The Mayor’s Minute from Mayor Patrick Collins – June 27, 2025
Published on June 27, 2025
Last week, I asked for your help in keeping our community looking good by keeping the weeds and grass mowed. This week’s plea is for Cheyenne to slow down. City Council made neighborhood safety a priority during their goal setting this year. Every council member discussed the numerous concerns their constituents shared with them regarding unsafe speeds. I have witnessed it happen time and again while driving down the road - the cars behind me get agitated and race past me at the first opportunity. Wednesday evening, I joined Officer Womack as he patrolled our streets as a member of the traffic enforcement squad. We set up on a busy neighborhood street and used LIDAR to monitor speeds. In a four-hour shift, we found many drivers going at or below the speed limit of 30 mph – thank you to those drivers. We also had a dozen cars that our radar system caught going over 40 mph. On Tuesday, he clocked several cars going over 55 mph and one going 60! I can tell you the folks we pulled over were shocked by the $200 to $300 tickets they received. Life is busy and we are all in a hurry. Please join City Council and I in our goal to make our community safer by slowing down and driving the speed limit.
Fridays on the Plaza saw a huge crowd this week with Chingy headlining the show. The weather was perfect and he had the crowd mesmerized. Our City team earned their keep as we had a dozen people that needed medical attention due to heat, but our firefighters were there to serve. The money that is raised by beer sales goes to the maintenance of our historic depot building. I hope you will find time this summer to come to the plaza to see one of the free shows. Special shout out to our Community Recreation & Events team that plans and puts on Fridays on the Plaza. It is a huge effort, and they always make it look polished and professional.
Judy and I joined Gov. Gordon at Martin Luther King Jr. Park to celebrate Juneteenth. 160 years ago, the last slaves in Texas learned they were free, ending the stain of slavery in America. Every year, a group gathers in MLK Park to remember and celebrate the historic events with food and fellowship. The governor read and signed a proclamation from the state, and a great time was had by all.
Later that day, 15th Street was absolutely packed with the Cheyenne Pride event. Judy and I enjoyed the colorful displays, comradery, and the energy of the crowd. Even the 90-degree heat couldn’t keep people from getting together and enjoying each other’s company. We appreciated the invitation.
The city bought the Belvoir Ranch in 2003. It has been our goal to get the ranch open to the public that owns it for some time now. Construction of our new trail system and trailhead is almost complete. We had a meeting with Laramie County Public Works, Laramie County Fire District 10 Chief Pomeroy, Chief Caughey from the Laramie County Fire Authority, and members of City staff to discuss safety planning once the trails are open. The site poses challenges with communications and the remoteness of the location. I left the meeting encouraged and thankful for the amazing first responders we have in the county. Look for the trails to open in late summer.
The Joint Appropriations Committee of the Legislature met this week and one of the items on their agenda was funding of local governments. Every biennium, we must go to the Capitol and work with the Legislature for what is around 10% of our funding. This uncertainty makes long-term planning a challenge and puts our financing in jeopardy each session. Currently, 30% of the first four pennies of sales tax is distributed to local governments. The plan presented by the Wyoming Association of Municipalities and the Wyoming County Commissioners Association proposed giving local government an additional 8% of the sales tax collections. The hope is it will replace the direct funding of local governments by the Legislature each budget session and give us a predictable, long term funding source. It is a great start.
Cheyenne has been blessed with many companies making huge capital investments in our community, and I am so appreciative. With the warm weather, my office has heard many concerns about the noise coming from data centers that are mining Bitcoin. Neighbors are opening their windows at night to sleep or working in their yards, and the noise is hurting their quality of life. I wanted to share that the concerns have been heard, and we are working with the company to remediate the noise. Today, sound barrier walls are being installed. Until those are installed, they are operating at 50% capacity to reduce noise. We have their commitment to be good neighbors as quickly as possible.
You know one of my top priorities is building enough affordable housing that everyone in Cheyenne has a place to live that fits their budget. My Chief of Staff, Amber, and I toured a new development in Fort Collins built by Care Communities. Kim, Steve from Care, and Tim from Palace Construction gave us a tour and helped us understand the incredibly diverse funding sources that must be found to bring a 72-unit complex to the community. They are using funding sources not currently used in Cheyenne or Wyoming. It gives me hope that we can develop similar collaborations and start meeting our affordable housing challenge.
Thursday was an emotional day for me. I attended the funeral for Seth Souter, a 27-year-old Cheyenne Police officer at the Civic Center in the morning. Seth grew up in a small California town and followed his grandfather into the Marine Corps. After serving two tours in the Middle East, he became a Laramie County Sheriff’s Deputy before finally choosing to serve Cheyenne as one of our police officers. He continued his military service as a member of the Army National Guard. It broke my heart hearing his former Marine, police and family members speak of what he meant to them. One message I want you all to hear is if you are struggling, please ask for help. Marines, soldiers, and police officers are tough, but we all need to take care of ourselves and each other by asking for and giving help when needed. Rest in peace, Seth.
The Civic Center witnessed a much different ceremony later in the afternoon. We gathered to honor Cheyenne Fire Rescue’s Fire Chief, John Kopper, on his retirement after 33 years in the fire service. We also welcomed and congratulated Chief Andrew Dykshorn as our next Fire Chief. I shared my thanks for the transformational job Chief Kopper has done with our fire department over the past four and a half years. Today our fire department is much changed and for the better. The relationship with the Union is in a good place, three new fire stations have been built, our fire engine fleet has been modernized, a wildland program has been developed, we have our own recruit academy that trains recruits from around the state, and the department has received international accreditation (one of just over 300 departments in the world). I thanked both chiefs’ families for their support and sacrifice over the years. Please thank Chief Kopper for his tremendous service to our residents and welcome Chief Dykshorn. Cheyenne Fire Rescue is in a great place today.
A quick shout out to Rep. Bob Nicholas for his interest and help in finding ways to build affordable housing. He stopped by the office to discuss some ideas he has to help Cheyenne. Thanks, sir.