James Andrews, owner of the Red Zone bar in Powell, announced his candidacy for mayor earlier this week.

“The mayor is the face of Powell, and when Scott (Mangold) was the mayor, he spent a lot of time cajoling other mayors and legislative bodies. I think there are a lot of things we could really benefit from having people talking and keeping a line of communication,” Andrews said.

One possible idea Andrews said he has is to create a tax-free zone in northern Wyoming similar to what is done in parts of Arkansas since consumers were crossing state lines to shop in Oklahoma.

Andrews credited Billings’ bustling economy with Wyomingites shopping there.

“I don’t know if the House and Senate will go for it in a bust time — should have talked about it when flush with cash — (but) there’s no time like the present to open up those ideas.”

Andrews noted that the downturn in the mineral extraction industry has had a domino effect on other businesses. With fewer people making the high income that came with the oil industry, there’s less money being spent locally, he said.

“Everyone is going through some tough financial times with oil taking the dump that it is,” Andrews said. “They (state and city governments) said ‘the sky is falling, the sky is falling,’ but it is falling for everyone else, too.”

Andrews pointed out that taxes and fees have increased in recent years such as liquor licenses going up by 50 percent.

“And now they want the 1 cent sales tax, but that isn’t what the people want and not what I want,” Andrews said. “It is time to say no and make cuts.”

Some of the cuts Andrews has in mind are expenses such as spraying for species of bugs that aren’t in Powell or in Wyoming, but could spread through people bringing in ash wood as firewood — which didn’t make sense since ash wood is not good firewood, he said.

The Powell City Council previously approved $10,000 to spray for bugs that Andrews says aren’t in the area, but considered the cost a “drop in the bucket,” he said.

“It adds up,” Andrews said. “When in business, the pennies are where you make and break yourself and bureaucrats look at lots of zeroes and think it’s nothing because it is not their money. I have a vested interest in Powell because that is money coming from my pocket as a business owner.”

Andrews has owned and operated the Red Zone bar on Bent Street for the last two and a half years and has been living in Powell for about eight or nine years, he said.

Andrews was born in Lovell, grew up in Deaver and attended college in Sheridan. Prior to Powell, he owned a Christian craft store and a computer sales and service business in Lovell.

During that time, he ran for City Council and lost to the current mayor of Lovell, he said.

Andrews left Lovell to work as a correctional officer in Rawlins where he was the president of the Wyoming Association of Correctional Employees. That’s when he gained experience lobbying in Cheyenne, he said.

“I got to know the political system pretty good that way,” Andrews said.

After his father’s death, Andrews moved back to the area to be near his mother and it was actually Powell’s wrestling program that brought him to town so that his son, Randy, could join the team.

Andrews has three children, Jimmy, 25, Randy, 22, and a 14-month-old daughter.

He encouraged anyone to stop by the Red Zone and share their thoughts and concerns with him.

As of Wednesday, two other candidates have announced their candidacy for mayor — Amber Yager/Wall and current mayor Don Hillman.