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In my 20-plus years at The Coloradoan, I’ve had the pleasure of working with a lot of talented and hardworking reporters who aimed to bring home the impact of city government choices to the average residents of Fort Collins.

In 2023, it has been a privilege to put my boots on the ground. In August, I became the Coloradoan’s city government accountability reporter.

I believe citizens can’t hold their governments accountable if they don’t understand the work that is being directed by decisions happening at City Council meetings and work sessions. I hope my reporting fills that gap and empowers residents as they vote, sign (or decline to sign) petitions or take time to influence city decisions.

Here’s a look back at the biggest stories of 2023 on the city government beat.

The land use code dominated

The story of the year was the land use code. The Coloradoan published at least four dozen stories while following the process all year, ranging from the play-by-play of developments to digging deeper to help the community make sense of the complexities. That coverage came not just from me in 2023, but also from Sady Swanson and Molly Bohannon.

Check that link above to see it all.

Some of the stories I’m most proud of came out of digging deeper into the land use code process.

One of those is a visual, side-by-side comparison of three codes that untangled how the current code differed from the code that was repealed in early 2023 and city staff’s second effort. Check it out to make sense of where we’ve been so far.

And at the end of the year, I took a deeper look at one of the major players in disagreements about the code changes, YIMBY Fort Collins. This group has been the subject of sharp criticism by code opposition group Preserve Fort Collins, and my reporting answers the questions: Who are these individuals? How and when did they land in Fort Collins? Do they receive donations? What are they spending their money on? To answer those questions, I got to know three of YIMBY Fort Collins’ leaders and asked them about their activities, hopes and motivations.

Elections had consequences

2023 was also a notable election year for a variety of reasons, including the issues around housing affordability and it being the first November contest after voters agreed to move away from April city elections. I wrote an analysis looking at three takeaways from this year’s city election:

1. Voters still want progressive candidates.

2. They’re willing to raise their own taxes but are protective of them.

3. The land use code played a role in how people voted.

Voter turnout was up 8 percentage points as Fort Collins chose to reelect the mayor and two other City Council members and picked a new representative for a fourth seat. I consulted elections experts to talk about what might have influenced that increase in voter turnout.

Other stories of interest

Outside of elections and the land use code, there were other interesting stories to tell.

When a chain-link fence with barbed wire went up in north Fort Collins, it angered and surprised some residents, who described it as a prison-style fence that ruined the rural-urban interface of their neighborhood. I wrote a story to answer questions about what was happening, why and if the fence conformed to city and county standards. Still, the canal owner responsible for building the fence did not respond to my request for an interview. In the end, the barbed wire portion of the fence was removed.

It was a difficult year for West Nile virus across the state, with 50 deaths, 383 hospitalized and an explosion in the number of cases — far exceeding the average of the past five years — but I noticed that Larimer, Weld and Boulder counties always seem to have higher counts than other counties in Colorado.

Here’s what I learned about that: It has to do with our agricultural land use, and my story explained how.

2023 was also a historic year for property valuations, which rose 40% or more for many people and led to a record 30,000 protests with the county assessor, or about 18% of all valuations. I compiled a story sharing advice and tips for people who wanted to protest their valuations. That advice should still be relevant for the next round of valuations in 2025.

As we closed the year, Fort Collins power provider Platte River Power Authority moved closer to 2030, which is the deadline it set to become carbon-free. Earlier in the fall, PRPA laid out a plan to provide electricity after its coal plants have been retired and during times when wind and solar are not providing energy. But that plan for what is known as dispatchable capacity includes gas turbines, and that has been the subject of concerns by some residents and activists.

By the end of the year, Larimer County had another application from the city of Thornton regarding its proposed water pipeline, extending that yearslong saga into yet another year. You can read my story to find out what’s different this time around after that city conducted more outreach and formed a new plan.

If these issues and stories pique your curiosity, I hope you’ll subscribe to the Coloradoan. Our community’s support is what allows us to do the reporting that informs, empowers and makes our local democracy healthy and strong. And if you already subscribe, thank you. I couldn’t do it without you.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Coloradoan city government reporter Rebecca Powell’s top stories of 2023