The Mayor’s Minute from Mayor Patrick Collins – March 6, 2026
Published on March 06, 2026
It is a sad truth that while funerals are somber occasions, they are also a time to reconnect with family. Judy and I spent the weekend in Texas for her aunt’s funeral. She lived for 91 years, and it was a celebration of a great life well-lived. It was so nice for Judy and I to reconnect with cousins and family. They are spread out around the country, and we are looking forward to visiting them. The one thing that I hate about getting older is we lose the generations that came before us. We sure miss them all.
The Legislature has a Select Water Committee that was created to focus on water issues – so important to Wyoming. This week, they met to discuss topics to be focused on during the summer interim. I attended the committee meeting to ask that the committee study the stormwater issue this summer that has been the focus of much attention recently. Cheyenne is in the process of repealing our fee ordinance and we hope to be part of the discussion this summer to find a way to fund stormwater maintenance in the future. I see stormwater infrastructure as public safety infrastructure. Working together, I am optimistic we will figure out the funding challenges. The committee voted to make stormwater their number one priority for the interim.
Did you know that our Meals on Wheels affiliate serves over 500 meals a day? I did a proclamation and spent time packing meals with their team this week. It takes 50 to 60 volunteers a day to make the meals and get them delivered. At an all-in cost of around $12 per meal, it takes a real team effort every day to make sure people facing food insecurity get their daily meal. I love that they now have a program to also deliver pet food for their clients who need help feeding their furry companions. I met volunteers who have spent years at Meals on Wheels and have a passion for the mission. It is not just food that the Meals on Wheels team delivers, but they also help with the loneliness that so many of their clients face. It is an amazing organization. If you have time and want to serve people who are really appreciative, give Meals on Wheels a try.
The Reed Avenue Corridor is a dirt road from Lincolnway to 23rd Street with a railroad track running down the middle. In 1908, the City gave the right-of-way to the Colorado Railroad to give them access to the warehouses in west Cheyenne. At that time, most goods were delivered by rail. Today, the last mile of goods delivery is usually made by truck, and Reed Avenue is no longer being used as it was 100 years ago. We hope to transform the corridor into a showplace where we can bring the old warehouses back to useful life. We met with the property team from the BNSF to talk more about the railroad giving the City permission to build out our dream. The railroad is interested in improving the safety of the corridor, and the proposal to close 17th, 18th, and 21st streets at Reed meets their goal. We are working with their team on getting our plans approved through the railroad process – a year-long timeframe – and then we hope to get started. Bringing life to the West Edge is so exciting.
Housing was celebrated at a Legislative Luncheon held at the Capitol this week. Habitat for Humanity, the Southeast Wyoming Builders Association, the WEDA, and the WCDA hosted people working in the housing industry and legislators from around the state. I really enjoyed talking with builders and meeting people focused on affordable housing. If Wyoming is going to break out of our economic funk, we need to build enough attainable workforce housing to recruit the employees needed to take the jobs. I am so proud of the work our planning department and city council have done to reduce the regulatory hurdles that constrain housing in many other communities in the country.
I am always interested in why people move to Cheyenne from around the country and I love hearing how people found our community and made the decision to make their home here. Michael Sanchez and his wife have visited for a number of years and fell in love with Cheyenne. They retired and made Cheyenne their new home. We had an opening in our city prosecutor’s office and we hired Michael, who brings 30 years of experience to our team. I am thankful Michael made the decision to move to Cheyenne and bring his expertise to our municipal court.
I received an email from a student from the University of California Berkley asking to talk about our experience with data centers for her master’s thesis. I enjoyed talking to her about how Wyoming is protecting the residents and small businesses of Cheyenne from increasing electric bills by requiring data centers to pay 100% of the cost to build their electric infrastructure. We also talked about how we require data centers to use technology and not water to cool their servers. I asked her to send me the report when it is finished. I am interested in learning about how data centers are perceived around the country and best practices she finds.
Our fire chief, Andy Dykshorn, has served the residents of Cheyenne for 25 years. He and his wife came by so we could congratulate and thank him for his long service to our community. Jennifer made me laugh when she described how they met. Chief Dykshorn comes from a family that chose a life of community service. Cheyenne is blessed with many employees like Chief Dykshorn who are called to serve and do it for years. Thank you, Chief!
Freedom Elementary School is special because almost all the students come from our military families. Read Across America is held the week of Dr. Seuss’ birthday, and I was invited to be the guest reader on Thursday. I read a book I had never read before, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go.” Reading a Dr. Seuss book for the first time in front of hundreds of kids is fun and challenging. The way he wrote in tongue twisting verse makes you really pay attention. I like to talk with the kids about the message in the books and about what I do as mayor. Thank you for the invitation.
We began negotiations with the fire union on the new labor contract this week. After years of meeting on a regular basis, I have come to appreciate the time we spend together. Negotiations are always tough. The union is negotiating for their 100 member firefighters, and I have to think about the entire city and all our employees. We are far apart as is normal at the beginning, and I am hopeful we will find the middle ground that is fair from both perspectives.
It is starting to snow as I write this on Thursday evening. I am so thankful for the moisture we are receiving this week. It’s been a while since we have had to drive in the snow, so take it slow and easy. Getting there safely is more important than getting there fast. I hope this is the first of many small snows and rains.