I joined many of my constituents this week at the Cheyenne city council meeting.
The agenda featured several items, but two topics, and the city council’s positions on them, overtook the shadow of the entire meeting.
The first item was to give $1,000,000.00 (one million dollars!) to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association as part of a larger, multi-million dollar push by state and local officials to entice PRCA to relocate to Cheyenne.
For weeks, we have been inundated with calls that Cheyenne, and Wyoming, “must cement our image as pro-rodeo, pro-ag, pro-west!” Fair enough.
But with the city council’s overwhelming passage of spending your tax dollars to “bring the west to Cheyenne,” I was perplexed by the item further down the list on Monday night’s agenda: confirmation of a longstanding push by the city to annex a local farmstand, WY Fresh Farmstand, into the City of Cheyenne.
The reason cited by the city planning department?
The farmstand is a little too “rural” for Cheyenne’s tastes. Its processing of animals gets a little too “western.”
Its practices are a little less like Cheyenne, and a little more like what it actually is: an agricultural operation designed to bring farm-to-table food and atmosphere to the many customers it serves.
There has never been a documented issue with WY Fresh, or really any complaints.
Yet for weeks, WY Fresh and its owners have been subjected to questioning, inspection, and interrogation by city officials over its farmstand practices.
The result has been an overzealous attempt by Cheyenne city officials to bring the farmstand under its control under the guise of “public safety,” and end WY Fresh’s business in the process.
Many residents showed up Monday night to speak in support of WY Fresh.
Yet the reaction from the dais suggested a council far less engaged than the citizens who took the time to attend.
One councilman appeared to be nodding off. Two others stared ahead with blinking, glazed eyes.
Few made eye contact with the speakers addressing them.
For a meeting that clearly mattered to the people in the room, the level of attentiveness from some members of the council was striking.
Of course, this is rich coming from the same city council that has, for months now, championed bringing PRCA to Cheyenne to make Cheyenne as ag-friendly as possible.
But if we are going to go to the lengths of literally spending millions to bring a western way of life to Cheyenne, why on earth are we devoting time, money, and resources trying to keep a farm out?
The city council’s contradictory stance was not lost on the many residents of Cheyenne who showed up in support of WY Fresh Farmstand on Monday night.
Faced with overwhelming public opposition, the Cheyenne city council has delayed any action until, you guessed it, after the election. We can’t let them off this easily. This cycle, we must demand assurances from our local leaders: will they vote to annex WY Fresh? If the answer isn’t an overwhelming “NO,” then they don’t deserve our votes. One councilman said during the meeting that he trusts us less than we trust the council. Does the council deserve our trust? Trust is earned. Go ahead. Earn our trust.
Ann Lucas is the Representative for Wyoming House District 43, which includes two Cheyenne wards.
