Casper City Council members tentatively chose Vice Mayor Ray Pacheco for mayor in 2018, and council member Charlie Powell as vice mayor.

The nine council members selected Pacheco and Powell during a nonbinding straw poll by secret ballot during their work session Tuesday.

Casper City Manager Carter Napier said council will make the decisions formal in a minute item on its agenda for the first meeting of the New Year.

Mayor Kenyne Humphrey will join the other council members. She announced earlier this year that she did not intend to run for re-election in 2018.

Pacheco, who represents Ward 3, was elected to the council in 2014. He unsuccessfully ran in the Republican Primary in 2016 to represent House District 57.

Powell is a long-time council member and was mayor in 2015.

The position of mayor is a first-among-equals title. The mayor oversees meetings, acts as the face for the city, and appears at community functions.

The council hires the city manager to oversee the operations of city functions including law enforcement, fire protection, water and sewer utilities, and streets.

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