Mayor, police chief should stop using liquor license to extort security funds from Cheyenne Frontier Days

BY KEITH GUILLE

I am a huge supporter of our local law enforcement. 

What these men and women have to handle and face on a daily basis is frightening. From domestic violence calls to crash scenes, I’m not sure how anyone could handle themselves professionally in these types of situations. But they do and continue to keep our community safe.

Every citizen and visitor wants to feel safe, especially during events with large crowds. But does that mean we should

give local government absolute power to force events to pony up large sums of money to pay local police departments?

Within the last few years, the Cheyenne Police Department’s chief and the mayor started using a malt beverage license to force Cheyenne Frontier Days to pay for “security” during the festivities. (Welcome to the club, CFD. They did it to multiple nonprofits at the depot for years). 

This reminds me of the episode in the show “Sopranos” when mob henchmen go to a local restaurant to offer “security” and “protection” services.

The mayor and police chief have called their discussions with CFD, “negotiations,” and the malt beverage license is their only bargaining chip. But most of us know exactly what this is:

ex·tor·tion

/ikˈstôrSH(ə)n/

noun

“The practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats.”

CFD has continuously stated it is  willing to pay for increased security. In fact, it has  invested heavily into additional security. But they want discussions with the city and additional funding to be transparent and not tied to the beverage license. 

I strongly suggest to go read CFD CEO Tom Hirsig’s oped in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. It provides good insight on the organizations position. (It can be found below.)

This all came out in the public forum when the Legislature introduced a bill to end the city’s extortion scam by providing a malt liquor license specifically to CFD. This would take away the mayor’s and police chief’s so-called bargaining chip. As the bill has gone through various debates and changes, it did make it out of committee. A final decision remains to be made.

And so the debate goes on.

The city has not backed down and continues to use social media to attack CFD and disregard residents who dare question its actions. For instance, the police department posted a misleading poll on its Facebook asking; “Who should pay for security at the professional concerts on the private property of Cheyenne Frontier Days (CFD)?”

No rational person thinks taxpayers should be footing this bill. But it’s hard to have an intelligent and thoughtful debate when police department staff and its chief use social media to mislead the public and muddy the waters. Let’s not forget when they used Facebook to attack and pressure a city councilman over funding.

Additionally, the Cheyenne Police Protective Association has used Facebook to debate and argue with private citizens. The posters do not identify themselves, and they hide behind the associations page. 

I also find it odd that the organization’s physical address on their registered business documents list the same location as the new police headquarters. I’m not sure taxpayers were aware the sixth-penny tax would support and house a nonprofit police union, I mean association. (http://bit.ly/38pk5H3)

But I digress ...

So what should happen? Does the City Council need to step in and create another ordinance to fix this? After going back and forth, I doubt any City Council ordinance would fix this mess. It may create new problems.

Remember, Ronald Reagan’s famous quote: "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help.”

The only way this gets fixed is: This community needs new leadership. Mayor Marian Orr has continued to make many of us who supported her election to have buyer’s remorse. 

Additionally, we need a police chief who is more interested in protecting and serving than using social media to attack city councilmen, CFD and other residents when he doesn’t get more funding. 

We need grownups in a room talking and working together to make CFD and other events safer, more profitable and enjoyable.

Keith Guille is a Cheyenne resident.

CFD EXECUTIVE ADDRESS DISPUTE WITH CITY OVER SECURITY FUNDING

BY TOM HIRSIG

President and chief executive officer of Cheyenne Frontier Days

I have a unique perspective as the CEO of Cheyenne Frontier Days: my great-great-uncle was one of the co-founders of CFD. My family has volunteered since day one to grow CFD into what it is today. I am a 35-year volunteer of CFD. I am more proud of that fact that anything I could ever accomplish as CEO.

We now are in a debate over where responsibilities lie when it comes to security funding, and malt beverage permits. I would like to express our view on these topics.

Malt beverage permits and security should not be in the same conversation. These are two distinct and different topics, and a malt beverage permit should not be used as leverage to secure appropriate security.

Security in this day and age is not about drinking and bar fights; it is about terrorism, bombings and other forms of mass attacks. We can all agree security is at a different level than ever before. That is why CFD plans to invest over $500,000 this year to pay for a security fence, 30 magnetometers, paid trained security to run this new process and pre-boarding security for our customers using our Park-n-Ride services.

We take security very seriously. We have many entities that provide security for the celebration: the Cheyenne Police Department, Cheyenne Fire Rescue, Laramie County Sheriff’s Department, Wyoming Office of Homeland Security, Wyoming Highway Patrol, Laramie County Emergency Management. We also have many trained volunteers who work the standing room only crowds at the concerts. It takes all of these people and many more agencies to make CFD safe.

Of course, the Cheyenne Police Department has the main responsibility within our city limits. It would be impossible for us to have this event without their continued participation and support. Cheyenne’s police officers are great men and women who do amazing things to keep us safe, not only during CFD, but throughout the year.

CFD’s mission statement is clear about enhancing economic success to the community. We have 2,500-plus volunteers that work year-round to create a total economic impact to Laramie County in excess of $27 million.

Our 2,500-plus volunteers work year-round to create $633,000 in local tax revenue that the city and county receive. Our 2,500-plus volunteers create $683,000 in state tax revenue. Our 2,500-plus volunteers donate $160,000 to local and regional charities. Our 2,500-plus volunteers helped build a scholarship foundation that gives in excess of $60,000 to local youth for educational purposes. Our 2,500-plus volunteers believe that all of their hard work is a great benefit to the community.

One factor that seems to get left out of the discussion is the fact that all of the facilities necessary to hold Cheyenne Frontier Days have been paid for by CFD. No government entity has paid a dime toward constructing the grandstands, museum, livestock facilities, parking lots and all of the other facilities necessary to welcome tens of thousands of people to the “Daddy of ’em All.” All other large rodeo events – like the Calgary Stampede, Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, San Antonio Stock Show, National Western Stock Show and Greeley Stampede – are held in facilities paid for by city, county or state taxpayers.

CFD has built a multimillion-dollar facility to host Frontier Days without a dime of taxpayer funds. We anticipate that the replacement of the grandstand alone in the next 10 to 15 years will cost $50 million to $60 million. The fact that CFD is run by volunteers and has itself created the facilities necessary to generate $27 million of economic impact for the state and Cheyenne must be considered when discussing cost sharing regarding public safety services.

This is a time for everyone to put aside political aspirations and posturing, and roll up our sleeves and have concrete and transparent dialogue discussing the needs of Cheyenne and Cheyenne Frontier Days, especially as they pertain to major security risks. We need to develop a shared vision to take us into the future. We all must be able to come to the table with clear, open minds and not threats.

Our shared focus must be on combating the real threats that exist in this world, like those persons that would harm hundreds or thousands of people attending Frontier Days. The amount of money paid by CFD to make sure that CFD is as safe as possible for everyone must recognize the massive economic impact that CFD provides to Cheyenne, the county and the state. The amount of money paid by CFD to make sure that CFD is as safe as possible must recognize the 2,500-plus CFD volunteers who each year dedicate their talent, time and sweat free of charge to benefit Cheyenne and their fellow citizens.

This is not a place we wanted to be, but maybe some good can come out of laying down our swords and coming to a concrete pathway of security for all special events, not just Cheyenne Frontier Days. CFD is committed to solve the issues via fair and rational discourse with the City Council and city administration.