CHEYENNE - The new Local Government Coordinating Council is in place to give cities, towns and counties a stronger voice in legislative and executive branch decisions.

Gov. Dave Freudenthal announced appointments to the 10 member council Wednesday.

The governor noted earlier that he worked with an identical organization during the administration of the late Gov. Ed Herschler.

Freudenthal said he wanted to revive the group to improve communications between the local governments on common issues.

Joe Evans, executive director of the Wyoming County Commissioners Association, said local government officials had an informal group in recent years which held monthly conference calls with former Gov. Jim Geringer.

"I thought it was a great idea that the governor revived it," Evans said. "I think it's going to work out pretty well."

As an example of how the council will function during its quarterly meetings, Evans said if the local governments have an issue with the Department of Transportation (DOT) over roads or highways, the governor's representative can ask DOT Director Sleeter Dover to attend the next meeting.

George Parks, executive director of the Wyoming Association of Municipalities, noted that Freudenthal said earlier he would like to investigate a number of options that would allow local decision-making on raising revenue.

"I'm very interested and I'm sure members of that council will be very interested to see exactly what his ideas are," Parks said. "I know that will be the hot topic."

"I think it's a great group of people," Parks added.

The 10 members include four representatives each from county and municipal governments appointed by the governor and one representative each from the Wyoming Association of Municipalities (WAM) and The Wyoming County Commissioners Association.

The governor appointed the Louis Espinoza Sr., a member of the Rawlins City Council; Gillette Mayor Duane Evenson, Johnson County Commissioner Marilyn Connolly; Sublette County Commissioner Betty Fear; Teton County Commissioner Andy Schwartz and Natrona County Commissioner Terry Wingerter; Worland Mayor LaVertha Gotier, and Cheyenne City Council member Tom Sherr.

WAM chose as its representative Rick Vonburg, current WAM president and Torrington City Council member. The Wyoming County Commissioners Association selected Bill Glanz, the association's current president and a Washakie County Commissioner.

"These 10 people have a huge task in front of them, making sure that local governments are not disregarded by the legislative and executive branches," Freudenthal said in a release.

"However, this is a group that I think can get the job done," he added.