My name is Ruzena Rok; most people know me as “Ru”.
I was elected to the Star Valley Ranch (SVR) Town Council in 2022. I served as a Councilman until February 2025 when, after the resignation of then Mayor Kathy Buyers, the Town Council in accordance with the law under Wyoming Statutes, elected me to serve out the remainder of the mayoral term. Prior to my election to the Council, I was a member of the Town’s Natural Resources Board.
My husband and I have been homeowners at the Ranch since 2009 and we live here in this beautiful place year-round. I love the outdoors, am an avid gardener, mom, and grandmother. I’m also a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.
Professionally, I have spent over 25-years working in program management and cost analysis for the Federal Government to include serving in a leadership role for an organization of more than 160 people. I retired from my civil service position in 2025 and currently still provide some part-time consulting to the Federal Government. My professional background makes me well-qualified to serve our Town.
Biography
My reasons are two-fold. First, I would very much like to see the many projects undertaken since I took office—improving roads, rebuilding water infrastructure, et al—through to fruition. Second, I would be honored and humbled to continue my service to the residents of our Town should you choose to return me to office.
If re-elected to serve as your Mayor, I will work to ensure decisions made by our Town government reflect the desires of residents and are in the best interest of Star Valley Ranch.
Overwhelmingly residents continue to voice their desire to see improvements made to Ranch roads (during all seasons). Younger families, in Plat 5 (an area not adjacent to the main part of the town), continue to voice a need for a children’s playground (presently they have none). Residents also express frustration with the problem of dust on our unimproved roads, a problem that will only truly be mitigated once those gravel surfaces becoming asphalt or chip-seal. In the interim, the Town will continue to implement dust-abatement best practices to the best of our ability.
As long as I am able to serve as your mayor I will do my utmost to obtain additional resources for our Town to bolster our limited annual budget. Working with the Town staff I have already implemented a robust grant writing effort which has already led to the submission of half a dozen grant applications; responses from some of the major grants we have applied for are expected by the end of June. While we continue our efforts to obtain additional funds, we’ll continue working under the mantra I learned while serving in the Marine Corps many years ago—the Town shall continue to do more with less.
Why I’m Running for Mayor
Over the past 5 years Star Valley Ranch has experienced exponential growth (our population is up over 12% since 2020) and we have seen more than 160 new home builds. An email survey sent to residents in the fall of 2025 (as part of the Master Plan Update process) revealed yet again that residents overwhelmingly want to preserve the rural lifestyle of the Ranch—I am in complete alignment with that view.
With the increase in our total population and the steady build-out within our existing municipal boundary, growing pains are inevitable. More people means more traffic, more demand for services, along with new ideas from new people who are just discovering our wonderful little Town.
All of these things I’ve mentioned (and more) are challenges that require thoughtfulness and leadership to solve. Challenges such as these are precisely why I decided to run for Town Council four-years ago and it is also why I have now chosen to run for another term as your mayor.
It’s my firm belief there is real opportunity to accomplish things at the non-partisan local level and for citizens and government to work more closely together in order to solve problems—I’d like to continue being part of that dynamic for our beautiful town by serving you as mayor for another four-years.
Thank you for your support.