City Council appoints Schmechel to Ward 1 vacancy
City Council appoints Schmechel to Ward 1 vacancy
An assistant director at Impact 307, Fred Schmechel has voiced an interest in preparing Laramie for future growth, supporting public art projects and deciding new models for funding the city.
Fred Schmechel became the Laramie City Council’s newest member Tuesday, having expressed his intention to focus on community growth and municipal funding.
While council members are usually selected via public elections, Schmechel was appointed to replace Jessica Stalder, who resigned last month, and serve out the remainder of her term.
Schmechel will serve until January 2023.
“I’m very excited to be here, and humbled,” he said after taking his oath of office.
Schmechel won his appointment in a 7-1 vote, gaining support from all but Mayor Paul Weaver, who cast the dissenting vote.
The council’s newest member is an assistant director at Impact 307 — the network of business incubators formerly known as the Wyoming Technology Business Center. Schmechel was one of eight applicants for the council vacancy who answered questions from councilors during a special meeting last week.
“We need to manage and encourage growth that builds opportunities for everyone,” Schmechel said during that special meeting, before detailing what he saw as the most pressing issues facing Laramie.
Schmechel said Laramie is at an “inflection point” when it comes to West Laramie and the expected expansion of WyoTech.
“If we don’t take any action over there, we’re going to lose control of an opportunity to help design what that community looks like,” Schmechel said.
He added that part of planning for growth is preserving the local culture. Schmechel serves on the board of the Wyoming Humanities Council and said he is a “gigantic” supporter of the Laramie Public Art Coalition.
“I think having these murals downtown has defined our community and made it what it is,” he said. “And it’s going to help preserve it as we see growth here in Laramie from new companies coming in and other institutions like WyoTech.”
Schmechel said his other main area of interest was municipal funding, especially as the state offers less and less financial support to local governments.
“We have to find a new model for how communities like Laramie, and across the entire state of Wyoming, are going to be funded,” he said. “I think we need to be proactive and address that.”
Part of being proactive? Taking advantage of state and federal funding when it’s available, Schmechel said.
“Whenever we see a glut of funding that comes our way, the well tends to dry up for a little while afterwards,” he said. “And I think a lot of our infrastructure is going to age out during the time that well is dry.”
During the special meeting last week, Schmechel also expressed an interest in emergency preparedness.
“We’ve learned a lot here in the past year,” he said. “It would be nice if we documented what we knew so that we can move forward and leave something for the next people that have to encounter a horrible situation like what we’ve all been through.”
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