Special City Council Meeting - Collective Labor Bargaining with Firefighters Union - February 23, 2026
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Special City Council Meeting - Collective Labor Bargaining with Firefighters Union - February 23, 2026
A special meeting of the Cheyenne City Council was held on February 23, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. in Council Chambers and via electronic conference, with all council members present, to conduct collective labor bargaining with the Cheyenne Professional Firefighters, International Association of Firefighters, Local No. 279. The meeting lasted approximately three minutes, adjourning at 5:33 p.m.
Discussion Items
- Opening Remarks and Ground Rules: Mayor Patrick Collins opened the meeting by thanking the city staff, fire chief, and union representatives for their extensive preparation and emphasized the importance of pre-negotiation discussions. The proposed Ground Rules for the bargaining process were reviewed, agreed upon, and signed by both the City and the Union. The City's spokespersons are Mayor Collins, City Attorney John Brodie, and Chief of Staff Amber Ash. The Union's spokespersons are Union President Chris Thoms, Union Vice President Jason Lindsay, and Union Grievance Representative James Lewis.
- Union Proposal Submission: Union representatives passed a written copy of their current proposals to the City for review. Mayor Collins indicated that the City's governing body would meet after the meeting to obtain direction before proceeding further.
- Next Steps: Mayor Collins announced that additional negotiation meetings will be scheduled in the coming weeks to review City and Union proposals.
Key Outcomes
- Ground rules were formally agreed upon and signed by both parties.
- The City received the Union's written proposals and committed to reviewing them and providing direction at a future session.
- No votes or formal decisions were taken on substantive bargaining items.
Meeting Transcript
All right, I'd like to call this uh February 23rd meeting um special meeting of the governing body to order. Uh Madam Clerk, would you take the roll, please? Dr. Dr. Emmons? Here. Mr. Escobel? Here. Mr. Layborn? Here. Mr. Moody? Here. Dr. Rennie? Present. Mr. Seagrave? Present. Mr. White? Present. Mr. Wolf. Here. Dr. Aldrich? Present. Mayor Collins? Present. All members are present. We do have a quorum. It's not on the roll, but we typically say the Pledge of Allegiance. Would it be okay to do that? Collective Labor Bargaining with Cheyenne Professional Firefighters, International Association of Firefighters, Local No. 279. Thank you, ma'am. Just for the record, I'd like to start off by saying we have uh spent a lot of hours together. Um I know our staff, the fire chief and uh and the union representatives have spent a lot more time than I have, but uh we spend a lot of time. I just want to publicly say thank you for that. Um I think that process I think helps us understand each other and and uh I think it's a good process and hope we'll continue regardless of what happens with this negotiation uh to continue that process going forward. I think the order of the day really is agreeing to the ground rules, and uh um I think we have agreed. Would you yes, we agree to the ground rules. Okay. Do you need us to make a copy and give it to you for your records? No, thank you. Okay. 23rd.
openpublica.com