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Mayor status report [Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, Cheyenne]
(Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (Cheyenne, WY) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) May 10--CHEYENNE -- Susan Keenan's fourth-grade class at Anderson Elementary had sent a packet to the mayor's office.
As part of their lesson in writing proper business letters, the children told Mayor Rick Kaysen what they liked about their lives in Cheyenne. Many cited its parks and friendly people.
They also told him how the city could be improved -- among them a recreation center, a build-a-bear store, a TGI Friday's restaurant and a zoo.
Most grownups aren't very different from this group of 10-year-olds when it comes to their mayor. While he gets the VIP treatment, Cheyenne style, just about everywhere he goes, there's a built-in expectation that he will work hard to make their city a better place to live.
Four months have passed since Kaysen took office -- about 8 percent of his four-year term.
In that time he has read and responded to more than 1,000 e-mails, attended more than 500 meetings, signed about 1,000 new and renewed business licenses and permits and has taken one trip to Washington, D.C.
Fellow politicians are giving him high marks.
Kaysen is doing a fine job as mayor, Councilman Jim Brown said.
Councilwoman Judy Case was often at odds with Kaysen's predecessor, Jack Spiker. So far, she's happy with Kaysen.
"He has an openness," she said. "He does not have a closed door like the former administration.
"He's listening. He's acting on input from all the council members rather than just a select few."
Brown also sees a difference in Kaysen: He's quiet.
"What makes me nervous is he keeps everything pretty close to the vest as far as the council is concerned," Brown said, adding that he had shared this concern with Kaysen.
Laramie County Commissioner Jeff Ketcham said his body has met with Kaysen once a month -- something it hasn't done with past mayors.
For instance, they've talked about drainage issues near the Saddle Ridge subdivision near Allison Road -- where the city meets the county. To pay for the fix, they've talked about forming a partnership between city, county and developers.
These regular talks keep the two entities informed about each other's issues before they become a crises, Ketcham said.
"Prevention is always better than treatment," he said.
The economy seems to have had the biggest impact on the new mayor's agenda. One focus of this has been the city's budget.
As sales tax revenues have come lower than projections, he has employed penny-pinching measures and has kept a cap on hiring.
The other focus is economic development. He has advocated for a handful economic projects with mixed success.
Garbage fix
Kaysen also continues to look at the possibility of turning the city's trash into electricity.
The Happy Jack landfill is closed, except for construction and demolition waste. The city now hauls its garbage to northern Colorado. Meanwhile, it owns land at the Belvoir Ranch, which could hold a new landfill.
But Kaysen says once that hole is build in the ground, future generations will be responsible for monitoring and maintaining it, even after it accepts its final load of garbage.
A regional incinerator could be the answer, he says. To him, this is a long-term solution to a landfill and a form of recycling.
The mayor has had talks with engineering firms that could help the city see whether its garbage would translate into the amount of kilowatt-hours to make it worthwhile. Such a feasibility study could cost about $50,000.
He also has talked to potential partners -- including his former employer, Cheyenne Light Fuel and Power.
The incinerator would have to be on a plot of land near transmission lines. Kaysen said he has a site in mind, but he declined to be more specific than that.
Economic development
Kaysen has gone to bat for at least three economic development projects but struck out twice.
Still, Randy Bruns, CEO of Cheyenne LEADS, the city-county economic development corporation, said Kaysen has been "attentive, responsive and thorough" in his efforts.
Kaysen reportedly did succeed in brokering an agreement with the state to beautify a stretch of West Lincolnway -- a major entryway to Cheyenne.
With a supercomputer going in at North Range Business Park west of town, it's more important than ever to make a good impression on visitors and prospective developers, city leaders say.
But plans to make the stretch of road easier on the eyes were in jeopardy earlier this spring.
The Wyoming Department of Transportation announced it would rebuild the five-mile stretch of road several years sooner than planned, thanks to federal stimulus money.
But WYDOT had no money to add the landscaped median and accent lighting that economic development officials have long pushed for.
So Kaysen and WYDOT officials had "candid and cooperative" talks, he said, to find a way to keep aesthetics on the project by finding $1.8 million.
"It was huge, and (Kaysen) worked hard to find solutions," Bruns said.
In the end, WYDOT agreed to contribute $1 million in other stimulus money toward the project.
In return, the city would pay for the rest, maintain the plants and trees in the median and plow the snow from Westland Road west to Interstate 80.
But Kaysen hasn't been as lucky in other economic development efforts.
He traveled with city and state leaders to Washington, D.C. to make a case that F.E. Warren Air Force Base was the perfect place to build a new command center for nuclear missiles and jet wings.
It would have meant 1,000 jobs for Cheyenne, but instead the Air Force chose the Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.
Nor could Kaysen convince developers to stay with a Marriott extended stay hotel on the downtown burn site along West Lincolnway. That was after another developer pulled out of the neighboring Hynds building.
Councilman Brown, who sat in that final meeting, said Kaysen pitched a number of ideas to the developers in hopes of keeping the project afloat. But other factors, such as the poor economy, were stacked against the project.
"(Kaysen) was all for keeping the Marriott at all costs," Brown said. "He did well on negotiations. But it just wasn't meant to be."
In the meantime, to fill the hole in the high-profile area left by a 2004 fire -- until someone else decides to build there -- Kaysen got the Marriott developer, who owns most of that land, to allow the city to turn it into a park.
A downtown task force that Kaysen talked about during his campaign is on hold for now since the Downtown Development Authority is in the midst of strategic planning.
Kaysen said downtown is still a priority. Economically, it's a tributary that "bursts out into the rest of the community," he added.
Budget
The bad economy has definitely made its impact felt on the city's budget.
Because people aren't spending as much money as hoped, the city's budget is $821,000 short of projected sales tax revenues.
Things don't look much brighter for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
The Wyoming Department of Revenue warns local governments that falling natural-gas and oil prices will mean less money for them. City treasurer Barb Dorr said one estimate shows a $750,000 cut.
Meanwhile, when the fiscal year begins July 1, the city's budget will be flat compared to the year before at $51.7 million.
To make ends meet, Kaysen says there will be no raises for city employees next year.
And residents may have to pay higher fees, though that in itself won't be a "savior" to the budget, he said.
Also, he says he has been "nickel and dimeing" the current budget.
A moratorium on new hires -- aside from essential personnel such as sanitation workers and police -- that was begun by Spiker continues.
Travel is allowed only for certification purposes. If a department wants to buy equipment, it must pass Kaysen's review.
Small changes also help, he said. Removing six pay phones and switching the employee newsletter to an electronic format will save a total of $12,000, he said.
Case said Spiker "spent money in a haphazard fashion," meaning Kaysen "is going to be left with a lot of problems."
She cited potholes in the streets, an archaic phone system that fails to identify the Municipal Building on caller ID and not enough staff and equipment to clear snow.
On May 13, the council and Kaysen will meet to talk about his draft budget.
"I'm anxious to give Kaysen the opportunity to show his stuff," Case said.
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