Casper Council Chooses New Member to Represent Ward I

At the Casper City Council meeting on Tuesday, they selected Jai-Ayla Quest to represent Ward I, following the resignation of council member Khrystyn Lutz due to her and her family moving to Lander.

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Council interviewed nine different candidates for the position, after Garrett Poste withdrew their nomination, with prospective members submitting their resumes along with participating in a public interview in front of council.

During the interview, candidates all answered the same five questions they had received ahead of time: explain why you want to serve on city council, describe your qualifications and how they will benefit Casper, how have you been following the council’s activity lately, what issues does city council face at this time, are you willing to run for re-election in 2022, and what is your availability to serve in council meetings and board meeting throughout the week and the month.

Quest participated virtually and talked about the work she's done, as someone with a degree in international relations, working for non-profits like the Stanley Center for Peace and Security, where she helped prevent incidents of mass violence.

Quest talked about how she hoped to take her experience working for non-profits to help make sure everyone in the community feels safe and secure.

"It's proven that communities that invest in their people, protect them, provide a variety of economic opportunities, give them equal access to services and justice, they have better indicators for peace and prosperities. Those are the communities that people want to live and work."

Council also interviewed a variety of candidates from Zarryn Hinchen, who is on the younger side and talked about how he may be young but hoped his degree in political science would help, to John Minchow, who has lived in Casper for the past 69 years and has worked as a project manager for various companies since 1979.

There were also a few former council members who interviewed for the job, from Jacqueline Anderson, who served on the council in 2000 and has seen the changes that have taken place in Casper over the years to Kimberly Holloway, who served on council from 2009 to 2013 currently works as a lawyer in Casper.