Jeni Arndt is the Mayor of Fort Collins, Colorado, where she leads with a heart for service and community connection. A lifelong learner, Jeni holds multiple advanced degrees, including a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction and two master’s degrees. She’s also a former Peace Corps volunteer who lived and worked in Morocco and Mozambique before returning to serve her hometown. With a background in special education, international development, and public policy, she brings a global perspective to local leadership.
Fort Collins continues to attract national attention for its high quality of life and community-centric values. But behind the beauty of its bike paths and civic charm lies a deeper ethos of innovation, service, and shared responsibility. How does a city maintain its authenticity while navigating growth, housing, and sustainability?
According to Mayor Jeni Arndt, who leads Fort Collins with a global perspective and deep roots in the community, the answer lies in staying focused on people. Drawing from her experiences in international development and education, she emphasizes gratitude, inclusivity, and pragmatic leadership as essential ingredients for civic progress. From rethinking zoning to fostering intergenerational neighborhoods, Jeni believes the city’s future success depends on preserving the values that built it in the first place.
On this episode of the Love Foco Show, Jeff Faust welcomes Mayor Jeni Arndt for a conversation about servant leadership, the power of community identity, and how a city can grow without losing its soul. Jeni shares personal stories from her global travels, explains how she was called into politics, and offers a heartfelt vision for the future of Fort Collins.
TRANSCRIPT
Narrator: This is the Love Foco Show.
Jeni Arndt: People look each other in the eye. They care about each other. They know each other. And to me, that's when someone says, what's this what's is it about Fort Collins? I think it's that. And then, you know, when people move here, we kinda socialize them into it.
Narrator: Welcome to the Love Foco Show. Our podcast highlights the incredible people who make Fort Collins the place we're proud to call home. Each week, your host, Jeff Faust sits down with local leaders, community champions, and change makers to share their stories, what they love about our city, and how they're helping it fry. So whether you're out on the trail, at a brewery, or walking through Old Old Town, thanks for tuning in.
Jeff Faust: Today, we're sitting down with the current mayor of Fort Collins, Jeni Arndtt. She has been in public service for a number of years. Her leadership and history in Fort Collins is unique and encouraging. I think you're gonna hear a lot of her servant heart, her risk taking leadership, kind of entrepreneurial background, and a worldview and perspective that has shaped her into an incredible leader today. The best part, she is loving our city well.
And even if you didn't vote for her, I think you will love this interview. I know I loved sitting down with her. So with that, let's jump right in to this interview with Jeni Arndt.
Jeni, thank you so much for taking time to be on the podcast with me. It's the Love Foco
podcast show, so grateful. We're in the Mayor's Office. I've never been here before, so this is a this is a thrilling time for me too and
Jeni Arndt: Oh, it's the mayor's lair.
Jeff Faust: The mayor's lair. I love it. I love it. Thanks for inviting me in and sharing some of your time with me. This podcast, just for all of our listeners, it's really dedicated to highlighting people who are loving our city one life at a time.
And we do that in big ways, we do that in small ways. You're definitely one of those people the way you you serve publicly and you've been in the leadership position in our community. I'd love to to dig into that and and talk about the ways that you're serving and caring for our city. But I wanna start our conversation the way I start every podcast, and that's kind of how you began in Fort Collins. So tell us a little bit about your Fort Collins origin story.
Jeni Arndt: Okay. Well, it's a pleasure, thank you for having me, and thank you for doing something called La Focal. It's lovely. So I always say, and it's true, I moved my parents moved me here when I was three weeks old from from Boulder. I was born in Boulder.
My parents were graduate students, and they we're looking for a place to raise a family, and so they look no further than for Collins.
Jeff Faust: I love it. So what I right away, I hear, so we wanna raise a family. So let's move from Boulder
Jeni Arndt: Right.
Jeff Faust: And we're gonna land in Fort Collins. That's right.
Jeni Arndt: They really liked the innovative atmosphere that was up here. Both my parents were entrepreneurs. So Yeah. Very creative, risk taking people. So I grew up on Crestmore Place, and I was just at Polaris today talking to some students.
And, of course, back in the day, was more school. So I freaked them out and said, well, I went to school here fifty years ago, and they were like, god. How old is she? They said, how that? Somebody just ran around the corner, went to school, went over lunch, had the happy childhood that Fort Collins really afforded us in terms of being a very middle class family and the classic bi level, neighborhood packed of kids.
My parents chose that house because when they looked at, they said the the the courtyard was full of kids playing baseball. Yeah. And I just had that sort of I think of it as a very idyllic childhood. Yep. No leash laws back then, so my dog used to wait on the corner for me when I come around the from school.
Good health care, great schools, good living, healthy healthy place to to to be raised. Then
Jeff Faust: Did you grow up like your whole childhood here?
Jeni Arndt: Yeah. Oh, yeah. I I Elementary all the way through this? Levens, Pooter.
Jeff Faust: Wow.
Jeni Arndt: Then I went to Colorado College in 1982, graduated '86.
Jeff Faust: So You just dated yourself on the podcast.
Jeni Arndt: Oh, I was born 1964. Let's be clear. It's all written down somewhere. Yeah. People know these things.
Yeah. And then, you know, I started on my, like, journey of, I guess, went to grad school in Boulder and my husband went to Colorado State. And then we were, as a married couple, went in the Peace Corps in 1990.
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Jeni Arndt: And Morocco. And then that was, we didn't come back to Fort Collins to live till 2008.
Jeff Faust: Wow. Yeah. So pretty significant time away. So I have to ask you questions about the Peace Corps. So I'm gonna I'm gonna try to remember that.
If I don't bring that back up, let's bring that back up. But I I'm curious about some upbringing. Just like a quick question for me. Your parents that you had said that they were looking and and they were fascinated by kind of like this, I don't know, opportunity to raise a family, I think is what you said. But you also said they were attracted to the innovative part of our city.
Jeni Arndt: 100%.
Jeff Faust: So tell me a little bit about that because I this is part of the Fort Collins story I've come to love. Yeah. But I'd love to hear that from your vantage point. Like even, you know, a few decades ago I mean, this is a part of the rich history of Fort Collins, this innovative spirit.
