This story is part of our Quick Hits series. This series will bring you breaking news and short updates from throughout the state.
Gov. Mark Gordon declined to seek the removal of two of Hot Springs County’s three commissioners on March 20 following a verified complaint that alleged they violated their oaths of office when they reconsidered a land use change application.
Six qualified voters in Hot Springs County submitted the complaint to Gordon in October 2025, which centered on Commissioners Robert Aguiar and Paul Galovich and a local family’s request to change their land’s use from agricultural to commercial. The Stevens wanted to establish a Tipi Retreat consisting of a 12-teepee campground on their property.
After their first application was denied by the commissioners in 2021 and the matter was taken to Hot Springs County District Court twice, the court eventually upheld the finding that the Stevens’ application “failed absolute policy A14- road construction standards,” according to Gordon’s decision.
Then, in February 2025 and against the advice of Tom Ryan, a fellow Hot Springs county commissioner who later recused himself, Aguiar and Galovich moved to reconsider the application and eventually voted to approve it. The county attorney also recused herself from the matter.
Though Gordon said in his decision that there was “much to find wrong with the actions of the Board and others in this matter,” especially because the commissioners didn’t ask for a new land use application from the Stevens, he declined to ask the state attorney general to pursue the removal of Aguiar and Galovich.
“Nevertheless, while I am profoundly dismayed by the manifest disregard for established process and the air of personal prejudice displayed in bypassing the LUPC [Land Use Planning Commission] despite the continued warnings by colleagues and staff, this action alone does not rise to the level of misconduct or malfeasance necessary for me to recommend removal from office in the context of an election year,” wrote Gordon.
He said a separate investigation into the complaints by Attorney General Keith Kautz had failed to convince him that asking for the commissioners’ removal was the right decision. Some of the complaints relied on “unproven assumptions” about the alleged bias of Aguiar and Galovich, Gordon wrote.
He also said that voters could seek their own remedy of the situation by electing different commissioners in the upcoming 2026 elections, if they choose to.
This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.
