By Luke Purvis
The Ramspondents
The City of Fort Collins Human Relations Commission has recognized the individuals and groups that help make our community more inclusive for all over the past 40 years.
The awards recognize achievements in four categories: Individual, organization or team, youth and rising star. Winners are celebrated every December at a ceremony hosted by city leaders.
Beth Jeager, chair of the Human Relations Commission, said the responsibility of presenting these awards is meaningful for the group.
“It is defined in our mission that the HRC is accountable for handing out awards,” she said. “They have been doing it for 43 years. I speak for all of my colleagues when I say this responsibility brings a great deal of pride. It is a celebration for the community.”
Jeager, who has served on the HRC since January 2020 after moving from Washington, D.C., said her involvement grew out of her own commitment to service.
“When I came to Fort Collins, I wanted to get involved in my new community,” Jaeger said. “I worked with the Family Center and was later asked to apply to the Human Relations Commission.”
The structure of the Human Relations Awards has a criteria score that each nomination is evaluated on. Photo provided by Rachel Bryan
The awards ceremony takes place at City Hall, where the mayor, City Council and other county leaders honor the recipients.
HRC member Rachel Bryan described the importance of the event’s inclusive design.
“We start with a reception ceremony, where there is a lot of robust conversation about how we help each other,” she said. “We also have a program that recognizes everyone who is nominated. Last year, we had 44 nominations of individuals and organizations across Fort Collins.”
Bryan said the program highlights the significance of city leadership.
“Witnessing the city’s accomplishments is a decisive moment,” she said. “We make sure the event is accessible with translators and photographers because inclusivity is at the heart of what we do.”
Choosing winners from a pool of so many strong candidates can be a challenge. Jeager said that the HRC uses a thoughtful and careful process to evaluate all the people and organizations who have been nominated.
“It is done with care, and we are all accountable for reading the nominations,” she said. “During my five years with the HRC, it has never been easy. There are so many strong nominees, and our priority is to make sure we recognize all of them.”
Nominees are chosen for their positive impact, their ability to inspire change and their work to build partnerships in Fort Collins and Larimer County.
Jaeger described it as “a legacy program” that ensures the community continues to celebrate those who make a difference.
Readers can submit a nomination by following this link. Nominations are open for voting until Oct. 31.
Luke Purvis is a CSU Journalism and Media Communication student. He hopes to gain as much knowledge as possible so that he can come prepared when he graduates.
Mailing errors lead to dismissal of 477 speeding tickets
By BEAR ATWOOD
The Ramspondents
Since the implementation of speed cameras in Fort Collins, hundreds of tickets have been issued. Of those tickets, 477 have been dismissed due to an error from the vendor that owns and operates the cameras.
One of the newer stationary camera radar units placed on the 800 block of West Prospect Road was found to be mailing tickets that had been missing necessary information, according to a press release by the City of Fort Collins.
After realizing the error, Verra Mobility — the vendor that owns, operates and mails the violations — mailed copies of the citations with complete information to the registered owners.
Despite this, any speeding tickets issued from Sept. 4 and Sept. 17 are now being dismissed and no longer need to be paid. If the ticket has already been paid and was among those that hadn’t been initially correctly printed, the city will refund the payment if emailed at [email protected].
Bear Atwood is a writer and reporter with a passion for community-based journalism. He’s a first gen college student attending CSU with a major in English and a minor in Journalism and Media Communication.