The Mayor’s Minute from Mayor Patrick Collins – Dec. 5, 2025
Published on December 05, 2025
It’s the holiday season and there are so many opportunities for all of us to get together to celebrate and just enjoy each other’s company. Saturday evening, the City hosted a tree lighting, and I was joined by City Council in flipping the switch and lighting up the Depot Plaza. Our Community Recreation & Events team did a great job of decorating the area. I especially enjoyed Big Rick dressed as Santa and our team giving everyone a photo and chocolate. It was a cold evening, and I love our team and their dedication to our community for braving the elements and delivering a great experience. There might be a picture of Judy and I sitting on Santa’s lap.
One of the parts of my job I really enjoy is getting to talk with companies looking to invest in Cheyenne. This week I met with a landowner that has a potential buyer and needs the City’s help to overcome some regulatory challenges. Helping new businesses get established or existing businesses expand means opportunities for our children and grandchildren to make the choice to stay here in Cheyenne. In Wyoming, 67% of our kids leave the state by the time they are 30 and most never come home. Part of how we address that challenge is creating the kind and quality of jobs needed to make staying a real choice. We did our best to sell Cheyenne and the great place we have to live, work, and raise a family.
When our fire department promotes people into leadership positions, part of that process is for the candidates to write a paper addressing a challenge the department is facing. I love this process as the department gets insight from those closest to the job and we get to see the creativity of the candidates. Lt. Chu asked for time to discuss our recent reorganization of the fire department and reasons former Chief Kopper and I proposed the changes. Lt. Chu has 20 years invested in our department and I am so humbled that people like him want to step up and mentor the newest members of our team. I really enjoyed our conversation.
Every December, City Council members meet, share a meal, and decide on their leadership for the next year. We call this the straw poll dinner because the choices for leadership won’t be official until the vote in January. This early nod gives the incoming leadership time to make appointments to the various boards that have a council member assigned to them. It also gives the incoming president an opportunity to assign the members of the Public Services and Finance committees. This year, Council chose Councilman Tom Segrave to be their new president and Councilman Pete Laybourn as vice president. I look forward to serving with them in 2026.
The City and County have a partnership with the United Way of Laramie County. We call it the Human Services Advisory Committee (HASC). The City and County dedicate a small percentage of our 5th Penny sales tax funds to invest in nonprofits in our community that are helping so many that need help. The United Way has the expertise to make sure our limited dollars are invested to make the maximum impact on our community, and a team to look at the outcomes to make sure our resources are well spent. We learned at our meeting this week that donations to nonprofits are down and demand for services is up – not the math equation we were hoping for. This year we had four new agencies asking for financial help and after the interview process they were added to the list of agencies funded by the HASC. The City and County have held back a portion of our HASC funding as a reserve. We have pledged to provide some of these reserve funds to help the agencies doing the work every day in our community for the next year. During this holiday season, please consider donating to the United Way or the agency of your choice.
Last year, City Council passed an ordinance creating a stormwater fee. The collected fees would be dedicated to maintaining our extensive drainage system and making improvements to that system to improve the safety of our community. I appreciate that there are those who may disagree with the fee, but I am disappointed by some in our community who are blatantly sending out misleading information on the program. Every property in Cheyenne benefits from our stormwater system. Over the years, the City’s stormwater infrastructure has grown and we’ve absorbed infrastructure created as part of past developments. This all takes money to maintain to ensure the system works correctly. I met with a couple of City Council members and our drainage experts to talk about how to best address the misinformation and educate our residents and business community. City Engineer Tom Cobb will be hosting a community meeting at the library on Tuesday, Dec. 16, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. This is a great opportunity for you to hear directly about our stormwater program and related fees. You can also learn more about our stormwater program at www.cheyennecity.org/stormwater.
The 6th Penny sales tax has kept me busy this week. The current tax is scheduled to end in the new year, and we have started planning for the upcoming election. City Council has been holding work sessions on the proposed projects to understand the needs of our departments and give the public a first glance at our priorities. Albin, Burns, Pine Bluffs, Laramie County, and Cheyenne are all working to prepare our project lists. Early in the new year, we will all get together to craft the ballot propositions we will vote on in the 2026 election. I look forward to getting out in the community to share the projects once the final list has been selected and answer the questions of why they are important for Cheyenne’s future.
Judy and I have been focused on getting more events and experiences in our lives. She heard Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits would be at the Candlelight Dinner Theater and we went on Wednesday night. “I’m Henry the VIII, I Am,” “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter,” and “Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat” are some of my favorites of their songs. I wasn’t sure how Peter Noone would be 60 years after they were part of the British invasion of the 1960s, but he was so much fun. Still has a great voice and his humor made the night. Great date night!