Jeni Arndt: Right. So we're in the Smithsonian Institute as the city of innovation. Right? And and there's there's a reason for that and my parents really tapped into that. And here's here's what I think is special is when you have risk takers and entrepreneurs live, you don't stand out as someone weird.
Right? Yeah. So so my dad eventually had a bankruptcy, but, you know, that's just he's trying hard.
Jeff Faust: Part of the territory.
Jeni Arndt: That's part of kind of how it used to be or can still be when you're taking a lot of risk. So he was an early developer, and he did a lot of projects around town. I could talk about that'll spare you. But really this idea of looking to the future and being optimistic. And now that I'm mayor, we I we go back fifty years when our trail system started.
We go, in fact, fifty two years ago when Platte River Power Authority, the public power came together and started. We go back transport started fifty years ago. What was in the DNA? Right. Fifty years ago, the guy across the street from us was a president of the school board.
His name was Gene Mitchell. He was also known as the father of Old Town. K. Our next door neighbor, right, just to the right of us, was a county commissioner. My dad was present in the chamber.
I mean, I don't know what was going on in this small little town. There were a bunch of people coming together to really grow a great community.
Jeff Faust: Yep.
Jeni Arndt: And they did it. And and part of the reason why I wanted to run for mayor is I want to try to keep that going. Yeah. That pragmatic, open minded, risk taking place where people could find a home. Yeah.
Yeah. So so, yeah, that's how we grew up. When I was six, my dad quit his job. We took all the money and rented our house, sold our cars, and went to Europe, bought a Volkswagen van, and traveled around for six months in a camper van.
Jeff Faust: Wow.
Jeni Arndt: I thought that was completely where we'll think to do. Yeah. Doesn't everyone camp for six months with their parents?
Jeff Faust: A pair turns out no.
Jeni Arndt: I don't know. I looking back, I'm like, were you guys hippies? And the schools were just like, great. No homework, no accountability, no tests. You're gonna learn more in Europe than you'll ever learn here.
Jeff Faust: Yep.
Jeni Arndt: And you came back, and that was just I was like, oh, It it it just was and then my dad never had a job again. He was just constantly entrepreneurial. Yeah. And then the interesting thing is my father died in 1991, and we thought, oh, you know, we always wonder about how my mom kinda put up with the ups and downs of the entrepreneurial life. And guess who was the real entrepreneur?
Oh, my mom started. Yeah. So growing up, we always had even the kids, we had my brothers used to paint stripes on the parking lots. Right? And then go around town and get bids to repaint parking lots at night.
Jeff Faust: Yes.
Jeni Arndt: We invented this weird hat. I used to sell jewelry. Like, even our family is just completely normal to start a business side hustle. Yeah. And that's what I think makes So when you you do that, and then you I tell this story a lot.
I was at the silver grill talking to somebody, and they go, what do you mean by this? And I go, well, let's see. Our server came over, and I said, can see her server at the silver grill. And she said, yes. I said, do you do anything else on side?
She goes, yeah. And she took her hand out in her pocket, handed me her business card. She makes organic pet food at night. Yeah. And I looked at the person I was dining with.
I said, just like that. Yep. It always feels like like you have a you introduced yourself to me earlier. Yeah. Have a child.
Jeff Faust: Have multiple hats.
Jeni Arndt: I'm not aware of that. And now you're doing love. Sorry. We're all doing it. It's fun.
Jeff Faust: Yeah. It is. But I you know, there is something about your family. I mean, hearing your dad and let's risk it, let's go for it. Hearing your mom, you know, a strong female kind of with her own entrepreneurial spirit that does have a way of trickling down to the point where you go through elementary, middle, high here and you meet your husband and you're like, well, let's join the Peace Corps and go to different country.
And so there is there's something that impacted you even in your upbringing that was like, no, this is part of how you live. This is Oh, yeah. And your world I mean, I I just imagine it had to expanded and you you got to see so many different things to that. What a gift really. I know.
What a gift that one that you can grow up here in this amazing city that so many of us come to love, but also that you weren't so tied to it that you had at all costs, to hunker down and stay, but you were able to still risk it and go and see the world and do different things. So tell me a little bit about, I heard you say Morocco. Right. So I spent a little time in Morocco, Marrakesh and and and Casablanca and thanks to the romantic in me, the film romantic in me had to at least stop there. Tell me a little bit about your time in the Peace Corps.
You were in your twenties? Is that right?
Jeni Arndt: How old were we? Yeah. 26 till 28.
Jeff Faust: Okay.
Jeni Arndt: And I I was a teacher in the Peace Corps, very classic Peace Corps assignment. Yeah. And I was sent to a school that had girls and boys in it. But Morocco has, you know, especially thirty years ago, they had a teacher for the boys, but they didn't have a teacher for the girls.
Jeff Faust: Yep.
Jeni Arndt: So I wasn't displacing anybody, but these girls would have not had a teacher. Yeah. So I was at their school for two years. Yep. And it was in a a very poor section of Rabat, the capital.
Jeff Faust: Okay.
Jeni Arndt: Yeah.
Jeff Faust: Yeah. So
Jeni Arndt: it was lovely. And we went back last
Jeff Faust: Christmas for Oh, really?
Jeni Arndt: For to thirty year two Christmases ago. Yeah.
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Jeni Arndt: And we took our kids.
Jeff Faust: Yes.
Jeni Arndt: Yeah. And so it was lovely to see how much that country has gone from a low middle income country up to a middle income. Very sophisticated, very tourism oriented, very
Jeff Faust: Very tourism, yeah.
Jeni Arndt: Standard of living has been increased, you know, it's really remarkable.
Jeff Faust: It it was in Morocco that I was first introduced to like really good authentic mint tea and couscous meals and foods on it. I don't think I can ever eat couscous the same way again. I mean, it's just
Jeni Arndt: Not the [seven of bars] Yeah.
Jeff Faust: Just so good.
Jeni Arndt: So good. Delish.
Jeff Faust: Okay. So we're in the kind of your journey of of stepping away from Fort Collins. Where where else did you go about those times and and how were you shake I mean Sure. Did you come did you go from Morocco back to Fort Collins or were there other stops along the way?
Jeni Arndt: No. In Morocco, my husband we both had a master's degree when we went to Morocco and he was an ag economist and he met an ag economist from Purdue University who was head of the department there.
Jeff Faust: Okay.
