Seven candidates apply to fill two vacant seats on Casper City Council
CASPER, Wyo. — Seven people have applied to fill two vacancies on the Casper City Council following the resignations of Vice Mayor Steve Freel and Council member Shawn Johnson.
Both Freel and Johnson resigned from the City Council in August because they were moving to new residences outside of the wards they represented. Council members are required to reside within the boundaries of the ward they represent.
Three people applied to fill the Ward II vacancy, according to the city:
Four applied to fill the Ward III vacancy:
The City Council will conduct interviews of the candidates during its pre-meeting work session on Tuesday, Sept. 6.
The work session will begin at 4 p.m. Tuesday. Prior to conducting interviews with candidates to fill the vacant seats, the City Council will discuss the selection of a new vice mayor. Mayor Ray Pacheco said during an Aug. 23 work session he will select a new vice mayor from among members of the City Council. The council member selected to serve as vice mayor will fill that role until the City Council select a new mayor and vice mayor at the start of 2023.
The City Council will conduct candidate interviews after the selection of a vice mayor on Tuesday. After the interviews, the City Council is expected to deliberate on appointing a new Ward II and Ward III council member during an executive session on Tuesday.
The candidates selected will serve the remainder of Freel and Johnson’s terms. Both Freel and Johnson’s terms were set to expire at the end of the year.
Due to the upcoming General Election, the City Council said it would prefer to appoint temporary council members who are not candidates appearing on the ballot this November. None of the candidates the City Council will interview on Tuesday are running for a City Council seat in the General Election.
With the candidates who will be selected to replace Freel and Johnson set to serve only several months, the City Council said during the Aug. 23 work session it may give preference to people who have previously served on the City Council in order to avoid the need to educate a new member about the way City Council functions.
Among the seven people who applied to fill the vacancies, Humphrey and Wingerter have past experience on the City Council.
The City Council’s regular meeting on Tuesday will begin around 5:30 p.m. after the candidate interviews are complete. The executive session to deliberate on appointing replacements for Freel and Johnson will occur after the regular business scheduled for Tuesday’s meeting.