The Mayor’s Minute from Mayor Patrick Collins – July 17, 2026

Published on July 17, 2026

The 20th Air Force is headquartered right here in Cheyenne on F.E. Warren Air Force Base. The commander is a two-star general that is responsible for the intercontinental ballistic missiles on alert in North Dakota; Montana; and here in southeast Wyoming, western Nebraska, and northeastern Colorado. Commanding one third of our nuclear triad is a challenging job where more than 12,000 Airmen work every hour of every day to provide our country the deterrence that helps keep the peace. This week, Major General Stacy Jo Huser retired after a long and distinguished career and gave up command to Major General Colin Connor. General Connor has spent the past couple of years directing the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Modernization, Site Activation Task Force. In other words, he has been leading the new Sentinel Missile program that will be first installed on our base, making him a great selection to lead the 20th. It was an honor to have General Davis, Commander of Air Force Global Strike here to preside over the ceremony. He commands the 20th Air Force and 8th Air Force, two-thirds of our nuclear triad. The 8th is the group the commands the nation’s bombers. We had a Chamber of Commerce Day for the outdoor ceremony with a huge crowd to wish Stacy Jo goodbye and good luck with her retirement and welcome Colin Connor to Cheyenne.

The retirement ceremony for General Huser was held at the Lincoln Theater. It was a perfect venue. First, the upstairs chairs were completely filled with folks who came from around the country to share the event with General Huser’s family. It was not the normal formal ceremony, but one where friends helped with different aspects and lots of laughs and cheers. After the retirement ceremony, food and music were downstairs where everyone could catch up with long missed Air Force friends made through a long career. The missile career is a small community with great friends made over the years. Stacy Jo and her husband, Tim, have been stationed here multiple times and I want to thank them for their service to our country and their friendship and support of so many people here in Cheyenne. I am excited they have chosen to stay here, at least as long as their daughter is in school. It was great to see everyone and share in her big day.

Wyoming is an agricultural state, and Laramie County ranks second in our state for agricultural business activity. This week I met with a company that is being started to support that activity in our county, state, and nation – American Fertilizer. They hope to manufacture nitrogen fertilizer to reduce the country’s dependence on imports. I am excited by the opportunity to create quality local jobs, use our locally-sourced natural gas to create value-added products, and meet a national need. We are a long way from the finish line, but it is great to be in the race.

For 95 years, Cheyenne Frontier Days has selected a young lady to represent the rodeo as Miss Frontier. The Coronation Ball was held on Saturday evening and 15 former Miss Frontiers were there to support this year’s Miss Frontier Katherine Olson, and her Lady-In-Waiting, MeadowAnn King. I have watched them act as ambassadors for Cheyenne and our rodeo all around the region and witnessed the impact they have, especially on young fans. They shared how much support the family has given them during their reign: loading the trailer, saddling a horse, packing a snack, anything they need. Judy and I enjoyed our time with them and hope they have a great show!

Summer is a busy time at F.E. Warren with 19 changes of command scheduled this year. I attended the last two on Monday. The Jolly Rogers of the 90th Operations Group saw Colonel Jeffrey Regan relinquish command to Colonel Katherine Mack.

Later in the day, I witnessed a bit of history as the 90th Medical Group was retired and the F.E. Warren Medical Group was established. The guidon from the 90th Medical Group was furled and retired, and the new F.E. Warren Medical Group guidon was unfurled and placed in service. Colonel Angela Manning relinquished command and Colonel Ryan Gassman assumed it.

Judy and I wish Colonel Regan and Colonel Manning the best in their new Air Force roles, and welcome Colonel Mack and Colonel Gassman to Cheyenne – just in time for Frontier Days.

City Council’s meeting Monday night lasted 7 hours, 46 minutes, and I got home just after 2:00 in the morning. The topic of the night – data centers. Microsoft asked City Council to annex almost 3,500 acres of land to allow for future development. Council heard hours of testimony, including from many who shared their concerns about the recent data center developments. The Governing Body approved the annexation and related zone change by a vote of 7 to 3. I know City Council heard the concerns, and we will work hard to ensure the questions and concerns expressed are addressed as the developments proceed.

You know I don’t like early morning meetings – 8 a.m. after an almost eight-hour city council meeting came way too fast. Good news: the meeting was with BNSF to discuss our Reed Avenue Corridor project and the timeline to get the final approvals necessary before we can start the project. After years of planning and working together, we are on the same page and moving the project forward. The project benefits the railroad with four intersections being closed to improve safety, and the City benefits with permission to do a project that will create public-private investments in west Cheyenne. It is an exciting project.

Judge Ronn Jeffrey gave me an update on his committee’s work updating our juvenile justice ordinances. Ronn reported that the committee has completed their report and the draft has been sent to the City for review. I appreciate the team for donating so much time and expertise to the effort.

I am excited by the attention that all the development happening in Cheyenne is bringing to our community. One example is my meeting this week with a housing developer from northern Wyoming. They heard all that we have going on and are looking to invest in our housing market. I enjoyed the coffee and the opportunity to brag about the work our city council has done to make building housing easier in Cheyenne. To build a workforce, we need housing for them to live.

The Metropolitan Planning Organization is a regional committee that is dedicated to planning the future transportation network for our urban area. The policy committee is made up of the WYDOT District Engineer Ralph Tarango, County Commissioner Don Hollingshead, and me representing the Mayor’s Office. The policy committee met this week to change our Unified Planning Work Program or UPWP. The change would add a new planning effort to study and add to our transportation master plan the necessary roadways to support all the large scale industrial and commercial development happening mainly in the southeast part of our community. This expedited plan would allow us to preserve and plan for ingress and egress to these industrial areas and protect our neighborhoods from the construction traffic. I appreciate the MPO and WYDOT for their understanding of the need and bringing this proposal to the policy committee.