This request was addressed to the Fort Collins City Council at their meeting on April 7th, 2026.
In June of 2025, the Fort Collins Sustainability Group (FCSG) hosted a booth at the City’s “Ecofest” event at Washington Park. We intend to participate in Ecofest again this year, but want clarification from the City’s legal team on what we can and can’t say there beforehand.
Last year, we had – among other things – copies of a letter at our table that we asked people to send to city councilmembers. The letter asked councilmembers to accelerate the City’s efforts to address the climate crisis. After an hour or so of tabling, we were approached by a City employee who informed us that making this letter available for visitors to our booth violated the City’s rules concerning exhibitors’ speech at the event.
We asked for clarification earlier this year about what the City would allow us to say at this year’s Ecofest event. We were informed by Public Engagement Specialist Tanner Guinn that “EcoFest is designed to be an educational event. Because of that, we do not allow exhibitors to collect signatures for petitions, letters, or similar advocacy efforts.”
The FCSG believes that this prohibition infringes on our free speech rights on public property, and thus is in conflict with the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. We would like the City attorney to issue a written statement either providing a legal justification of the position stated by Mr. Guinn or rescinding the rule that exhibitors cannot engage in advocacy efforts at the City’s Ecofest event.