Jeni Arndt: And this man Wally and his wife had been in Peace Corps in India in the sixties. Wow. So he liked Peace Corps volunteers, and we got to know Wally. And he said, hey. When you're done here, what are you gonna do?
And like any good Peace Corps people, we were like, I don’t know. He said, well, don't you guys come to Purdue University? And we're like, where's that? He goes, unbelievable. We went to Purdue because of Wally Tyner.
Wow. And my husband got a PhD in Ag Econ.
Jeff Faust: K.
Jeni Arndt: I got a second master's at that point specializing in special education. Okay. Later, I went and got my PhD too because I'm
Jeff Faust: Why not?
Jeni Arndt: Can't beat them yet. And then I got it in teaching how to teach teachers, literacy and language. And then my husband really wanted to have an international career, I said, But, you know, we also had value of having children. I said, well, physically, that will keep me in one spot pretty much. So we do have three children.
Awesome. And they're all born in Indiana, which is Oh.
Jeff Faust: And Midwest kids.
Jeni Arndt: Well, I know. It is fun. And then we were there for nine years. Then we well, we were there for four years. Then we went to Denmark to do his postdoc.
Jeff Faust: Okay.
Jeni Arndt: And we had two kids. So I stayed home and just it wasn't worth it to do it anyway. And then this is right. This is how I got the third kid. Then he said, wanna go back and be take a professorship at Purdue.
And the Midwest, you know, being a Westerner, you know, and being as sort of I'm not that rule oriented. Even though I make rules, you know, I don't I don't know why it's been that great at following them. I was never that comfortable there. And so I said, look. I'll go back, but we're gonna have a third baby.
That was my negotiation. Alright. So that's how we got Mason.
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Jeni Arndt: So we went back. It was a great job, and that's when I did my PhD. It was affordable place to live. I could have three kids and study at night and kind of do that. And then from there, one of our values was to have our kids grow up at least partially in Africa.
And so we thought the kids were really old at four, six, and eight. My husband had a a opportunity to move to Mozambique and be adviser to the government there through Purdue. And I got a job at the American school doing what I was good at teaching. And so we moved there and for two years, but two went to four and four went to six. And then my husband quit Purdue because they said, you don't come back, you can't work here anymore.
They said, okay. We're not coming back. Yeah. They were like, what? And then when it was time to leave Mozambique, we were looking for a place to live in The United States, and my husband said, don't we live in your hometown?
Yeah. And I started crying. And he goes, I think that means yes. And I go, yeah.
Jeff Faust: An intuitive man. Picking up…
Jeni Arndt: Exactly. So we had been coming here each summer to visit my mom.
Jeff Faust: Okay.
Jeni Arndt: And so the kids were familiar with it.
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Jeni Arndt: And they had the IB curriculum, the same curriculum we had in Mozambique. And so it was just a good fit. And then that's we came back in 2008.
Jeff Faust: Wow. What a what a journey. And I mean, you've listed a couple continents already between going to Europe as a child. Now two different countries in Africa, two different parts of Africa.
Jeni Arndt: Denmark for the post.
Jeff Faust: Yes. Right. Denmark and and sometimes, you know, Indiana can feel like a different world too.
Jeni Arndt: That's what I say. People say, well, what was your biggest cultural shock? I said, Indiana. Yeah. I'm not and
Jeff Faust: that's not Alright. Well, I'm from the Midwest originally. So I moved out here, and I always tell people it's a great place to be from. You know, I don't I don't mind my upbringing. I look back at some memories very fondly, but it's cloudy from Halloween until spring break.
And the snow just piles on top of each you know, here.
Jeni Arndt: But not good skiing.
Jeff Faust: No. No. No skiing. And and I think I've played golf every month of the calendar year, you know, because if it's a 55 degree and sunny day in January, can go hit the links. And so
Jeni Arndt: And I'm a long distance runner, and I remember in Indiana, they had a skull and crossbones. It was a quarter three quarters of a mile path, and they had a big billboard with a skull and crossbones that said, you must have your doctor's permission before you attempt this trail. In Colorado, I'd go do a fifty day. You know?
Jeff Faust: It's like, that's cute.
Jeni Arndt: That's cute. Was like, these aren't maybe I don't I've just felt like a fish out of water.
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Jeni Arndt: And I will tell you this. Purdue University is a wonderful university. Yeah. Actually, husband works back there now. Yeah.
And it was a great place to raise kids.
Jeff Faust: And I would imagine, like, there's some similar fields of overlap between, like, our great university, CSU, and and There were
Jeni Arndt: both land grants. That's right.
Jeff Faust: Land grants, tons of engineering work coming out of there. Yeah.
Jeni Arndt: And the university is really quite remarkable. Yeah. And so he's back there running a global trade analysis project now. I mean, he commutes.
Jeff Faust: It's just I'm sitting here listening to you. I'm like, you have an incredible amount of education in your background too.
Jeni Arndt: I do.
Jeff Faust: I have my undergraduate degree. I did one year after that. I was like, alright. That's that's it for me. That's I I I mean, but you said two master's degree, went back and got your PhD.
Jeni Arndt: Then I started my MBA up here.
Jeff Faust: Then you started your MBA here. My
Jeni Arndt: husband says, if you go to and I have my law school book outside my bed. He's like,
Jeff Faust: yeah.
Jeni Arndt: Honey, if you go to law school, I swear.
Jeff Faust: Late late career change here and I love it. Love it.
Jeni Arndt: I like school.
Jeff Faust: Well leaders are readers. Right? That's what I was saying. Was like I mean you're just gonna continue growing and leading and learning and where those things just go together. They just go together.
I'm I'm curious because I actually, you're mayor of Fort Collins now. I wanna get into your your kinda like current role soon, but I I just I'm I find myself curious about your education background and your world travels. Like, and how those have impacted you for today. Oh, yeah. Because Fort Collins is a different place than Mozambique.
Jeni Arndt: 100%.
Jeff Faust: You know, and and but all these things, they they've impacted you as at a personal level. They've they've shaped you. Those experiences, they they don't leave very easily. And so how how has that impacted you as a leader today?
Jeni Arndt: It fills me with gratitude for real. I mean, I'm a very optimistic future looking person. And I try to honor the past all the time as well because the people who came before us were obviously very forward thinking themselves. But it gives you perspective. Right?
