Fort Collins leaders are looking to include more people of color, millennials and lower-income citizens on our city boards.

According to The Coloradoan, the members of the groups that advise Fort Collins City Council are mostly white, over the age of 60, and make six figures a year.

The biggest gap between city boards and the citizens of Fort Collins lies within the Latino community. They make up 10% of the city's population, but are only represented by 3% of board members.

Financially, almost half of the households in Fort Collins are making less than $50,000 a year, while 35% of board members are earning at least $100,000 per year.

As for age, around 30% of the people in Fort Collins are in their twenties; however, only 6% of board members fall into this age range.

Men and women are represented equally.

By increasing the diversity on these boards, the council hopes that they will better represent the Fort Collins community.

Even though the council has the final decision on local issues, the boards advise the council on a variety of topics, from air quality to zoning, and have significant influence.

In order to promote diversity, the council is looking to shorten the traditional four-year term so that younger people will be encouraged to join.

They are also looking to provide childcare during board meetings or allow virtual meetings.

On top of this, the council wants to alter their recruiting process in order to reach people who would not otherwise be familiar with city boards.

These changes will be reviewed by board members in February and at a community issues forum in April.

Along with better representing the city, the council hopes that the new structure will help minority board members feel more included.

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