If you think the Good Ol' Boys are gonna be replaced, you're wrong. The Young Guns will just step up

A four-word phrase, for my fellow Wyomingites that I can’t stand any longer. That must go away. And end permanently. Once and for all ...

The “Good Ol’ Boys Network” in Wyoming. 

Anyone who has ever lived here or was born in Wyoming knows what I mean. Their time is over. A new Wyoming is on the horizon — and it’s beautiful. 

I’m tired of playing your games and “playing it safe.”

You’ve had more than three decades to truly change this state,“Good Ol’ Boys.” And you haven’t. You failed. 

You had no vision. You had no foresight.

So it’s time for the next generation to step up and take over leadership. 

Time’s up. You had your chance. Now it’s our turn. 

Let’s go. Bring it on. I’m ready. #areyou  

-- Eric Trowbridge, founder of Cheyenne’s Array School of Technology and Design

BY RICHARD JOHNSON

   

When I read ET's recent Facebook post above, it took me back to Ernie November, to 2014 when I first got elected to the Cheyenne City Council. 

I told Ernie's owner, Keith Coombes, that I needed his friendship then more than ever. I pleaded with him to keep me grounded. I told him not to let me lose my identity, to not allow me to become one of “them.” 

The Good Ol' Boys run Cheyenne. And they aren't going away.

At the end of four years, I asked him if I’d changed. He told me I was more educated, but other than that, no. 

I always heard of the Good Ol’ Boys. For the most part, they stayed away from me. But the scary part was a bumper crop of New Ol’ Boys was surfacing. You could see them being groomed for their future roles. 

Watch the Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership classes, the new chairpersons on committees, the smileys and hand-shakers at every event you go to. You think this state is going to change? Nope. The Young Guns are your next old guard. 

I attended nearly 2,000 events while I was on Cheyenne City Council, so I met lots of people. Usually a Young Gun or an Old Boy would ask who my family was. That is a sure-fire way to tell you are in the presence of nothing changing. 

It’s across the board. Government, real estate, construction, liquor laws, law firms, doctors’ offices, development, finance, religion, residency. Your homie from elementary school is now in a suit smiling at you to "do the right thing."

“Richard, you don’t want to make this man or woman mad. They have friends.” Yeah, so do I. They scare you in the alley and are the reason you live in a gated community. 

Oh, I forgot, these Good Ol' Boys and Young Guns are white-collar criminals. 

So for all of you who hope Cheyenne will improve in the next generation, I’m telling you to give up. It’s only getting worse. 

These predatory youngsters are already blazing their trail to Wyoming greatness. Which means they are about as important as winning a fight on the Internet or taking home a participating trophy.

Richard Johnson is a former member of the Cheyenne City Council for Ward 3 on Cheyenne’s east side.