Cheyenne Mayor Opposes City Administrator

Cheyenne Mayor Rick Kaysen says he "can't support" the proposal to change the city government to one where most day-to-day decisions are made by an appointed city administrator.

The mayor has, until now, publicly maintained a neutral stance on the proposal, which goes before voters in a November 10th special election.

But the mayor on Tuesday said there are too many unanswered questions about the city administrator proposal that was passed by the Cheyenne City Council. Kaysen says one big issue is that, 'We don't know what the price tag is going to be."

Supporters of the proposal claim it could save the city 10% annually, but Kaysen says the bottom line is that no one really knows what the financial impact of such a change would be.

He also says the proposal that was passed by the council leaves a lot of unanswered questions about the powers and responsibilities of the administrator versus those of the mayor. He adds, "If I'm going to cast a vote,I'd like to know what the heck those details are."

While the mayor hasn't previously taken a public position on the city administrator proposal, he did vote against it in city council meetings earlier this year, and has repeatedly said he has concerns about what he sees as a lack of clarity and detail in the proposed ordinance.

The Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce, which has been the biggest supporter of the proposal, says the local economy is being hurt by what they see as excessive development fees and other issues they say make it difficult to do business in Cheyenne.

They argue an appointed administrator would "take the politics" out of city decisions and lead to a more efficient and business-friendly city government.