I would like to start this week’s minute by bragging on our Community Recreation and Events (CRE) department and the amazing work they have been doing. This past weekend really illustrates my point. This past weekend we had a baseball tournament ran by Brian Zowada. We had almost 60 teams competing in the 8 to 13 age group. Amazing tournament, and our CRE staff had the facilities tournament ready. I heard rave reviews on the quality of our fields. Fridays on the Plaza was another success for CRE. It is so well organized and so much fun for our community. Once it closed, the CRE team moved the stage to Lions Park for Superday. They spent Friday getting Superday set up, and the few hours of sleep our team got was well earned. Superday was a smashing success. The weather was perfect and a crowd of up to 20,000 enjoyed everything. I am so proud of our CRE team and the amazing job they did to give our community quality things to do.
I had a gentleman named Bob who called to get a half hour to discuss his disappointment in a couple of areas. He admits he is retired and has time to look at things, and some of those really bother him. One is the large number of expired license plates he sees on cars as he goes about his day. His efforts to get law enforcement to take him seriously has been less than he would like. He is also frustrated when he takes his dog for a walk and can’t use the sidewalk because the trees and bushes have overgrown the walkway. I enjoyed our conversation and will see what I can do to help his frustration.
I have heard from so many of you about the weeds and untamed grasses that ruin our curb appeal. We had a work session with the city council to discuss a staff proposal to tighten up our timelines for folks to respond to code enforcement violations. The time will go from 30 days to 21 days. Our compliance department currently has hundreds of complaints they are working on. I have asked before and will again, please keep the weeds and grass on your property trimmed and mowed. It makes our neighborhoods look better and more livable.
At the same work session, we discussed the city council goal of annexing our county pockets. We have 65 pockets that are 100 percent surrounded by the city. Our planning department is working on modifications to our Uniform Development Code (UDC) to make sure these annexations will not cost those being annexed. With 65 annexations, it will take 12 to 18 months to complete the process. We will have public meetings for the areas under consideration so the residents and businesses can ask questions and hopefully leave understanding the process and impacts. If you’re curious to watch that work session, you can do so using this link.
I have yet to experience the historic horse racing casinos we have in Wyoming. Until Friday, I had not been in one until I helped cut the ribbon for the Horse Palace in the old Grier Building in downtown. I found what looked like a regular casino with a great bar area. I appreciate the investment in our city and especially our downtown. I may have to try my luck one of these days.
I was in a meeting in our boardroom and looked out the door and saw a pair of feet on the couch. It was after hours, and I was surprised. I met Shirley and she had a sad story. She was walking her 10-pound dog Sammy when he was attacked by a 165-pound giant dog. Luckily, she and Sammy survived without being badly hurt, but the psychological damage is what they are now dealing with. She was trying to get a report from animal control, and to share her story. It is a good reminder that we need to control our dogs to protect other dogs and people. Judy and I have a dog for the first time in our 40 years of marriage. His name is Sampson, and we are truly in love with him. I was very empathetic with Shirley’s story.
With all the challenges our District Attorney is having with hiring prosecutors, our Municipal Court is taking on much of the case load. We had to hire another prosecutor this week to keep up with the load. We have also had to hire additional defense attorneys. The law requires our court to provide counsel if the accused cannot afford it. The cost of running the court is frustrating to me. It is very expensive and so many of the folks they deal with are transients, so they can’t afford to pay for legal counsel, or pay the fines associated with their transgressions. We are working through it and hope the District Attorney can find prosecutors to take up some of the case load.
I spent some time talking with Cartier Napier, the city manager in Casper this week. We are so similar and share similar problems. I enjoy talking with him and learning what Casper is doing so well to grow and improve their city. He has many years of experience and I appreciate him sharing with me and our city.
Wednesday afternoon I drove to Sundance, Wyoming. I took highway 85 and really enjoyed the drive. It is so dry in southeast Wyoming, but as you drive north it gets progressively greener. North of Newcastle it gets so green I felt like I was in Scotland. I went north to attend the Corporations Committee where liquor licenses and affordable housing were topics on the agenda. The meeting was held in Hulett, but I could not get a room there. The drive Thursday morning passing Devils Tower is beautiful. I testified that the lack of liquor licenses is holding back Cheyenne’s growth and is preventing entrepreneurs from making investments in our city. Think the Grain Elevator and the proposal to remodel this old building and bring it back to life. I shared some statistics like 83 percent of cities over 1,000 people in Wyoming are sold out of retail liquor licenses, as is half of our counties. I compared the populations of Gillette and Laramie, our third and fourth largest cities to Cheyenne. They have 64,810 residents combined and 54 liquor licenses. Cheyenne has 65,132 residents and is authorized by state law 38 retail liquor licenses. We have 42 percent fewer licenses than those communities combined, and we share similar populations. This math just does not make sense to me. In the end, the committee asked the Legislative Service Office (LSO) to write four pieces of legislation that I think are good for Cheyenne. We did not get them to add more retail licenses, but they are pondering an entertainment license where 60 percent of the revenue would come from entertainment and food. This would help places like Ace’s Range. This is good but does not fix our pressing need. We still have time before the next legislative session to get support for the needed change and help our Grain Elevator folks.
Judy and I wish everyone a safe and happy Fourth of July holiday. We hope you enjoy our beautiful fireworks display and you have time to spend with friends and family.
If you have a question for me, send it to media@cheyennecity.org. I’ll continue to answer them in my following Mayor’s Minute column.
Story by Mayor Patrick Collins
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