CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Concerned that the Cheyenne Police Department can’t keep up with managing the city’s public parking system, councilmembers are considering looking for outside help.
During its Monday meeting, the City Council voted 7–1 to adopt a resolution requiring the CPD to analyze how the current parking program can transition to a contract or professional services model. Councilmember Pete Laybourn was the only vote against the resolution, while Councilmembers Richard Johnson and Mark Rinne were absent from the meeting.
In 2016, Fort Collins–based engineering design company Kimley-Horn and Associates conducted a study on how Cheyenne can improve its downtown parking. Its recommendations included moving the parking program, which includes managing permits, citations and enforcement, under the supervision of the CPD or contracting a professional firm. The governing body at the time voted for the department and made the transition in 2018.
Over the years, however, CPD staff have been spread thin trying to manage both the parking program and their law enforcement duties. Collecting parking ticket fines has also been challenging and in fiscal year 2023, the outstanding balance of unpaid parking tickets was roughly $250,000.
Doubts about the CPD’s ability to effectively manage the parking program surfaced during a Feb. 17 City Council work session. The department failed to provide a data assessment on the number of parking citations and revenue generated from parking garages, as requested by the council in a September 2022 resolution.
Monday’s resolution re-addressed the issue, stating that “this reality has resulted in a parking program with limited staffing resources, and combined with other logistical constraints, the department may not have sufficient resources to administer the downtown parking program without some form of additional assistance.”
With the passing of the resolution, the CPD will have 90 days to submit a report to the Governing Body detailing steps for the transition. The report will also include recommendations on the best qualified professional parking management firms, the rights and responsibilities of the city and firm and the associated costs.
A majority of councilmembers were in favor of the resolution. Councilmember Michelle Aldrich said the amount of unpaid parking tickets this year is “extremely frustrating” and the council has circled back to the parking problem again and again with no resolution.
“I’m at wit’s end,” she said during the meeting. “If we can’t do it and we can’t do it well, I think we need to look at privatization.”
Councilmember Ken Esquibel recommended that the study also provide an idea of how many residents live in the downtown area and drive. With that new data, the city could create monthly parking permits for them.
“We don’t want to discourage people from living in the downtown area,” he said during the meeting. “I think that the study will give us a lot more information about the direction we need to go.”
As the only no vote, Laybourn said he doesn’t believe the resolution will give the council the answers they need. Privatization of the city’s parking system is a serious step, he said, and it’s a difficult process for the council and CPD to understand.
“I think this is a well-intended resolution,” he said during the meeting, “but also a resolution borne of frustration.”