Mozambique was the poorest country in the world when we moved there because my husband's actual specialty within what he does is he's he specialized in poverty. And those experiences, really help you understand at a very deep level what we have here and how much a community can give. And how wealthy we are and how we should be and to have the obligation to take care of everyone in our community in a way that reflects all the kindness and love and and resources that we have.
So I'm very serious about that. It also helps me keep us steady, calm, demeanor. Well, I don't like it when things go wrong, but I can also see they're not going that that wrong. Right? And and then we keep trying to make everything better for people and and our our residents and provide top top services.
But if we're so wealthy that we're not converting tennis courts to pickleball courts because there's two different sets of lines, That tells me we're a very wealthy community. Yeah. Yeah.
Jeff Faust: And we're solving different kinds of problems. Right.
Jeni Arndt: Right. Right. Right. That's right. And that's a real problem for some people and I honor that.
I honor that.
Jeff Faust: Sure.
Jeni Arndt: And I realize you know? So it gives me perspective.
Jeff Faust: That perspective and that gratitude, that undercurrent of gratitude, when, like, maybe around us, right, there's an undercurrent of stress or an undercurrent of anxiety for you to be able to say, actually like I I've seen some things.
Jeni Arndt: Correct.
Jeff Faust: Like this will pass or I've seen some things. So like let me just remind you we live in an incredible place and we're we we wanna take all of your concerns you know, you know, wanna tackle them head on and we wanna address these but you can kind of almost be self differentiated in a way and stand have have a different kind of perspective and say, no, we're gonna deal with this, but I just want you to know the swirl you're feeling is not the swirl that's out there actually. Like, we're on different levels here.
Jeni Arndt: Yes. I mean, people I met a young woman last week at Climate Week in New York and she said, I'd like to move to Colorado, there's not enough water. I said, there's enough water. She said, what do you mean? I said, well, there's enough water.
It we we are looking at a water shorter future. We would just have to change the way we live. And so far, we haven't changed the way we live.
Jeff Faust: Right.
Jeni Arndt: So there's a lot of steps we're gonna we we can do before we don't have water. And she said, oh, well, like, well, you know, we you know, this this space that each American not every American, but many Americans, commondere, Including myself, I have a very nice house, is remarkable Yeah. Even compared to European standards. Yeah.
Right? I made this suggestion. I have a condo in Denver from when I was a legislator Mhmm. That why do we each have our own washer dryer in our units? We should just have one unit be out washer dryer that we could just share.
Oh my goodness. You would have thought I was taking away some Those
Jeff Faust: are fighting words right there.
Jeni Arndt: How dare you? No. I know why do we each need our own of everything. Right?
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Jeni Arndt: And so our standards are extremely high.
Jeff Faust: They are. I remember so I lived in Southern Spain when I was in my twenties. Okay. And I remember in the Andalucia province, have like real water issues and different kinds of water issues. It was common to just turn the shower on and then No water.
And then and then scrub your scrub your hair, know, turn it off.
Jeni Arndt: Okay. Right.
Jeff Faust: And and then turn it back on to rinse and that was it?
Jeni Arndt: With the tank above you. That's it. Got a little tank. Right? And you turn it on early so it heats the water in the tank and that's what you get.
Jeff Faust: I mean, it's it's a… Yeah.
Jeni Arndt: Right. I mean, in every European hotel, you you put the key card in that turns on the master so you can run the lights and then you take the key with you and it turns all the lights in. Yeah. In America, you walk in, the TV is on and it's massive.
The first thing can do is turn off the AC and I turn off the TV, but those
Jeff Faust: That's so interesting, isn't it? That like hospitality in The United States means the TV is on when you open the door?
Jeni Arndt: And it's freezing. And it's freezing. Yeah. Right? Yeah.
So so all those tell me I'm very grateful and Yep. We're very blessed.
Jeff Faust: Yes. This is like this beautiful tension, right, of this it is almost an idyllic place to live. I mean, they're constantly were being written about, our city is being remarked on about how wonderful of a place it is to live. People, would love to to move towards us and find their space. And yet, it's by leaving Fort Collins that some of that gratitude grows, that some of that perspective expands so that when you come back, I mean, know, this city has a way of boomeranging all kinds of people back to it.
That's part of your story as as you've mentioned. You come back with a foresight and just this appreciation for where we live, our neighbors and what we can do to make a difference. I I think that's sweet. Thank you so much for for sharing part of that with us and
Jeni Arndt: Well, we have podcast called Love NoCo. Yeah. Come on. You're you're you're a case in point.
Jeff Faust: Well, hopefully yeah. Hopefully, more than my mom listens to this thing.
Jeni Arndt: I'm gonna listen…
Jeff Faust: Yeah. Well, I would I would love to to talk a little bit about, you know, you're obviously the the mayor of our city, but you've done a number of different things. You've seen all kinds of different spots in our city. So as you grew up here, as you have come back here, you know, as you you know visited in the summers to see your mom and introduce your kids to this great city and now as you live here. What are the things you just like when you get in a room with other mayors or you get in a room with other leaders or your casting vision about about who our city, What are some of the things that really just continually come back? This is why I love this city.
Jeni Arndt: You know, I'm a humanist. So I've learned this over time. People telling me that. I was like, oh, okay. So I'm always looking at the people.
Mhmm. I mean, we have amenities, and we have this, and then we have I do love our parks, and they're open. You know, we don't Yeah. But, honestly, it's when you walk down the street, people somebody says hi. Yeah.
You know, if you just stop and notice what people are doing, it's quite remarkable. I was running at the track the other day on Sunday morning, and every single person nobody's looking at anybody. Nobody knows there's only four of us. Every person on the way out picked up a little piece of trash. Yeah.
Sunday morning at 08:00, nobody's looking. Right. Right? Those are things that I notice. Like
Jeff Faust: That is unique, by the way. I mean, I I don't know
Jeni Arndt: I agree.
Jeff Faust: How many cities that would take place. It's Let me just clean up trash when no one's watching.
Jeni Arndt: It's remarkable. You know, just even the traffic patterns, you know. I mean, okay, there's a little more road rage than there used to be. But I mean, honestly, I just pulled up to a stop sign just today, and and a TransFort bus came exact time. You know?
