WHY CITY COUNCIL AND MAYORS MATTER

There are 99 municipalities (towns and cities) within Wyoming, ranging in size from Cheyenne, with a population of approximately 66,580 residents, to Lost Springs with a grand total of 3 (or 4, depending on the day). Each and every one of these towns is governed by individuals elected to city councils. A city council is responsible for making the major decisions that impact the town and its residents.

Mayors are also members of the city council, but their role and responsibilities vary from town to town. In some municipalities such as Casper, Laramie and Rawlins, mayors are just members of the city council, elected by the council. They don’t have additional executive responsibilities. For the vast majority of Wyoming towns, mayors are elected directly by the people: they take on additional responsibilities that include overseeing the day-to-day affairs of the city or town.

Your city council makes decisions that can have a pretty immediate impact on everyday life. They decide how your community grows, how local tax dollars are spent, what public services are provided, and what rules govern your community. City councils have broad authority to make policies and laws that shape the places we live.

Wyoming’s city councils and mayors...

• decide how towns spend their budget.
• oversees municipal services and infrastructure such as streets, water, and trash collection.
• make decisions about local parks and other community amenities.
• adopt local ordinances that govern everything from public safety to how properties can be used.
• make decisions about zoning, development and where new homes and businesses can be built.
• approve major contracts, projects and other agreements on behalf of the municipality.

FOR EXAMPLE...

The city of Cheyenne has been grappling with rapid expansion of data centers with an estimated 40 to 70 new data centers being planned. Earlier this year the Cheyenne City Council rejected a temporary pause on these plans, allowing the early phases of their planning to move forward. Over the summer the city council recently approved the annexation of nearly 3,500 acres of land that Microsoft plans to use for future data center development.

Unlike Cheyenne, the Casper’s City Council took a different approach to address concerns about the rising number of gambling facilities in the city and approved a 180 day pause on the expansion of gambling. This was done to give them time to evaluate the industry and come up with solutions that benefited the community and those looking to open businesses in town.

Laramie has long grappled with a lack of affordable housing that can accommodate both college students and residents. In ongoing efforts to address this problem the city council has taken many steps to make housing more affordable by passing measures that reduced parking requirements, allowed for “granny flats” in backyards, changed restrictive zoning rules and other regulations. Over the summer they have taken additional steps to incentivize housing and apartment development.

Neighboring towns of Douglas and Glenrock are debating whether the use of Flock cameras and other controversial automatic license plate readers should be implemented in their communities. Glenrock, which had a previous contract with Flock, has asked for a 30 day extension on renewing the 2-year $30,000 contract, after community members expressed concerns about the cameras at a recent meeting. Meanwhile Douglas’ city council recently discussed the police department's decision to install plate readers in their vehicles.