Fort Collins City Council candidate Zoelle Lane visited Colorado State University Thursday to speak at a forum hosted by Political Review, CSU’s political science club. Lane, running in District 5 against Amy Hoeven, would represent an area that encompasses CSU and part of southern Fort Collins. The municipal election is set for Nov. 4.

The event was part of CSU Political Review’s larger efforts to foster respectful dialogue and connect students to political issues. Lily Cole, an attendee and CSU student, said Lane’s willingness to speak to students is an important part of campaigning that many other politicians neglect.

“The fact that she made the effort at all to try and connect with college students, I thought, spoke a lot about her character and was something I felt was important for more politicians — to recognize the voices of youth, especially if they’re going to represent a district in which the youth carry a heavy weight in the population,” Cole said.

“There are very genuine cost of living issues here and political issues that we want to see addressed at the city level. If young people get involved, we can impact that change.” –Zoelle Lane, city council candidate

Lane immigrated to the U.S. from Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic and now works as a human resource manager for International Programs at CSU. In her speech, she highlighted a number of issues, including labor rights, affordable housing, environmental sustainability and social justice. She also emphasized the importance of youth engagement in municipal elections, stating that students are a particularly impacted population.

“There are very genuine cost of living issues here and political issues that we want to see addressed at the city level,” Lane said. “If young people get involved, we can impact that change.”

Lane opened her speech by condemning city council’s recent attitude toward labor unions and stating her support for workers’ rights. She referenced an instance from September of last year when Fort Collins’ Connexion, a broadband operation, attempted to form a union; however, City Manager Kelly DiMartino said the city would not recognize a Connexion workers’ coalition.

“City Council has opted not to adopt policy and amend the city charter to allow city workers to unionize,” Lane said. “They have specifically said that other cities in Colorado have done this, but they don’t want to, and the city manager will not negotiate with our city workers.”

Currently, collective bargaining laws for Larimer County are outlined in Senate Bill 230, as well as the federal National Labor Relations Act and Colorado’s Protections for Public Workers Act.

“I’m essentially looking to adopt policies to allow people to unionize,” Lane said. “I think that it’s a fundamental right to at least collectively bargain for what you need, whether or not the city manager or companies agree with all your demands.”

Lane went on to outline her vision for strategic housing affordability, stating that city council has not moved fast enough in addressing the high cost of living in Fort Collins. She suggested a housing-first approach as well as intentional zoning practices that would aim to meet the specific needs of residents.

“We absolutely need to streamline certain processes to allow for companies to lower the overhead cost when they’re building affordable housing or high-density housing, so that we can get the kind of housing that’s going to suit the needs of the people here in Fort Collins, rather than just sprawling out and building everywhere,” Lane said.

Lane tied the broader issue of affordability to low wages in Fort Collins, stating that students are particularly impacted by the city’s reluctance to raise minimum wage.

“I think that it’s really exploitative that here in the city we have so many students who take service jobs and work for, like, pennies and the food they can take home after a shift, and they’re not getting paid a reasonable wage,” Lane said.

Similar to a measure recently passed in Boulder, Colorado, Lane proposed a multiyear plan that would gradually raise wages and give businesses time to adjust.

“Now that other cities in Colorado are looking to (raise minimum wage) as well, Fort Collins is going to get left behind, and for better or worse, image is very important to a lot of the city people on council,” Lane said. “I think we can use some of that against them in getting what is a fair, livable wage for people here, or at least the first step towards that, with a multiyear plan.”

Part of improving affordability, Lane said, is prioritizing environmental sustainability. She pointed to a 2024 proposal made by the Fort Collins Sustainability Group as an example of environmental policy she hopes to push forward. The proposal, which has been discussed in city council meetings as recently as April, would impose a fee on businesses that exceed a certain threshold of methane emissions.

“There is a large methane users tax that could be implemented, but a lot of restaurants are pushing back,” Lane said. “The reality is restaurants that have been assessed would have to pay a couple hundred dollars a year to this tax to offset being a large gas producer, which is not a ton in the bottom line, … but yet the burden falls to us, the everyday person, to make up those costs, which I don’t think is fair.”

To wrap up her speech, Lane addressed her stance on a variety of other social issues, expressing her support for Palestine, transgender rights and immigrant rights.

Many students at the event said Lane left a positive impression. CSU student Caden Harry said her well-informed approach to issues was refreshing to see in a candidate.

“Oftentimes in politics, I hear a lot of really good ideas, but I don’t hear answers a lot of the time,” Harry said. “I felt like she really knew her stuff, and that was really important to me. … I don’t get the sense that she’s, like, misinformed, or that she’s, like, just coming into us as an idealist, which I appreciate.”

However, Harry argued that her campaign may cover too many topics and said he would like his city council representatives to focus on affordability above anything else.

“What I see oftentimes is there are these broader issues, like housing, that are far more influential to the majority of people, including people that are part of those targeted communities that are also impacted in the same way,” Harry said. “I feel like city council should hyperfocus on those concerns. It should hyperfocus on safety and housing and the cost of things. And those social issues matter, but those other things need to be addressed first, and they need to be the main topic of discussion.”

Lane summarized her candidacy as an effort to improve her community and help those in need.

“I always want to feel like I’m giving back to the community,” Lane said. “That was a value that was really instilled on me, that you can make such a huge impact in someone’s life, and most of these things that people really remember and depend on all happen locally.”