And he's like, wave and beyond. You know? And it was just this idea that people look each other in the eye, they care about each other, they know each other. And to me that's when someone says what's this what's is it about Fort Collins? Yeah.
I think it's that. And then, you know, when people move here, we kinda socialize them into it.
Jeff Faust: I was gonna say, I would because so an interesting thing about that is how you maintain that level of familiarity and and proximity and, you know, difference to others and and and, you know, loving people well. How you maintain that as a city grows. I would imagine it's a challenge. It's gotta be a challenge.
Jeni Arndt: That is a challenge. It's a worry. Right? It's worry and a challenge, but I do think that this socialization process, you know, our daughter was four, we came for a visit and I said hi to somebody at City Park. She goes, do we know him? Yes.
And I said, oh, honey, you oh, you're right. No. No. That's not what I'm looking for. Right?
Right. And so now she lives in New York City and we're walking down the street. She's like, hi. Hi. I'm like, there you go.
Jeff Faust: I had a really similar experience. So we had an intern that came and lived with us. I mean, she lived in our basement. My wife and I and our kids, we were just like, these this is what we do. Like, if there's an intern in our organization, like, come stay in our basement or whatever.
We went for a walk and we're just kind of showing our intern our neighborhood and everybody I mean, I grew up in Iowa. I moved from Kansas City, but grew up in Iowa. It felt like we were in a walk in Iowa. Everybody's talking to each other. Everyone was looking at each other in the eye smiling.
And after about the tenth person, she's like, do you know every person in this city? They're like, no. I don't know personally any of the people that but this is like its own little subculture of friendly and like just appreciation for one another and it leads to other things like waving someone through I mean minor waving someone through other travel but like picking up trash when no one's watching.
Jeni Arndt: Minor minor but really important.
Jeff Faust: and Very important to like the deeper culture of who we are.
Jeni Arndt: I feel I feel that. Yeah. Yeah. My mom is 89 now, and she walks up and down her street for exercise and stuff. And she missed two weeks last winter, and I got, like, three phone calls from her neighbors.
Is your mom okay? I noticed she didn't walk by my house today. Are you kidding me? Yeah. You know, thank you so much.
And, actually, she has pneumonia. She has a you know, we're taking care of her, and and and thank you thank you for noticing. What?
Jeff Faust: Right. That yeah. It's incredible. I know.
Jeni Arndt: Yeah. When the guy who sold the grocery store, Beavers, Doug Beavers, we've known him for years, he said specifically that one of the checkers that was gonna stay even though they sold the store, her name is Angie, gonna look after my mom. Wow. And I just start crying. Yeah.
I you know, it's just like that. Yep. Feels like that. Yeah. Yeah.
So
Jeff Faust: That's that's yeah. Think that's really sweet. Mean, just reminds me even something you you brought up earlier about even the cul de sac. You know? I mean, one, good on your parents.
So they're looking for a home. They're not just looking for a house. They're looking for a home. So they're they're paying attention like, how many kids are in this neighborhood? What's the cul de sac like?
It was filled with kids and people were playing. They're like, okay, we could do this.
Jeni Arndt: Well well, the funny thing is the other house they're looking at is the corner of Oak And Jackson, which is worth about $2,000,000 right now. And they bought the crappy buy level on Prestmore Place for, like and I think when we left, we sold it for $280. Yeah. I'm like, Apple's and oranges, mom, what what? And she goes, there were more kids over there.
I thought you kids would be happier here.
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Jeni Arndt: I'm like, okay.
Jeff Faust: Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's amazing. Well, and we could get into a really fascinating conversation about house prices. I mean, this is this is gotta be this is gonna be a challenge for your seat.
I mean, this is gotta be an interesting.
Jeni Arndt: That's a sad…
Jeff Faust: It's a conversation I would imagine many of you are I mean, I know I'm having it like, gosh, how can I how can I help I mean, even it's impact like things like talent acquisition, how do you get someone to move from out of city to the city? These are challenges.
Jeni Arndt: A very big challenge. I mean, it really is prohibitive and it is a thing that really does worry me. Again, as a humanist, right?
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Jeni Arndt: And we're aging which is fine. I like I like people in my age group and older. Yeah. And we need young vibrant vibrancy and young families. Right?
Yep. And, you know, when your teachers and firefighters and police officers can't live where they work, it really hollows out a community. Yep. And I really like, you'd see in Africa where the workforce comes in…
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Jeni Arndt: And works and goes out. Yep. Those aren't really very stable communities…
Jeff Faust: Right.
Jeni Arndt: Because the social fabric isn't interwoven.
Jeff Faust: You want your civil servants to live in the zip code where they're served.
Jeni Arndt: Too much segregation. So we we we in America, unfortunately, we segregate ourselves politically and socioeconomically. If you look a map of Fort Collins, and you do it by party affiliation or by economics, it's we really have done that. Yeah. So really, we're looking for more mixed housing types instead of like from the 8 hundreds.
Like all these houses in this neighborhood are $800,000 more. Like I hate those Okay.
Jeff Faust: I'll just keep driving down the road.
Jeni Arndt: Yeah. What we're really looking for and somebody said, oh Jeni, you're gonna love this new development. It's all for senior citizens. I'm actually, the best neighborhood I ever lived in was in Denmark.
Jeff Faust: It was It's totally intergenerational.
Totally mixed. Yeah.
Jeni Arndt: And we shared a house. We had half of it. And there was a divorced mom with two kids on the apartment above and there was senior citizen below. Yeah. And I had the car.
Jeff Faust: So here we go again. Mean, you know, your your external worldview helping your local Because I mean, that's what mean, and it helps everybody. A rise and tie lifts all boats. Right? So the the mental health Right. it helps everybody across the generations.
Jeni Arndt: It did. And that's also where we had one big washer dryer room for the everybody. Yeah. Because what and you just need it once a week for pizza each. Now, of course, an American, I always forgot my… slot
My husband, like, you do the alarm? Like, I forgot to get it. I'm American, man. Usually, do it. Yeah.
But the senior citizens watch my kids, and I have the car. I do take I get all the shopping done. Mhmm. And they loved playing with the kids. And then they'd be out, or I'd be out with the kids at the communal park, and somebody's in cooking and tear.
And we just it was just the synergistic, really wonderful way to live. Yeah. So when we separate ourselves by age, by socioeconomic status, by political affiliation, I think it really hurts us.
