The Laramie City Council has appointed Phoebe Stoner as the new city councilor for Ward 1.

Stoner, 27, is the executive director of the Equality State Policy Center. She has been living in Wyoming for over five years; Big Prairie, Ohio being her hometown.

Stoner said there were many aspects of Laramie that she admired and she hoped to build on those aspects as a city councilor.

“I think Laramie has an outstanding foundation, the community here is vibrant there is unique western character, there’s great outdoor access, there’s diversity,” Stoner said. “In my mind, my vision is just building on that and enhancing it to further the blocks that are already there.”

Stoner was appointed during the regular agenda session of the City Council meeting. The city council members took a short break and each councilor ranked the applicants. The highest scoring candidate was put on the floor for consideration.

“I think that we have five excellent candidates. We could put five names in a hat and pick one out and I would be satisfied with any one of the five,” Councilor Pat Gabriel said.

The motion to appoint Stoner passed five to three. Stoner was then sworn in and joined City Council for the remainder of the meeting.

“I am absolutely honored to be in the seat I am incredibly grateful the eight other members of city council are giving me the opportunity to help them lead,” Stoner said. “It’s incredibly humbling and I am really excited to serve the people of Laramie.”

Stoner was appointed following the resignation of councilor Vicki Henry of Ward 1, who resigned due to family matters.

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