A deception on Cheyenne's streets

Mayor, councilman can't solve problem by robbing sixth-penny proposal

By D. Reed Eckhardt
If you think breaking into the sixth-penny piggy bank to fix Cheyenne's streets will have any real effect on this city's pothole problem, you had better think again.

Mayor Marian Orr and Councilman Pete Laybourn, who are leading this effort, are hoodwinking you in several ways. First, the proposal to shift money around in the sixth-penny ballot proposal to free up about $6 million will have no impact on city streets in the short term.

In fact, even if the council takes the proposed action, and if the voters approve it in May, it will be four or five years before the money comes in. That's a lot of time for the city's streets to worsen.

But perhaps the bigger misrepresentation is that this money will have any lasting impact when it does come in. This $6 million is non-recurring -- that means Orr can spend it one time, and one time only. The problem is, Cheyenne has a $3 million recurring shortfall in road work. That means that in four years, the city will be another $12 million behind on streets. Thus, by the time Orr gets the money, it won't come close to filling the city's needs. And after it is gone, what? The deficit only will continue to grow.

This effort is an embarrassing sleight of hand. Orr and Laybourn promise $6 million, mostly to satisfy those people who put them into office. But this is not a real solution, and both the mayor and councilman know that. They are acutely aware that it is going to take another funding source -- a recurring source -- to fix the streets. During the recent campaign, Orr pointed to the state for the answer. But if she actually believes the Legislature is going to come to Cheyenne's rescue, she is delusional. Wyoming's budget crunch means the state is not going to have money for localities for a long, long time.

Unfortunately, Orr painted herself into a corner when she ran for mayor by saying "never" to a seventh penny, or part of a seventh penny, tax. Yet she can't cut her way to finding this needed revenue, so she turns to this sixth-penny illusion instead. An unwillingness to speak the truth is bad government and poor leadership,

Finally, this effort to rob the sixth penny will slow local efforts to built the community for the future.

One critical project that would be jettisoned is the development of trails at the Belvoir Ranch. That is foolish. This relatively modest proposal would open to residents access to trails around the Big Hole. It's a way to start turning the Belvoir into a recreation Mecca that could attract young people here. Laybourn said during the campaign that is not needed; that Curt Gowdy serves the same purpose. But that state park is not pulling in young people here now, so what will be different when Belvoir remains fallow?

It is disappointing to see the City Council even consider trading Cheyenne's future for a fruitless effort to create $6 million for streets. So there will be no development at Belvoir, and the millions will be swallowed up without having any meaningful impact on city roadways. That makes no sense at all.

D. Reed Eckhardt is the former executive editor of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.