Dear editor:
Cheyenne lost 260 homes; Wyoming needs leaders who put communities first.
Cheyenne didn’t just lose a grant application on April 2nd. It lost 260 income-based homes, units that would have provided stability for families, seniors, and essential workers who are already struggling in a tight housing market.
The project wasn’t controversial. It wasn’t rushed. It wasn’t flawed. In fact, the Wyoming Business Council unanimously recommended it after a full vetting process. Everybody tasked with evaluating the proposal agreed it was ready to go.
But when the State Loan and Investment Board met, the meeting collapsed into political conflict.
According to Cowboy State Daily, arguments, procedural fights, and personal attacks derailed the agenda. And the people who desperately need those homes are paying the price.
For working families, affordable, income-based housing is the difference between stability and constant crisis. Cheyenne schools already see students struggling with housing insecurity. These units would have given 260 families predictable rent and a chance to put down roots.
For seniors on fixed incomes, affordable housing is often the only way they can remain in the community they’ve lived in for decades. Losing these units means more older residents forced into unsafe or unstable situations.
And for essential workers-teachers, health care workers, sheriff’s deputies, service workers, and state employees – housing costs increasingly determine whether they can stay in Cheyenne at all. Without affordable housing, recruitment and retention become even harder.
Housing markets are interconnected. When 260 affordable units disappear:
Rents rise across the board
Starter homes become harder to find
Businesses struggle to hire
Taxpayers shoulder higher long-term costs through increased homelessness and social service demand
Housing is economic infrastructure. Losing these units weakens the entire region.
The breakdown on April 2nd wasn’t caused by budget limits or a lack of viable proposals. It was caused by Secretary of State Chuck Gray, Superintendent of Education Megan Degenfelder, and Auditor Kristi Racines, whose actions contributed to the meeting’s collapse.
Now, all three are asking voters for higher office or renewed trust. Gray is running for the US House, Degenfelder for governor, and Racines for reelection as auditor.
Cheyenne and Laramie County residents who directly lost hundreds of homes because of this failure- may reasonably decide that this moment matters. That leadership matters. That the people representing this community should understand the stakes for the families who live here.
The August 18th primary is not far away.
Cheyenne deserved those 260 homes. It deserved a board that could rise above political conflict long enough to deliver them. Wyoming people cannot afford to lose any more housing to dysfunction.
Sincerely,
Tom Segrave
Cheyenne Ward II City Councilman
