The Mayor’s Minute from Mayor Patrick Collins – Aug. 15, 2025

Published on August 15, 2025

One of my personal goals I’ve previously shared is to work on improving the quality of life in Cheyenne by increasing our indoor recreation opportunities. Winters here are tough with cool temperatures and brisk winds. It’s hard to get outside to recreate so indoor recreation facilities become important during these times. This week, I met with a consultant on indoor recreation. It was so interesting to learn what is happening across the nation and ways communities are bringing new indoor recreation facilities online. We have made some progress with the recent addition of the Beast and our Gymnastics facilities. More to come.

The City has partnered with Habitat for Humanity on a project they named “Pronghorn Crossing.” Dan Dorsch, Habitat’s executive director, stopped by to share an update on the project and to talk about the future. Infrastructure is currently being installed on this affordable housing development, and construction of the first few homes will start next year. Getting families into home ownership is transformational and I am proud of the progress Habitat is making.

I was invited by the football coaching staff from South High School to a barbeque and to speak with the team. Gov. Gordon and I enjoyed meeting the athletes and the 12 coaches who are bringing a new culture and excitement to the program. I have found participating in athletics is not only fun, but it helps prepare the athletes for their future in the workforce. Athletes know how to be part of a team and to support their teammates, attributes that will make them great employees. I wish the team and coaches much success this season.

Cheyenne has a wonderful asset that I think goes a bit under the radar. Dr. Joe Schaffer is the president of Laramie County Community College, and I attended his State of the College address. The campus is beautiful this time of year. The upgrades to the exterior of the original building have made a huge improvement to the campus’ curb appeal. In addition to the tangible improvements, Dr. Schaffer outlined the more impressive changes LCCC has made in student outcomes. He also shared the challenges the college is facing with reduced revenues and how they are doing so much more with less. From training our future healthcare workers to helping high school students get a head start on their college careers to technical training, LCCC is making a difference. They are well on their way to meeting their goal of being the “Best Known Higher Education Value in a 350-mile radius.”  Congratulations, LCCC!

Our Critical Traffic Control Program Committee met again this week to review speeds on Central Avenue between 8th Avenue and Pershing Boulevard. The good news is speeds are starting to slow down. The bad news is too many drivers are still speeding with 26% of cars going over the speed limit. Law enforcement has stopped 359 vehicles for speeding here, and with fines doubled in this section, it hurts. The committee voted to continue the special enforcement on Central Avenue. Please slow down, Cheyenne.

The Governing Body approved a partnership between the City and LEADS at our meeting this week. LEADS will manage a revolving loan fund that we hope will see the downtown hole filled and the Hynds Building brought back to life. The owner of these properties is excited by this public/private partnership and has a good plan for development. Fingers crossed this is the secret sauce that will finally bring an end to the 20-year saga that started with a fire in Mary’s Bake Shop.

I love to play golf and I got the chance to play in the LEADS golf tournament this week. I was joined by Councilman Segrave, former Councilman Beeman, and retired Cheyenne firefighter Fox, and it was a great day. I wish I could say we won, but the weather was perfect and so was the company.

Councilman Rinne and I traveled to Casper to testify before the Joint Corporations Committee of the Wyoming Legislature. The committee had a few items on their agenda that were of interest. Public records and freedom of information requests were big ones. I understand our responsibility to be transparent and to provide public information in a timely manner to the public. I find it interesting that in 2024, we had 3,991 public records requests. Most are simple and can be handled in less than an hour. Unfortunately, companies and individuals across the country are making complicated data mining requests that really stress our staff and take many hours. They then take the information and sell it. I asked the committee to help us by finding a way to reduce these kinds of requests. We will meet again in November, and I am hopeful research will find the answer.

The WCDA did a nice job of talking about our housing challenges across the state. I asked the committee to help us build more affordable housing by creating a funding source to help finance these projects. I also brought up the shortage of employees in the trades and ways we might be able to increase apprenticeships and the trade workforce. The lack of attainable housing is killing our economy in Wyoming. It is exciting the committee is taking a look at the housing challenge.

Cheyenne is a member of the Wyoming Association of Municipalities and I was recently elected to the board. A bill was discussed that would have defunded the association by preventing municipalities from using funds to pay for membership. Wyoming’s 99 municipalities have joined together to fund WAM, and we get so much help in training, education, and an opportunity to share ideas and experiences. Thankfully the committee understood the value and voted not to support the bill in the upcoming legislative session. One good thing that came out of the discussion was our responsibility to be transparent in how taxpayer funds are being spent by WAM, and we will make sure that happens.

When you dial 911, you expect an immediate answer and help to be on the way. The committee discussed the challenges our 911 centers face with aging technology and increasing costs that are not being covered by the surcharge on our phones. This is a complicated problem. We need a short-term solution to stabilize the system across the state and a longer-term solution to upgrade to the more modern E-911 system in the future. The committee will study the 911 system’s needs a bit more and take up the issue again in November.

Today is the last Fridays on the Plaza concert. The Wallflowers are playing, and it should be epic. I want to thank our staff that work all day setting up and late into the night to clean up. This is the 20th season and our whole team has rocked this year. I hope to see you on the Plaza.