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Public commenters press Fort Collins council on Gaza: calls for divestment and ceasefire; others urge local focus
Summary
Multiple public commenters urged Fort Collins City Council to take a stand on the conflict in Gaza — including calls for divestment from companies that speakers said profit from the conflict — while other speakers from the Jewish community urged council to focus on local issues and cautioned that divestment could be impractical or legally risky.
During the council’s public comment period, a series of speakers raised the conflict in Gaza and urged varying responses from the council.
Kimberly Connor, who identified herself with the Human Services and Housing Funding Board but said she was not representing the board, said the two‑year anniversary of the conflict marks “two years of genocide in Gaza” and concluded her remarks with the statement, “Free Palestine.”
Other speakers urged council to take concrete action. Sterling (identified during the meeting as a District 6 resident) urged “immediate and concrete action against the persons and companies who are enabling this genocide and profiting off of death, especially Palantir and Woodward,” and asked the council to consider divestment and restrictions on local government partnerships with certain vendors.
Speakers from the local Jewish community urged the council to remain focused on local governance and warned that a city divestment campaign would be difficult to implement and could pose fiduciary and operational challenges. One commenter who identified herself as representing members of the Jewish community said divestment would require a deep, resource‑intensive review of the city’s investment and vendor relationships and could put staff and the city at risk of breaching fiduciary duties.
Patricia Babbitt and other commenters called for council members to listen, to consider historical context and to weigh the local consequences of any public positions. Speakers across the political spectrum referenced national and international developments and urged the council to balance moral concerns with practical considerations for city operations and investments.
No formal motions or votes on foreign‑policy matters were taken; comments were received under the public comment agenda item.