Jeff Faust: Well, thanks for sharing that. And, you know, I I I imagine this will be something that the future mayor will have to talk about and future citizens of our of our great city will have to keep talking about that. Not only water rights and and things like that, but also housing and affordability and how that impacts the general kind of fabric of our city.
Jeni Arndt: and Yeah. You were probably saw the zoning for fluffle we went through, but Yeah. That'll continue.
Jeff Faust: Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Well, tell me let's just kind of transition out. We've talked a lot about, you know, your upbringing, how it's impacted you today.
It's incredible. The the things that you loved about your your, our city. I mean, the people and it really is a a unique way that our lives are interacting together. Even that that risk-taking an entrepreneurial spirit that, gosh, the more I dig into the city of our or the history of our city, excuse me, the more I'm like enthralled and impressed.
Jeni Arndt: I know. So many sorts have been invented here.
Jeff Faust: By So many forward thinking people. Alright. It's really encouraging. It really is.
Jeni Arndt: It's fun.
Jeff Faust: But you've also served as the mayor of this great city. So you've had a unique insight to some of the challenges, some of, the the beauties and the benefits. Tell me a little bit about I would love to hear, as you discover these things, as you lead in these spaces, how you see your public service, your volunteerism, your citizenship of our city, like how are you loving our city? How are you loving Fort Collins? Right?
Love FoCo, this is the podcast. So how what what are some things that you see are really integrated in your life in that sense?
Jeni Arndt: When I moved back in ‘08, I would say also, four cons has shown me a lot of love and given me many opportunities. So Yeah. My high school teachers remembered me and asked me to run for state representatives. Wow. So that's how people are like, how did you get into politics?
I'm like, oh, they asked me. I was like, no. I was like, I'm not doing that. Why would I quit my job? Live in Denver. It looks like a terrible job.
Jeff Faust: Well, before that, have you thought about running? No. That's so fascinating to me because you're I mean, you're like a great leader. I mean, you had so many different ways that you've led.
Jeni Arndt: I had a great job.
Jeff Faust: Yeah. And yet, someone grabbed you and looked you in the eye. They remembered you and they said, you should do that. Like, you would be good.
Jeni Arndt: Correct.
Jeff Faust: Sometimes we just need that.
Jeni Arndt: His name was Bob Bacon, and I'm gonna kill him. He was my high school teacher. Right? And I kept saying no. Then finally, said, Jeni, your community needs you.
Mhmm. And he said, you know, Bob, that's the only thing you could say that would make me do it. And he goes, I know. That's why he said it. I was like so he had been school board, state rep, and then our state senator.
Jeff Faust: Okay.
Jeni Arndt: And so I did when I realized that election was just an opportunity to ask the community if they want you to serve. Yeah. Then it became not scary. I was like, oh, wait. I've been volunteering for things my whole life.
Yep. Now I'm just gonna volunteer, and if the community thinks that I'd be a good volunteer Yep. They can choose me through a ballot, which is a little bit scary, but, you know, and I got over the whole election boogeyman thing, and then I also realized that being elected is community service. Yeah. So those two
Jeff Faust: Oh, it's an act of love. It has got to be an act of
Jeni Arndt: Yeah. It is an act…
Jeff Faust: It's almost impossible to lead right now. So it is an if you're listening to this, you just got to know Jeni is loving our city, my serving our city.
Jeni Arndt: It is it is an act of love. Someone said to me last week, she goes, oh, is mayor? Is it fun? I’m not saying I'm miserable. It's just when I go fun, I have other ideas. But Yeah. So I was a state rep from 2014 to 2021. Yeah.
When honestly people called, so will you run from here? Yeah. I was like wait, make $29 a year now. You want me to make 14 a year? They go yeah.
Jeff Faust: Well, I don't know that everybody knows that. So I I I would just like like just tell the listeners like what you're because it's I know people think it's like this full time amazing place. You got the mayor mansion that you just Yeah. Yeah. It is not that.
Jeni Arndt: It is not that. Yeah. So when I ran, I knew full well. So it's $14,000 a year. The first two years.
Jeff Faust: Yep.
Jeni Arndt: Then we did ask the voters if they would pay more.
Jeff Faust: Yep.
Jeni Arndt: And they said yes. Very gratefully. So the mayor makes 75% of the area mean income. Yep. The mayor pro tem makes 65%, and the counselors make 50%.
Jeff Faust: Yep.
Jeni Arndt: So it's, like, thirty, forty-five, 65, something like that. And there were no benefits. There's I mean, if I weren't married, I couldn't have been mayor. But now we can qualify for the city benefits, which makes something different. Yeah.
And, yeah, I work about seventy hours a week. Yeah. But, again, it's you don't do it for the money. You don't, you know? So anyway, people ask me around for Mara, and I said, well, yeah.
Jeff Faust: Well, let me just pause and just say thank you for your sacrifice there because
Jeni Arndt: It's fudge.
Jeff Faust: It's yeah. That is a very kind way to say. I mean, I I a lot of leaders say, well, it's nothing you know, and that's true. Like, I a lot of leaders I meet, they wouldn't know what else to do. Like, they're just they're just being who they are. They're just leading. This is but leadership and sacrifice go together.
Jeni Arndt: Oh, wow.
Jeff Faust: And that's a real thing.
Jeni Arndt: Yeah. Thank you for saying that. But I feel like the other thing when I talk to people, especially young people would talk about being elected. So why do wanna be elected? Well, you know, you said the community service does not have a hierarchy.
If you think being elected is somehow higher than picking up trash or being on your HOA board or having your neighbor over for dinner, you're you're totally wrong.
Jeff Faust: Well, those HOA board members, they have some power.
Jeni Arndt: I always say, you want real power. You better be that. But but what you do is community service, you know, we're all serving our community. Yeah. You can be a great parent, a great friend, a great neighbor.
That's also community service. You're building community. I just fell into this because people ask me to, and so I said, well, yeah, I think that is a way I could probably serve given my sort of obnoxiously extroverted nature, which, you know, is just the way it is. But there's no hierarchy. I always wanna make that point to people.
The you know, being we're being mayor is not lower than being a state rep. This isn't lower than being congress. It's like, that's just such a strange notion to me. We're all pulling for our communities and our people and our families and our friends and our neighbors together, and at different phrases in your life you give differently. Yeah.
