LATEST UPDATE

How to Return Your April Election Ballot

DID YOU KNOW?

Shirley Peel is the only conservative running for City Council. Help bring change to the Fort Collins City Council!

ABOUT SHIRLEY

For the past 20 years Fort Collins has provided a healthy, safe, optimal environment in which to raise our 4 children and now I would like a chance to express my appreciation by serving the people of District 4 as their voice on Fort Collins City Council. Serving on various boards has provided me with the experience to interact with a variety of people from a viewpoint of inclusion and understanding. Being an educator has brought me into contact with a diverse audience from many backgrounds and has allowed me to learn to interact with empathy, compassion and concern. I have built two education programs from the ground up which has taught me how to plan and execute a vision while navigating requirements from local and state government. My teaching career has honed my speaking and communication skills, allowing me to convey ideas and solutions with precision. I am a thinker, a problem solver and a bridge builder. As a council member, my priority will be to support our business community in order to maintain a strong economy which in turn will ensure a thriving community.

I am running for the seat on the City Council because a citizen's responsibility is to give back to the community in which they live and I believe that together we are better. My commitment to raising my family has ended as well as my tenure as an educator and I find myself with more time to devote to my community and I would like to serve our city as the councilmember for district 4.

PRIORITIES

• Recovery from Covid 19

  The effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on our community is the immediate issue facing our City Council at the moment. City Council will need to keep partnering with the Larimer County Commissioners and the Larimer County Board of Health and continue keeping our community safe and healthy. Protocols to protect our first responders and our most vulnerable populations are now successfully in place so now we must turn our attention to the business community and help them recover. The city will need to search for innovative ways to deal with the budget shortfall caused by lost tax revenue, revive the job market and stimulate the economy. Our economy is roughly 60% sales tax dependent and if small businesses and major retailers do not survive the crisis, our community is looking at potential lay-offs and significant reductions in services.

• Economy

  Colorado as a state went from having one of the best economies to one of the worst. While Fort Collins is faring better than the remainder of the state, our community is still suffering from the effects of the pandemic. In order to lower our unemployment rate we will need to develop a clear economic vision for recovery in partnership with the business community and community members and make sure we have a strategic plan to obtain those goals. We will need to ensure a business-friendly environment that helps current businesses recover, while encouraging new businesses to emerge in order to put our family, friends and neighbors back to work.

• Smart Growth

  Implementation of smart growth for Fort Collins is an extremely important issue that will require the City Council's attention for the foreseeable future and beyond. According to some recent models, Fort Collins is projected to grow by more than 100,000 people over the next 10 years. City Council needs to collaborate with businesses, community members, local government entities and developers to create a systematic, comprehensive growth plan. The plan needs to include the following elements.
  • Providing water to new development and for water storage.
  • Providing solid infrastructure such as quality road and traffic systems, sewer extensions and other utilities.
  • Adopting common sense zoning practices and land use that adapts to the changing needs of the community.
  • Allowing the continued use of metro districts.
  • Providing for not only the peripheral spread, but also the development of infill sites.
  • Planning to alleviate the housing shortage.

• Housing Concerns

  According to the Coloradoan, in the past 10 years, rent prices in Fort Collins have increased by 68%, townhome and condo values increased 158% and single - family home values increased 125% and the median home price in 2020 was $450,000, more than double the price in 2010. The Housing Strategic Plan Engagement Report has suggestions for helping community members have access to housing in a way that encourages personal initiative that need to be explored and brought to the forefront of this discussion. Suggestions such as partnering with non-profit organizations like Habitat for Humanity and local churches to allow access to more equitable homes as well as helping the business sector grow so employers can engage in best practices like investing in first time homebuyers savings accounts and offering housing stipends as part of a wage package. The city also has the ability to relax the U + 2 ordinance as well as zoning laws to allow manufactured home parks within reason and create higher density developments.

• Environment

  Preserving our beautiful environment is a major concern for all of us in our community and members of the council have a responsibility to listen to citizens’ environmental concerns and make logical, common sense and often hard decisions based on sound science and facts. Solid policy should be enacted to ensure solutions do not cause more harm than good to vulnerable populations, our business community and our financial stability.

SUPPORTERS

NEWS & EVENTS

VOLUNTEER

Assembling Campaign Literature
Phone Calling
Canvassing
Writing Letters and Post Cards