May 31—CHEYENNE — In 2020, Michelle Aldrich was the only new face elected to the Cheyenne City Council. This year, she announced that she will seek another four years to serve residents of Ward 3, which mainly covers the south-central and southeastern parts of the city.
She told WTE that she believes Cheyenne has a bright future, and she wants to continue projects she has been working on over the years.
“Cheyenne has been a great community for me and for our family, and I want to ensure that we can maintain our quality of life and do so in a fiscally responsible manner,” Aldrich said. “There’s a lot of growth ahead, and I want to make sure it’s planned and controlled, rather than just random… that it results in something we’ll have to live with for many years to come.”
For Aldrich, she said one of the limiting factors to responsible growth is water. She recognized the importance of continuing to provide services and maintain roads and support emergency response capacity as the city grows and annexes new lands and developments.
“Those are enormous responsibilities, and I believe they should come first in our community. And then if we have anything left over or something extra, we can work on some of the features. But our first and foremost priority is to take care of the basic needs and what we are legally obliged to do,” she said.
Aldrich also noted her support for Mayor Patrick Collins’ priority to encourage the development of affordable housing in the community. She said she hopes the city will continue to address this through changes to the city’s Unified Development Code and by working with developers to create more multifamily housing.
Aldrich currently serves as a board representative on the boards of Cheyenne Animal Shelter and the Metropolitan Planning Organization. She previously served as council liaison for the Community Development Block Grant Advisory Council.
She works for the Wyoming Department of Education as a career and technical education supervisor after teaching family and consumer sciences at Triumph High School for 15 years.
When she decided to run for council, she hoped to bring civility to a “fairly dysfunctional” council.
“It was a council that was really hard to watch. And as a classroom teacher, I just decided that I didn’t want my students to see the government looking like this. I thought we could do better by working together.” she said. “…There’s a lot to be said for civility, for decorum and for kindness. And I don’t think we often enough appreciate what we have, whether it’s our employees, or our lifestyle in our community. So, I’ve simply ran for public office because I wanted to be an example of better government for my students and for my grandchildren.”
As the only female member of the council, she said she hopes to inspire a more diverse population, including other women, youth and people of color, to get involved in politics and the community. For Aldrich, diversity breeds strength through a diversity of thoughts and ideas.
She moved to the community when she was in fourth grade and grew up in Cheyenne. She said she has seen it change and grow, and she wants to continue serving the community.
“There aren’t many places in the country where you can work and leave the office at 5 o’clock and be at a lake at 5:30, at Curt Gowdy’s or Granite’s, or be out walking at 5:30 or 5:30.” at Vedauwoo. Being on the golf course at 5:15 a.m. We basically have the option of going to the big city during the day and coming home at night,” Aldrich said. “We have the best of both worlds.”
Outside of the council, Aldrich belongs to the Rotary Club of Cheyenne, currently serving as area governor for the southeastern region of Wyoming; recently completed a two-year term as local president of Zonta and belongs to Delta Kappa Gamma, an association of women educators.
In 2024, there are two seats up for election for Cheyenne City Council members representing Ward 3. They are currently occupied by Aldrich and Richard Johnson, both of whom have filed for re-election in 2024. In total, six of the nine council seats are up for re-election this year. traps, two in each department.
Noah Zahn is the local government and business reporter for the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. He can be reached at 307-633-3128 or nzahn@wyomingnews.com. Follow him on X @NoahZahnn.