So I just wanna always dispel that. And then what was the other part of that question?
Jeff Faust: Well, I mean, I'm I'm I'm just I I would love for you to talk about so your leadership is an act of service. Yeah. And the ways that you're giving back, but I I would have I mean, seventy hours a week, you're probably finding yourself serving all over the city. Not only in individual conversation, but you know, in all kinds of different ways.
A And bit about I mean, you know, high on really caring for our environment and really I mean, brought up water earlier. These are ways that I think in Fort Collins maybe appreciated more maybe from the Midwest. I grew up in the Midwest. People wouldn't talk about loving their city by loving water rights and talking about water. But here, this is like a real way where you can care for our city.
Jeni Arndt: Well, the governor appointed me to the water quality control commission for the state. Yeah. So we do water quality Yep. Which is also another thing I do. Service, I guess
Jeff Faust: It’s starting to tack up.
Jeni Arndt: I'm just, I know. I know. Don't get me going. My husband's like stuff. So
Jeff Faust: You're gonna get that law book out. Oh,
Jeni Arndt: yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. It it just I I don't know how to talk about it other than I feel like we're all doing it. I just it feels like I I mean, I don't I'm not that comfortable talking about myself.
I like talking about other people.
Jeff Faust: Well, me let me ask you a let me ask you a specific leadership question. Because this is as a as a as a lead I like I think about this a lot. How do you, in your various roles, in in the different problems you're kind of trying to solve, how do you manage the the tension maybe is the right word between like short term needs, things that you know we've gotta be about in the next two months or maybe two months is appropriate Yeah. Versus the next twenty years. Yeah. And how how do you navigate that space?
Because a lot of mayors, a lot of leaders in our city have have lived in that and you're you're living that now.
Jeni Arndt: Yeah. I so I I am kind of a student of process and governance. So I always try to think about what's the proper role of government? What does government do well? And what does government not do well?
Where where should we not be? Right? And how do we the government is fundamentally it's the people. Right? So let's never forget that.
It is the people. So government can be whatever anybody wants it to be because the people get to decide. Right? And as Barney Frank says, government's the word we use for the things we choose to do together. Yeah.
Okay? So government has the advantage of thinking ahead fifty years. Right? When you're elected, I'm elected every two years. Counsel every four years.
So what you don't in my view, what I don't wanna be is a two year thinker. Right? And I say I never got elected to get reelected. Yeah. That's not good.
Right? So half your brain has to be thinking fifty years. Right? What are the the serious investments we wanna do now? A real emphasis I've had as mayor is let's pay back or go and do a lot of asset management.
Right? Take the money we have now, and so we're not stealing from our future kids and grandkids. Right. Right? I go, I will be the least sexy, the least flashy mirror you ever saw.
Right? I want the most boring budget Uh-huh. That plugs the holes.
Jeff Faust: Yep.
Jeni Arndt: As long as you've got me, I'll approve a budget like that. Yeah. Right? I don't I'm not going for the next shiny thing. Right?
So you have to think that way. And then, of course, you're thinking long term, of course, you have some midterm goals, and then we have lots of plans and stuff in the city. And then and then there there are inevitably the tasks that lead up to that with that sort of longer range goal in life. And then to me, always what is the purpose of government comes into mind. Yeah.
I personally think that people work the best when there are the few are we already talked about rules before? When there are the fewest rules possible? Yeah. That's when they flourish and innovate, and they take risks. They feel more free.
Jeff Faust: Yep.
Jeni Arndt: And I know that everyone doesn't get a fair shake and so that some people need a leg up. And to me, when we put into the communal pot, which is taxes Mhmm. And fees to get something out for the community, it should benefit the people of the community. Yep. So those are sort of my guiding philosophies.
So I'm really reticent to make too many rules or laws. In fact, I kinda specialize in removing them. That's my favorite.
Jeff Faust: This is I mean, I I'm hearing your entrepreneurial upbringing…
Jeni Arndt: And then I think a really proper role of government is to well, especially the municipal level. I love being at the state first because I can really see how they interact. Right? Yeah. The municipal level is really about core services.
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Jeni Arndt: Right? So lucky for us, have broadband. We have our public power. We have, obviously, our three water utilities, streets, curbs, snow removal, all these things that really make the city go. Yes.
And those are sort of my favorite city services are the, again, the, like, the least flashing ones. Yeah. Because we're a wealthy community, we have been able to add in
Jeff Faust: Yep.
Jeni Arndt: A wonderful forestry plan.
Jeff Faust: There's some privilege to that. Right? I mean, not every municipality in our even our nation, which, you know Oh. Compared to other nations is quite well each municipality doesn't have that opportunity.
Jeni Arndt: Oh, no. They do not. They do not have the Lincoln Center. They do not invest in arts and culture the way we do. They do not and those are the things that we have added on top are Yep.
Our botanic gardens. Right? Yeah. The people have chosen through the their generosity when we ask them
Jeff Faust: Right.
Jeni Arndt: To raise their taxes on themselves. Yeah. They've said yes.
Jeff Faust: I I had a conversation. I haven't had this conversation with the podcast of Darren Adaberry, former city manager, but I remember talking to him about the width of bike lanes. And, you know, we have incredible bike lanes. You wanna wanna grow an appreciation or just go to like a city where I grew up. Right.
You're not it's the clunky sidewalk
Jeni Arndt: or on the cars. Yeah. You know, I mean, like, good luck.
Jeni Arndt: Risking life and life. Yeah. That's right. Exactly. Exactly. So we have a lot of amenities stuff, and that and that's been provided by the largesse of the people who live here. Creating the community they wanna live in.
Jeff Faust: Right.
Jeni Arndt: Right? So
Jeff Faust: Well, there's gonna be a there's gonna be someone, you know, twenty, thirty years from now that's gonna look back at at you and and and thank you. Oh, I love you've done that. But I also I mean, you know, I also hear you talk about even even some equity pieces there, where people who need a leg up
Jeni Arndt: Yeah.
Jeff Faust: To give them a leg
Jeni Arndt: up. Yes.
