After more than 40 years of public service, longtime Fort Collins City Councilmember Kelly Ohlson has announced his retirement. He spoke about his decision last month during a meeting, saying he doesn’t plan to run for reelection.
Get top headlines and KUNC reporting directly to your mailbox each week when you subscribe to In The NoCo.
“It's been a great privilege and honor to represent the people of Fort Collins for such a long time,” said Ohlsen during their meeting on November 19. “You put your trust in me, and I will be forever grateful.”
Ohlson first joined the city’s council in 1983 at the age of 32. He later served as Fort Collins’s mayor before serving three terms as the Larimer County Public Trustee. He later returned to the city council in 2005, before term limits removed him from the position. A few years later when he was eligible to run again in 2021, he won the District 5 seat. The area represents western and central parts of the city.
Ohlsen says he’ll miss serving his community.
“My wife Linda asked me what I would miss most about being on City Council,” said Ohlsen when he made the announcement. “I thought for a moment, and then I said my answer was simple, everything, but mostly the people that you work with, and the residents that you interact with, and also the special opportunity and privilege to do positive and meaningful work.”
According to his bio on the city’s website, Ohlsen has worked to protect natural spaces in Fort Collins, including eight different spaces that cover more than 75,000 acres in Fort Collins and Larimer County. He has served on numerous city boards including the Poudre Fire Authority, Downtown Development Authority and Poudre Landmarks Foundation.
“Public Service is the defining aspect of my life, and it's very hard to bring it to a close, but with one year left on this term and four more the next term, that's a half of a decade, and I can't see that far down the road at this stage in my life,” said Ohlsen. “Therefore, I choose to leave when I can still hit the fastball.”
Ohlsen plans to finish his term, but said he wanted to announce his plans to not seek reelection early enough so others could campaign for his seat in 2025.
