Statement by Preserve Fort Collins - Ahead of the January 17th City Council Meeting
(Text Only Version)
STATEMENT BY PRESERVE FORT COLLINS
Ahead of the January 17th Council Meeting
The vast community interest and direct citizen action that empowered the volunteers of Preserve Fort Collins to gather nearly 6500 valid signatures to repeal the Land Development Code (LDC) is just the beginning of a grassroots process that will give the people of Fort Collins an opportunity to reclaim their voice in the future of their City.
On Tuesday, January 17th, the Fort Collins City Council will decide whether to repeal the LDC Ordinance themselves or send the question of repeal to the voters. If the City Council repeals the Ordinance with the intent to revise it, meaningful and sincere public engagement MUST occur, and Preserve Fort Collins plans to be an important part of that process. It is clear that the City’s existing engagement process is broken. The City Council and City Staff must NOT attempt to simply alter the LDC in a minimal or negligible manner, in a disingenuous effort to rush yet another ill-advised Ordinance past the public under the current broken process.
Furthermore, at least two current Councilmembers (Francis and Pignataro) have lost the confidence of voters and community members by supporting the rash implementation of the final LDC without a genuine public outreach process, and by secretly starting FoCo Forward, an anti-democratic organization whose purpose is to oppose the petition and repeal process and to stifle the voice of the people. Without question, the improper and unprofessional conduct of these two Councilmembers means they MUST recuse themselves from any further involvement in this matter, beginning with the crucial vote on Jan 17th.