Jeff Faust: And we want them to be thriving and flourishing in our community as well. And so I would imagine that in your tenure and even leadership beyond mayor, that there have been opportunities for you to really care for underrepresented people in our community. And, you know, what a gift that is because, our nation is changing, our demographics are changing, and Fort Collins is as it grows, there's gonna be a lot of different folks that call this city home. Mhmm. And I would hope that that hospitality that you experienced as a child and returned, you know, in your adult lives, that would just be trickled out everywhere across and and
Jeni Arndt: We can afford it.
Jeff Faust: We can.
Jeni Arndt: I mean, I always say I don't check your we don't check if you're from La Porte or Venezuela. If you're in our town…
Jeff Faust: Yep.
Jeni Arndt: We have services to help you.
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Jeni Arndt: And that's the kind of town that I was raised in and that I want to be mayor. And then people say, well, it's this whole thing and build it and they will come. I said, fine. That's also a value of mine. Yeah.
If someone's here and they need something.
Jeff Faust: Well, grew up in Iowa, so feel the dreams is right up my alley. So that's a that's a good quote that we can lay down on the podcast.
Jeni Arndt: So we laid down. Wow. That's okay with me. Yeah. I don't see why not.
Jeff Faust: Well, and you know, I mean, I I think about I think about public service. I think about leadership. Even your role, like one of the analogies that was running through my mind, and you just correct me if this is just a flat out wrong way to think about As I was driving here to interview you, of the word pictures that was kind of running through my mind is less like an individual like sprinting race, much more of like a relay. You're not gonna hold a baton forever. No.
But someone was running well before you were. They passed you this baton of leadership. You ran for a while and you're gonna pass it on to someone else. Yeah. And so how like how each and every one of us can honor the season in the space where we're leading this particular thing.
But realize, we're gonna be passing this on. We're not gonna run this out in perpetuity.
Jeni Arndt: Of course. That's the design of our of our of our government here. And and and that, again, I think a lot about governance. Right?
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Jeni Arndt: Right? It's really not Jeni. I mean, I bring Jeni to the role. Sure. But the role of mayor continues. Right?
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Jeni Arndt: It's really about the mayor.
Jeff Faust: Yep.
Jeni Arndt: And I play mayor for four and a half years
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Jeni Arndt: And take that responsibility on. I feel like, what are you gonna do? I'm like, I'm gonna keep doing the same things. I'm not gonna be elected. I hope for anything.
I hope Bob doesn't ask me to do anything else. But that whole idea and spirit and and and ethic is just been part of you know, people say, how long have been a politician? I said since first grade. I mean, what is a politician? A politician means someone of the people.
That's all it means. Like, a physician is. Right? Mhmm. And so I'm proud to call myself a politician.
Yeah. Because my dad said, in first grade, when you go to school, Jeni, if the teacher needs someone to clean the desk after school, you're doing it. Yeah. You're gonna stay late and pick up trash. Like, you're gonna serve your classroom.
Yeah. And I don't do anything different today than I did when I was in first grade.
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Jeni Arndt: I just got elected. And when I'm not elected, I'll do the same thing. I promise you. We have a neighborhood dinner every month. You know, all sorts of things happening.
So it's just you just carry that with you. Yeah. And then sometimes you're elected, sometimes you're not. And I will tell you, being elected is not the sweet spot. Yeah. Or not necessarily. Yep. Yeah. So that's sort of what I'm gonna keep going. I don't know what the actual task will be.
But I think it'll be similar.
Jeff Faust: Well, Jeni, I I am again, thank you so much for this. I I can see in you. I hear in you. You've loved our city for years and years and years. You're you're gonna continue loving our city in a different context and a different space, but I I love what you just said.
Like, I'm just like, I don't know what else to do. I'm gonna be Jeni wherever I show up.
Jeni Arndt: Correct.
Jeff Faust: And that servant leadership and that care for others. With that little risk free kind of attitude, entrepreneurial spirit, I I think will will continue to serve the people around you really really well and
Jeni Arndt: Actually, that's gonna I'm looking forward to like, Mary, have to there's there's some guardrails.
Jeff Faust: Yeah. Yeah.
Jeni Arndt: And like every single Tuesday night for four and a half years? Yeah. Yeah.
Jeff Faust: You've been right down the hall. Jen's been a bust out.
Jeni Arndt: I need a little more room. I need a lot more space in my life.
Jeff Faust: Yes. Yeah. So Well, thank you so much. I mean, has been a joy of a conversation for me. Even just me personally.
Just to pick your brain on leadership and learn a little bit about your history and
Jeni Arndt: We're glad you and your family are in our community.
Jeff Faust: It is an incredible city to live in.
Jeni Arndt: Oh, we're glad you're here.
Jeff Faust: I'm so grateful my kids are are growing up here. We were talking a little before we started. My, you know, my youngest walks to school or takes her electric scooter to school or whatever and it is a good life.
Jeni Arndt: It is.
Jeff Faust: It is a good life and I I hope that the gratitude that you learned about and brought back that someone will take a piece of that from this conversation and and, you know, check-in on their neighbors.
Jeni Arndt: Right.
Jeff Faust: Who maybe have, you know, need to be cared for or loved on, made brownies for whatever it is. That gratitude and kindness, I I heard in you for sure and I I hope it just trickles out to our city and keeps going.
Jeni Arndt: Well, a lot of times when I'm driving down to work, put that song on, he ain't heavy, he's my brother. And it just reminds me every day. Right? That's that's it's the way we it's the path we walk.
Jeff Faust: Yes. Well, we're gonna put a variety of different, you know, show notes in the links below. Maybe we'll put that song down there so people can listen to that.
Jeni Arndt: I do. I love it. I listen to that.
Jeff Faust: We'll find that and we'll put that on and and, you know, it's a great city. You can come to council meetings on Tuesdays for a little bit longer. You'll hear Jeni. But thank you again so much for this. And just a reminder to all the listeners out there to share this episode.
Let us know who we should interview next because we love sitting down with people who are loving our city one life at a time. And check out all the other stuff that we're up to at lovefoco.com. Jeni, thanks again, and we'll release another episode, coming soon.
Narrator: Thanks for listening to the Love Foco Show. If today's conversation inspired you, share it with a friend who loves Fort Collins as much as you do. Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. And leave us a review, it helps more people discover us. To learn more about Love FoCo and find opportunities for loving our city one life at a time, visit lovefoco.com. For now, keep loving Fort Collins well.
