Mayor Orr's phony streets emergency is further proof that the Capital City needs a city manager

BY D. REED ECKHARDT

Anyone who thinks Cheyenne Mayor Marian Orr’s recent “streets emergency” is not about politics needs to think again.

Orr promised nearly three years ago a sweeping street-building program for Cheyenne, funded, apparently, by manna from heaven. That hasn’t fallen, and Her Honor’s street efforts mainly have been

chip-sealing measures designed to put lipstick on a pig. So with an election just 14 months away, Orr has decided to rob city departments’ budgets to pay for streets. No doubt, the repairs will occur in those locations that supported her in 2016.

Problem is, this government-by-politics is only going to get worse as the partisanship that is ripping America apart finds its way into Cheyenne’s Mayor’s Office. The parallels to Trumpism are obvious, right down to declaring an emergency to build a wall, er, streets. Orr is an almost guaranteed winner should she run again. The anti-growthers will turn out in droves on Nov. 3, 2020 to support her vision-less administration’s pledge to create streets, streets and more streets. There is little holding her abuses back.

If ever proof was needed that Cheyenne needs a professional manager at its helm, this is it. That an operation with a $53.8 million budget and some 550 employees is run by a person who brought nothing to the table but an ability to win a popularity contest should be proof enough. Her arrogant behavior since assuming office only adds to her show of incompetence.

It is time, again, to discuss changing Cheyenne’s form of government from “strong mayor” to council-manager. That the Capital City could use a professional manager never has been clearer. State revenues to cities continue to tighten as the coal economy careens toward its inevitable end. And as politics, personal biases and a lack of ethics lead to unwise decisions from the mayor’s office, it is time to get someone at the helm who can create clear, data-driven solutions. That could can save millions and meet the needs of not just of those in the inner circle.

Yes, an effort to pass a city administrator was soundly defeated here in 2015. But that campaign was led by the Chamber of Commerce crowd. Those people sincerely believe they represent the majority of people it Cheyenne. They do not. Indeed, the Chamber, Cheyenne LEADS and others did virtually nothing to make their case. They simply assumed the rightness of their position was enough. City residents rightly told them to forget about it.

None of that negates the values a city manager could bring to the city of Cheyenne. Even Orr supported the idea at one time. That she now clings to her current position should be no surprise, given the ability of power to corrupt.

Consider what a professional manager would do. He or she would bring to bear the education, experience and professional training to city operations that Cheyenne needs. Data-driven decisions based not on whose ox might be gored – or fattened – would squeeze out efficiencies. Monies would be saved, including those that would pay the manager’s salary. Those could be used to fatten reserves, better fund current programs or even develop new ones.

Face it, few mayors chosen in a popularity contest will be able to manage Cheyenne’s business operations in a sound way. Orr’s experience prior to her election consisted of currying lawmakers’ favor as a lobbyist. Those skills hardly translate into running a $53.8 million business. Yet these kinds of electoral choices will be made as long as city voters elect the head of their city.

A manager-council form of government would work like this: The nine council members would hire the manager. His or her job it would be not to set policy or appease constituents but to objectively execute the policies and budget vision established by the elected council. 
He or she would manage the budget, hire and fire staff and employees, make certain services and funds are fairly disbursed to all residents. The manager would be an at-will employee; if he or she goes off the rails, they would be dismissed. (A mayor would be chosen from among the council members for ceremonial duties.)

Some argue a council-manager form of government would be less responsive to the people. Not so. Orr does not heed the criticism or concerns of the general populace; she simply goes her own way or responds to the leading of her backers. Her recent assault on Superday is

Ethical missteps like accepting gifts would end.

a good example of that: She would kill an event that the people of this city love simply at her own whim or her administration’s inconvenience.

In the council-manager form of government, citizen involvement actually is increased as council members would be responsible to the will of their voters. Orr, on the other hand, knows she will be re-elected by her supporters. She can tell those who disagree with her decisions to “kick rocks,” and they can do nothing about it.

Similarly, Orr’s ethical challenges, such as accepting a “gift” from a potential city supplier, would not occur under a city manager. He or she would be guided by the ethical principles of his or her profession. Managers are required to act in line with a code of ethics – or they lose their jobs. 

Unfortunately, Orr will be the rule rather than the exception at the head of Cheyenne’s city government in its current “strong mayor” form. This is the result of elections in these hyper-partisan times.

Of course, changing city government will be an uphill fight. Supporters must submit a petition to the city clerk signed by 15 percent of those who voted in the last election. And it must be turned in 120 days before the next regular municipal primary election. 

Those who might support such a petition are out there – Orr only won with 56 percent of the vote in 2016. Surely there plenty among the other 46 percent who might sign a petition. But persuading enough of her anti-growth, anti-change coalition that altering the city’s form of government will benefit them will be a challenge.  

Still, these discussions must begin, and education programs must get underway. Appeals can be made to the anti-growth, anti-change crowd about better uses of taxpayers’ money and the need for ethical, unbiased, fair leadership. They won’t always be the majority; don’t they want a role when they are not? To simply allow Orr – and others who will follow her as mayor – to act as queens and kings rather than elected officials is intolerable.

A growing, modern city like Cheyenne deserves better. Squandering funds, declaring faux emergencies, acting without ethics, failing to use modern tools to run a $53.8 million government is preposterous in 2019. Let the battle for the minds and hearts of this great city begin.

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