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Commissioner Profiles
Wyoming Transportation Commissioners
Rick Newton - Chairman
Rick Newton, of Buffalo, represents Commission District 4, covering Campbell, Johnson and Sheridan counties. He is retired from a 35-year career as an educator, during which he served as a classroom teacher, principal and administrator.
Newton earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics education and a master's degree in educational administration, both from the University of Wyoming, and he is a U.S. Army veteran. He has an extensive record of community and volunteer service, including affiliations with the Kiwanis Club, Lions Club, Masonic Lodge, Wyoming High School Activities Association, YMCA. He is also a member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Buffalo and the Fort Phil Kearny/Bozeman Trail Association.
Newton is a history buff, with focus on pioneer life, westward expansion and Native American culture. Among hobbies and interests, he lists skiing, golfing, reading, UW athletics and travel.
Phil Schmidt - Vice Chairman
Phil Schmidt, of Casper, represents Commission District 7, which includes Converse, Fremont and Natrona counties. He served as president and majority owner of Casper-based Greiner Motor Companies for almost 30 years.
Schmidt graduated from Rapid City Central High School. He also graduated from Black Hills State College with a bachelor’s degree in business administration with emphasis in accounting.
After graduating, he worked as a certified public account for Shamley, Obermueller and Killmer, CPAs of Casper.
Throughout the years, Schmidt has devoted his time to community involvement serving on several boards and in leadership positions with those organizations. Some of the boards he’s been involved with include the Casper Family YMCA, Wyoming Medical Center, Boys and Girls Club of Central Wyoming, Natrona County Library Foundation, Wyoming Auto Dealers Association, and many more.
Schmidt and wife, Jody, have six children.
Mike Larson
Mike Larson, of Lusk, represents Commission District 6, which covers Crook, Niobrara and Weston counties. Larson is retired from a 35-year career as a manager with the Union Pacific Railroad's Engineering Department. With the exception of the first five years, he was based in Lusk for all of his time with U.P.R.R. He currently works part time as a consultant.
He served 12 years on the Niobrara Conservation District Board, is treasurer at his church, and is a past recipient of the "Citizen of the Year" award from the local Chamber of Commerce.
Larson, who was raised in Fremont, Neb., earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He and his wife, Shelly have four children. Larson enjoys outdoor activities, hunting, fishing, camping and skiing.
Jim Espy
Jim Espy, of Savery, represents Commission District 2, serving Albany, Carbon and Sweetwater counties. Espy worked as a special assistant attorney general for the state of Wyoming for 10 years. He also has been involved in ranching all of his life, operating his family ranch with his wife, Peggy, and son, Mike. Espy also has worked in banking as a trust officer.
Espy, who was born and raised in Rawlins, graduated from Casper College with an associate degree in agricultural economics. He also obtained his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wyoming in agricultural economics with a minor in accounting. He obtained his law degree from the University of Wyoming.
Espy currently serves as co-chairman of the ENDOW Rural Council. He also has served as the co-chairman of the Wyoming Business Council board of directors, president of the Carbon County Stock Growers and chairman of the Carbon County School District 1 board of trustees.
Among his favorite activities are leather crafting, fishing, visiting museums, panning for gold and attending concerts with his family.
Jon Dolezal
Jon Dolezal, of Evanston, represents Commission District 3, which encompasses Uinta, Lincoln, Sublette and Teton counties. Jon is the executive vice president and chief credit officer of Uinta Bank in Evanston, Mountain View, and Rock Springs.
Dolezal, was raised and graduated high school in Mountain View, Wyoming. He earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Wyoming. After graduating he worked in banking in Laramie before moving back to southwest Wyoming.
He has been involved in numerous volunteer endeavors in recent years, including serving on the Evanston Renewal Board, and he is currently on the Youth Athletic Board with the Evanston Parks and Recreation, and he has coached many youth sports through the years.
Dolezal loves spending time outdoors and enjoying our beautiful state. Some of his favorite activities include camping, hunting, snow machining, golfing, and fly fishing with his wife and his two sons.
Lee Filer
Lee Filer, of Cheyenne, represents Commission District 1, which encompasses Goshen, Platte and Laramie counties. He works as an engineer for the Union Pacific Railroad, a position he’s held since 2003.
Filer was raised in Cheyenne and attended school there. He served in the Wyoming Air National Guard from 2001-2004, and again from 2010-2016, and while in the military he attended the Community College of the Air Force.
In 2019, Filer was appointed to serve on the City of Cheyenne Personnel Commission.
He was elected to service in the Wyoming House of Representatives from 2013-2014. While serving in the Legislature, he was a member of the Labor, Health & Social Services Committee, the Journal Committee and the Select Committee on Archaic Laws. He was appointed by former Gov. Matt Mead to the Wyoming Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities in 2012, and he was chairman in his last year on the council in 2018. Commissioner Filer also served on the Department of Family Services Advisory Council from 2014-2018.
In his free time, Filer enjoys spending time with his wife, Renee’, and his six children.
Greg Venable
Greg Venable, of Worland, represents Commission District 5, which includes Big Horn, Hot Springs, Park, and Washakie counties. He is currently a member of the American Trucking Associations (ATA) Board of Directors and Wyoming ATA Vice President, president of the Wyoming Trucking Association Board of Directors, and chairman of the Transportation Safety Coalition.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in social sciences from the University of Houston Downtown and a master’s degree in supply chain management from Ashford University.
Venable currently works for Admiral Transport Corporation as the director of transportation and logistics. Before joining Admiral Transport, he served as the operations manager for Gulf States Toyota in Houston, Texas, from 1995 until 2007.
Outside work, Venable enjoys watching both of his teenage children play soccer and his daughter run cross-country. He is also an avid road cyclist.
