Lloyd Thiel

Park County Commissioner Lloyd Thiel said while he’s accomplished a lot, he’s not finished yet. He is one of two incumbents — Commissioner Dossie Overfield is the other — running against six challengers for three open seats. 

Thiel’s family moved to Red Lodge, Montana, in the mid-1800s, and he moved from Red Lodge to Clark 49 years ago. Aside from a brief period during which he lived again in Montana, he’s lived in Park County ever since. 

He’s been married for 37 years, and he and his wife have three children. Thiel also has three grandchildren. He graduated from Powell High School and completed a diesel mechanic program at WyoTech in Laramie. 

He worked for John Deere for several years and then started a general contractor business, which focuses on excavation work. He’s run the business for over 30 years. He also runs 100 head of cattle  on 600 acres of land. 

When his first grandchild was born, Thiel began to wonder if Park County kids will grow up to have the same opportunities to make a living and raise a family that he’s enjoyed. This is what motivated him to run for the commission in the first place, and it is why he’s running for another term. 

“It’s been a huge learning experience….Going into it I was fairly naive as to the duties of a commissioner,” Thiel said. 

Despite the learning curve, he rattles off a list of accomplishments in increasing efficiencies in county operations. He said he avoided micromanaging projects and only made suggestions. 

For example, he saw that the county’s heavy equipment was being traded in sooner than it should be. Modern machines, he said, have longer lifespans, so the county could get more use out of them. 

He also helped get a better compactor at the landfill, which will help extend the landfill’s life, and he used his expertise in construction to look at ways to create efficiencies and cost savings for the county road projects, including snow removal. 

He said the county had no meaningful procurement policy before he got on the commission. Working with County Engineer Brian Edwards, Thiel has helped implement a policy that is more competitive and gives preference to county businesses, which in turn pay taxes to the county. This applies to contracts as well as vendor purchases. 

He said that in his next term, he’ll continue to look for ways to keep the county running efficiently and help ensure taxpayers get the most bang for their buck. 

Thiel is going to be working on the county land use plan, and he said he wants to make sure that regulations, if any, are developed in line with the input commissioners have received from residents at the public hearings they’ve held.

“I’m not saying we need more regulations. What may come out of this is that we don’t need any at all,” Thiel added. 

If any new regulations come out of the plan’s development, he said, it’s important they be enforceable. 

“Bottom line is I really care about Park County,” Thiel said. 

The primary election is Aug. 16 

In addition to Overfield and Thiel, the other candidates in the race are Scott Steward, Angie Johnson, H. Keith Dahlem, Matthew Scott, Ken Montgomery, and Tyson Williams.

Profiles for candidates can be read in the Powell Tribune’s 2022 Primary Election Guide online at tinyurl.com/2022PEGuide.