Veteran Constable Gary Rogers facing challenge in tiny Goodsprings
The Goodsprings constable race is between three-term incumbent Gary P. Rogers and former correctional officer Kristina Trybul.
For 12 years, Rogers has been the Goodsprings Township constable and wants to believe he has an “awesome reputation” among the people in his community. But in a town of 250 people, Trybul doesn’t believe that’s true as of recently.
“First of all I love the community I live in, this is a small town, everyone knows everybody,” Trybul said. “ I had a lawsuit where I was suing someone over, I needed the constable to serve someone and they failed to do so.”
She ended up having to go to the Henderson constable’s office and pay out of pocket to serve the individual.
“Most people don’t understand how much you can help people with being constable,” Rogers said. “Everybody thinks ‘oh, you’re throwing ‘em out, you’re serving ‘em lawsuits, you’re garnishing your wages.’ Actually, if you talk to people, quite often you can work as a mediator and get everybody happy again. And I like doing that. I like helping people.”
Rogers has won all of his constable elections by a significant margin and says he’s grown in the role since he took over in 2010, adding that he also helps constables in neighboring jurisdictions.
In the primary, Rogers won 44 percent to Trybul’s 40 percent, but because of the town’s size, it was only a difference of 14 actual votes. A third candidate in the primary, Lyal Darrel, secured 57 votes, but Trybull is convinced she can get those votes to win the general election in November.
She’d also like to tackle the storage sheds in Sandy Valley that get RV’s that sit for 15 to 20 years.
“It tarnishes the beauty of the valley,” she said.
Rogers says he deals with a lot of landlord-tenant disputes and prides himself on treating everybody fairly, acting as an intermediary to resolve conflicts. “My job is to help the community on both sides,” he said.
The constable handles evictions, serves court papers and executes court orders in civil and criminal matters.
Contact Jimmy Romo at jromo@reviewjournal.com or call 702-383-0350. Follow @jimi_writes on Twitter.