CHEYENNE – In a public Facebook post Monday afternoon, Cheyenne Mayor Marian Orr accused and condemned Governor Mark Gordon for an alleged blow-up in a meeting between the two officials on Friday.
According to Orr’s post, Gordon used vulgar language and “slammed his fists on the table, got inches from her face, and yelled ‘(expletive) you, Mayor” when he and Orr disagreed about hosting a Taiwanese delegation during Cheyenne Frontier Days.
The post said that the officials from Taiwan expressed interest in attending CFD, and the Taiwanese officials pointed out that their current president is the first female president of Taiwan, and Orr was the first female mayor of Cheyenne.
Gordon mocked the sentiment, the statement said.
“In a very condescending tone, he said, ‘Do you really think the President of Taiwan cares about Wyoming’s suffrage movement?’” Orr said.
Orr said she told Gordon that the foreign officials did seem to care, and that he should, too.
“I can’t speak for the president but Taiwan’s delegation sure seemed interested in it. More importantly, I care about it,” she said. “You would think the Governor of Wyoming would care about it too.”
The post called Gordon’s behavior during the agreement “threatening and intimidating.”
“It’s one thing to have a disagreement on an issue,” Orr said. “But to lose your temper in front of your own staff, slam your fists on the table, get in someone’s face, and yell
‘(expletive) you’ because you don’t like the way the discussion is going is abominable.”
“It was threatening and intimidating behavior,” she said. “He is much larger than I and used his physical presence in an aggressive and threatening manner.”
“I wouldn’t have endorsed him last fall had I known that he was capable of this. And to be comfortable enough to do this in front of three of your own staff is telling about one’s character.”
Last month, Treasurer Curt Meier was accused of acting in a similar fashion with Auditor Kristi Racines concerning personnel matters. An investigation into the incident ruled that no laws were broken, but Orr said female officials must stand up to the alleged outburst and behaviors.
“State Auditor Kristi Racines and Kristi Wallin have encountered similar behavior,” Orr said. “We must stand up against this and publicly condemn it. We can’t just hope it goes away because it doesn’t.”
As of this writing, Gordon’s office has not issued a statement on Orr’s allegations.
