John L. Freeman has announced his bid for the Democratic nomination for Wyoming House District 60. Representative Bill Thompson previously held this seat and has recently announced his retirement from the Legislature. House District 60 is centered in Green River, Wyoming.
John Freeman moved to Sweetwater County in 1971with his family. His extended family have been citizens of Sweetwater County since the 1880’s but Freeman’s father left when the coal mines began shutting down in the 1950’s. John Freeman is a graduate of Rock Springs High School, Western Wyoming Community College and the University of Wyoming. John has been a teacher in Sweetwater County School District #1 since 1979 beginning his career at Rock Springs Alternative High School. He currently teaches at Rock Springs High School. Freeman was the second teacher from Wyoming to be selected to attend the Monticello-Stratford Hall Seminar for US History. He was the first US History teacher from Wyoming to be selected to attend the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Teacher’s Institute. Freeman was the second teacher from Wyoming to attend the three week Presidential Academy in Philadelphia, Gettysburg, and Washington DC. John is married to Theresa Freeman who teaches at Truman Elementary in Sweetwater County School District #2. They raised three sons, Michael, Matthew and Sean who all graduated from Green River High School and have attended Western Wyoming Community College.
John Freeman has been an active volunteer in Sweetwater County for over thirty years. He was appointed to the Sweetwater County Outdoor Recreation Board in 1979. John became interested in maintaining county parks and was instrumental in beginning the county’s first recreation maintenance crew. While on the county recreation board, he became aware that the Green River City Council was trying to create a greenbelt along the Green River. He was appointed to the Green River Recreation Board where he waited 8 years before city finances became viable enough to consider such a project.
In 1990, Freeman was appointed chairman of a citizens’ task force to explore the possibility of a greenbelt. The citizen’s task force became the Green River Greenbelt Task Force, a 501-c-3 non-profit corporation. Freeman was elected Chairman and during his tenure over $2.2 million was used for the initial development of the Greenbelt Project. As a non-profit, the Greenbelt Task Force was able to solicit grants and donations and was successful to the point where the City of Green River only paid 22% of the initial cost of Greenbelt Project. While Freeman was chairman, the Greenbelt Task Force and the City of Green River partnered in the construction of the Trona Bridge, Riverside Park, the Riverside Boardwalk, the Questar Trail, the UP Trail, Iowa Connector Path, the Edgewater Pathway, the development of the Scott’s Bottom Nature Area and Killdeer Wetlands. For his efforts, Freeman was awarded the Governor’s Action Award by Governor Sullivan, The Outstanding Citizen Award by the City of Green River, and recognized by the Wyoming Recreation and Parks Association as their volunteer of the year.
In 2004, Freeman was elected to the Western Wyoming Community College Board of Trustees. Freeman served as President of the Board for two years and played a key leadership role when WWCC hired its first president in 20 years. While Freeman has served as a trustee, the collage has built a gas well site with donations provided by local industry, a compression technology building with a matching grant, a diesel building with the help of Wyoming Legislature and secured two residence halls to help meet the needs of expanding student enrollment. John is currently in his second term as chairman of the Wyoming Association of Community College Trustees (WACCT). He was the driving force in WACCT’s decision to hire an Executive Director to promote Wyoming’s seven community colleges with the public and with Wyoming State Government.
Freeman would bring broad perspective to the Legislature with his experience in public/private partnerships and his education background. As a chairman of a non-profit corporation he gained insight on how government entities and corporations build budgets and developed priorities. He wrote grants to develop recreation infrastructure and promoted the quality of life in the area for residents and tourists alike. John has worked with college trustees statewide to promote post secondary education with the WACCT. As a classroom teacher, he has first hand knowledge of what works for students. The single biggest expense for the State of Wyoming is education.
Freeman is no stranger to the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne. As a teacher, he brought his students for a three day study of the legislative process each year for over 10 years. His students would meet state elected officials, observe the legislative procedures and then shadow legislators and lobbyists for a day. At least two of Freeman’s students were able to influence legislation in Wyoming’s Citizen’s legislature. Those experiences helped when John returned as an elected official to advocate legislation for the community college system. With the voter’s endorsement, Freeman would like to return to Cheyenne as a policy maker advocating for the citizens of Sweetwater County.
