission have argued the government cannot hinder private property owners from leasing their land for turbine installations in the name of preserving viewsheds. Democrats have argued the pressing global threat of anthropogenic climate change demands action from the government — and refusing to hinder private property owners is an easy way to go green.
In this year’s commission race — whatever their personal feelings about climate change, renewable energy, or industrial development — most candidates agree that private property rights reign supreme.
“To an extent, I can support both wind and solar with a large hesitation for wind generating equipment,” Hoff writes. “It historically has taken about 10 years to generate enough energy to offset the cost. Ironically, that same equipment usually requires an overhaul or replacement at about that same interval. I see wind providing jobs at the local level and not much more. Solar is fine for household energy but becomes problematic for energy storage and transmission for peak demand times.”
Wind turbines do typically pay for themselves (though the payback time is highly variable and depends on project specifics). The turbines being built and installed today will last about three decades (though components, including the blades, might have to be replaced sooner).
Government transparency
Commission meetings are open to the public, advertised ahead of time, streamed live, and available after their conclusion on YouTube — but they are not well attended. Candidates have been asked by both the Reporter and the LWV how they would ensure transparency.
“Paying bills, approving correspondence, and voting to approve the minutes is never going to draw a crowd,” Hoff writes in response to the Reporter’s questionnaire. “What is important is making sure that information isn’t kept from the public. The commission isn’t in place to keep secrets from residents but act in the best interest of all residents. Full disclosure and forewarning to the public is the only way to achieve this. What medium is the best seems to slowly change and I don’t know what is best at this moment.”
Rentals
A major component of economic development is housing — and Laramie is losing out on opportunities because of both its housing shortage and the quality of its available housing stock. While part of this is due to the “missing middle” — the starter homes young professionals would like to buy but cannot find — another component is Laramie’s long-standing reputation as a city of run-down rentals where slumlords run unchecked.
As a locksmith who used to do work on the residential side, Hoff has seen inside more than his fair share of rental properties.
“In the last 20 years, I’ve been in a lot of places where people shouldn’t be living,” Hoff said during the LWV forum. “There are a lot of units in this town that people have not reinvested any kind of income back into their property. And they’re expecting kids and young adults to come here and live in a place, and sometimes in a panic or pinch situation, to try to find reasonable accommodations … The city has stepped in and started the process. I think there probably actually needs to be a little bit more in city limits.”
News habits
Candidates were asked, during the LWV forum, where they got their news.
Across the U.S., many communities are becoming news deserts, where citizens are unable to access information about their local government and unable to meaningfully take part in community conversations. Research shows that news deserts drive citizens to social media and divert attention away from the local onto the national. This enables corruption, breeds polarization and decreases civic participation.
Candidate news habits varied. Hoff said much of his information comes from talking to people throughout the community and listening to their concerns.
“A lot of my information comes from business doings,” he said. “I don’t take the Boomerang. A lot of online — Facebook is kind of the go-to at this point [with its] different forums, because you can join the groups and there are people that do actually contribute. … But I do talk to quite a few people in my daily life.”