Humphrey, McIntosh selected to fill vacant seats on Casper City Council
CASPER, Wyo. — On Tuesday, the Casper City Council interviewed candidates who applied to fill vacant seats left by the resignations of former Vice Mayor Steve Freel and former Councilmember Shawn Johnson. Both Freel and Johnson resigned in August because they were moving to new residences outside of the boundaries of the wards they represented.
After interviewing three candidates for the Ward II seat vacated by Johnson and four candidates for the Ward III seat vacated by Freel, the City Council entered an executive session to deliberate on who to appoint.
After the executive session, Mayor Ray Pacheco announced that the City Council had selected Kenyne Humphrey to fill the vacant Ward II seat and had selected Michael McIntosh to fill the vacant Ward III seat. The City Council confirmed these appointments by vote after Pacheco’s announcement.
In addition, the City Council formally approved the appointment of Councilmember Bruce Knell to the position of vice mayor after Freel’s resignation. Knell will serve in that role through the end of the year, until the City Council appoints new leadership to begin the new year.
Both Humphrey and McIntosh will serve for about four months as Johnson’s and Freel’s terms were set to expire at the end of the year. In 2023, a new City Council will be seated based on the results of the General Election this November.
During an Aug. 23 work session, Mayor Ray Pacheco suggested the City Council avoid appointing someone who is running in the General Election to the vacant seats in order to avoid influencing the results of the election. The City Council also talked about giving preference to someone with previous experience serving the city in order to make it easier for the interim member to get up to speed on the work of the City Council.
Humphrey previously served on the City Council from 2006 to 2018, including four years as mayor. McIntosh served on the Planning & Zoning Commission up until his appointment on Tuesday.
The three people who applied to fill the Ward II vacancy and their applications were as follows:
Four applied to fill the Ward III vacancy:
The candidate interviews conducted on Tuesday can be reviewed in the video of the meeting on the City of Casper’s YouTube channel: