The LoCo Experience
The LoCo Experience is a long-form conversational podcast that dives deep into the journeys of business leaders, entrepreneurs, and changemakers in Northern Colorado. Hosted by Curt Bear, Founder of LoCo Think Tank, the show brings real, raw, and unfiltered conversations—where guests share their successes, struggles, and lessons learned along the way.
LoCo Think Tank is Colorado’s premier business peer advisory organization, founded in Fort Collins to help business owners gain perspective, accountability, and encouragement to grow both personally and professionally. LoCo chapters bring together business owners at all stages of the journey into professionally facilitated peer advisory chapters, led by experienced business veterans. These groups provide a trusted space to share challenges, seek advice, learn togethter, and support each other’s success.
The LoCo Experience Podcast extends this mission beyond the chapter meetings— bringing the wisdom, insights, and stories of local business leaders to a wider audience.
Our triad mission with this podcast is simple:
Inspire through real stories of resilience and success.
Educate by sharing valuable business insights.
Entertain with engaging, unfiltered conversations.
If you love “How I Built This” and the free-flowing style of Joe Rogan - but with a Northern Colorado focus - you’ll enjoy The LoCo Experience! Our closing segment, "The LoCo Experience," asks guests to share their craziest stories — and we get some doozies!
It’s a passion project with purpose, and we invite you to listen, follow, and share, and maybe consider sponsoring. Know someone with a great story? Nominate your favorite business leader for an episode!
The LoCo Experience
BONUS EPISODE - #3 Hot Nugs Conversation with Tricia Canonico for Mayor of the City of Fort Collins
Tricia Canonico is a candidate for Fort Collins Mayor, and joined me for the third of our Hot Nugs Conversations - a collaboration between LoCo Think Tank, Matador Mexican Grill, Old Town Spice Shop, and The LoCo Experience Podcast.
Please visit triciaforfoco.com to learn more about her platform, and make sure to vote by or before November 4, 2025!
The LoCo Experience Podcast is sponsored by: Purpose Driven Wealth Thrivent: Learn more
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Music By: A Brother's Fountain
Tricia Konica is a candidate for Fort Collins Mayor. And join me for the third of our Hot Ns conversations, a collaboration between Loco Think Tank, Matador, Mexican Grill, old Town Spice Shop, and the Loco Experience Podcast. Please visit Tricia for Foco to learn more about her platform and make sure to vote by or before November 4th, 2025.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to the Loco Experience Podcast. Another episode of the bonus series, hot Nugs, conversations with the Fort Collins Mayors candidates. My guest today is Tricia Kako and she is joining us here at the studio at the local experience.
Speaker 3:Hi, welcome. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 2:How excited are you about, uh, the hot sauces
Speaker 3:today? Um. On a one to 10? Yeah, I'm not really sure. Maybe a nine.
Speaker 2:Oh, really? So you're pretty excited. Just
Speaker 3:a little curious about what the hottest one's gonna be. So
Speaker 2:you wish we had more hot ones? No. Oh, okay. Decidedly not. Alright.'cause we could do that. We have one more adaptation. Nope. We could pump it up a notch.
Speaker 3:Nope.
Speaker 2:All good. Okay. Well one of your opponents, uh. Is like allergic to a bunch of peppers and spices and stuff. So we're gonna have to figure out a whole different thing there. I'm guessing it's Emily. Yeah. So these guys are working on that. I'm not the foodie, they're the foodies, but we're gonna keep her safe. Yeah. And hopefully challenge her taste buds a little bit.
Speaker 3:That's don't kill off any of the. I, I really like Emily. We're friends.
Speaker 2:Well, um, we have, as you know, a, a handful of questions each tied to, uh, a, a nugget. And as soon as we get our first, um, dip in here, which is actually just a, uh, barbecue sauce from Matador, then we will have that, um, Ava, are you on that with the barbecue sauce? Or Sean or, okay. Thank you. So, um, we'll just first dip taste. Okay. Um, we're just doing one container, but most of the candidates are okay with a double dip. As long as you flip policy. It's
Speaker 3:no direct double dipping. Yeah. No direct
Speaker 2:double dipping, you know. Um, but, uh, you might want a little more sauce for the other side of the nugget, so we'll just do that and then I'll ask the first question.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 2:I didn't say that before the No double dip unless you flip, but I like it.
Speaker 4:I like a,
Speaker 3:I think I'm not gonna double dip because that's gonna be a lot of nugget eating by the end. Yes. And if you
Speaker 2:don't wanna finish a nugget, we can, you know, you can leave them half finished too. Depends on how late your lunch was. So
Speaker 3:that is very delicious barbecue sauce.
Speaker 2:Yes, I agree. What would you say if you were trying to describe it to somebody?
Speaker 3:Um. I worked in this, uh, restaurant industry for a long time.
Speaker 4:Hmm, okay.
Speaker 3:In college and, uh, grad school. And my favorite description of a wine was, it was Foxy.
Speaker 4:Okay.
Speaker 3:I don't know if I'd call this foxy, but I think it's really got some interesting characteristics and I'm thinking about, you know, the finish and all of that. Nice. That's really nice.
Speaker 2:I like it. I think that's a pretty apt description actually.'cause it is. I was almost gonna describe it as a specimen barbecue sauce. Like it's just kind of what you want. Mm-hmm. But it's too much more unique than like a traditional barbecue
Speaker 3:sauce. Yeah. No. It's got
Speaker 2:too many other spices kind of running around in there, playing with you.
Speaker 3:Yeah. A lot of interesting things going on in your mouth.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's actually spicy too.'cause I can tell, I'm, I'm gonna have a, a, a long, sweaty conversation today'cause I'm kind of already sweaty. Um, James Merkley, uh, one of our. Co collaborators here with Story Path Creative asks, what is your fondest story to share about the people or community of Fort Collins?
Speaker 3:You know, what I think really strikes me about our community is how generous everyone is. Hmm. And so, um, throughout my time in Fort Collins, I've been here for 15 years now. I. I really tried to bring together community. Um, and so when I see a need, I just have stepped up.
Speaker 4:Okay.
Speaker 3:Um, and I started feed the NOCO front line. Immediately following, uh, the outbreak of COVID. And, uh, within five weeks we raised$40,000 to help support local restaurants. We supported over 50 restaurants and to feed all of the health facilities, um, across Northern Colorado. Oh, wow. And just to see the people step up. I was talking with, um, a business owner yesterday and she asked me what made me think I could succeed with that. And prior to that, um, I was in spin class one day. My spin instructor mentioned that her daughter was going through third round of cancer. Mm-hmm. And they wanted to go see YouTube and couldn't afford it.
Speaker 4:Hmm.
Speaker 3:So I put together a fundraiser for her. We got them there. We got the backstage passes, front row tickets of, uh, makeovers, photo session, limo dinner out, and then had it had a little
Speaker 2:private make abo.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. And then, uh, it then became a benefit concert at odells with a YouTube cover band. Oh, wow. And we raised a lot of money to help with her medical bills, so. Knowing, just putting that out there in the community and that it succeeded. Yeah. I just had a feeling when we did this for our healthcare workers and our restaurants, everybody would wanna get involved and Yeah, and they did.
Speaker 2:I remember Focal Cafe in particular really did a lot of meal delivery within that effort as well. Was that part of your coalition, if you will, or not necessarily?
Speaker 3:I think, you know, talking with this business owner yesterday, she had done a small. Um, one on her own where, oh, some people had donated a few thousand dollars to Yeah. Her coffee shop. And then, um, so maybe no cofa there were some independence. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Fair enough. Okay. I think we're ready for the next. Okay. Uh, this one's a rub actually. Thank you. It's been a found favor. This is the, uh, Buffalo rub from Old Town Spice Shop. Great. So ladies, first this time, I'm sorry I jumped in front of you last time. Okay.
Speaker 3:Oh, it's got a little curry to it. Mm-hmm. It's really good. Little spicy.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm. Yeah. I can see if you rubbed something with this and then seared it a little bit, it might really be nice.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I'm thinking like a veggie stir fry.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm. So not even on using it as a rub. More straight seasoning is what?
Speaker 3:Well, as a side, so chicken or shrimp. It'd be really nice.
Speaker 2:You'd like how I set myself up there by taking a bite right before. It was my turn to talk. Our next one is from Paul, who you just met from Matador Mexican Grill. Mm-hmm. What is your plan to help support small businesses to start and grow in Northern Colorado?
Speaker 3:Yeah. Um, I was a small business owner myself. I sold my business when I moved to Fort Collins. Oh, really? Yeah.
Speaker 2:Can I ask what? Business was. Sure It
Speaker 3:was, um, in the hobby and craft industry. Okay. And then I kind of expanded into a travel component as well. So I put on, um, a conference on the island of Menos in Greece. Oh wow. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it. But moving and having a third child and my husband working in Denver, um, just thought it was a little much to Yeah, fair to keep on. So, um, anyway, you know, having been a small business owner, I'm aware of. A lot of the issues that they encounter trying to make payroll, um, you know, all the added expenses right now. Yeah. Um, yeah.
Speaker 2:Insurance goes up every year. Your customers don't like it if your prices go up every year, but they have to.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And the, uh, you know, um, taxes right now, property taxes have really increased.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And if you're not the owner, your rent does instead.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah. Um, but for the interest, um, I. For small businesses in general, we have the multicultural and entrepreneurial center that I would like to keep us moving forward with and providing those services to our small business owners to help them succeed. But I also also think there's some interesting things that we could do with a restaurant industry, like start a food incubator and look at, um, underutilized city properties where we could help them kind of advance. So I think about, um. Taco Stop and what's the other one I, oh, bread chick. How they started out, you know, very small farmer's market or as a food truck, and now how they have expanded their business and how can we help other restaurants move in that direction. We all love good food. Mm-hmm. Good sauces. Good rubs. Yeah. But how do we help as a city to see our small businesses succeed? And I think those are a couple things that we can be doing as a city. Okay.
Speaker 2:All right, thank you. I think we're ready for number three, and this one is the honey jalapeno sauce also from Matador.
Speaker 3:Okay. And
Speaker 2:several of our guests have really enjoyed it, or not several. You're our third. So two prior. Okay.
Speaker 3:So hopefully with the honey it's got a little sweetness and not too spicy. Yeah, it's
Speaker 2:not too spicy. Just a little dab two. It's getting spicy for you.
Speaker 3:What's that?
Speaker 2:Was that a, that's actually kind of spicy. Look.
Speaker 3:No, no, no, no. I was, um, trying to figure out how to describe it.
Speaker 2:Hmm. Yes. It's part of the game.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So nice. It's got that honey starts out kind of mellow and then has that.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:After bird, like a late latent heat almost. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Hmm. So was your experience in the restaurant industry before you started your business?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so throughout college and grad school I worked in with a hostess, um, server in a lot of different restaurants. Yeah. Um, and where did you come from,
Speaker 2:if I may?
Speaker 3:So coming to Fort Collins was my 24th move. Oh boy.
Speaker 2:So is your husband like in corporate or something, you moved around with him or was your family early?
Speaker 3:Both of us grew up in the military. Okay. And so by the time I graduated from high school, I had gone to 12 different schools. Wow. And had moved, I think 18 times by then. So I had lived, um, I've lived in Germany, the UK a couple times, Paris, all over the East coast, Midwest. Yeah, Oregon and Colorado a couple
Speaker 2:times. And then how long in Fort Collins now?
Speaker 3:We've been here since 2010. Okay. So I think that's really a testament to how much we love this city. Yeah. Yeah. And uh, you know, it's been a great place to raise our three children. Yeah,
Speaker 2:that's really neat. It's a hard place to leave. For sure.
Speaker 3:It's a really hard place to leave. We have no intentions of leading.
Speaker 2:Our third question is from, uh, mayor Wade Trel, former mayor. Um, Fort Collins has been described as the choice city of Colorado and is known for beers, bikes, and bands and more. What is your vision for the evolving brand for the city of Fort Collins? In 30 years, what might that look like?
Speaker 3:So I think we'll see a lot of the same things that we're proud of today. Yeah. Uh, you know, this thriving, amazing downtown area, the great outdoor spaces that we have. Definitely bikes. Yeah. Um, level road bikes, but really beefed up. So I'd love to see us become the, um. First diamond level, uh, bike friendly community in the country. We're one of five platinum level. Okay. And so I think we need to strive and get to okay, feed that next level. So I'd like to see that happen in the next 30 years. Um, I think we continue to be a place where art and culture thrive, where we have incredible restaurants. Keep the beers and, um, other things like that. But I'm also on the front range passenger rail district board. Hmm. So working to bring rail to Fort Collins by 2029. Okay. And so I hope we have a, a thriving rail line and we have alternatives on ways to get up and down the front range.
Speaker 2:I've thought about that a lot in the past as an easier way for. Commuters to get to Denver for their work and stuff, but probably just as impactful as an easier way for Denverites to get the hell out of Dodge and come up to Fort Collins for the weekend too.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So really the economic impact that that could have for our community. Yeah. And then also, well if we go
Speaker 2:down there and get our paychecks and then they come up here and spend their money.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's a double. Yeah. Double whammy.
Speaker 3:Keep going.
Speaker 2:Sorry.
Speaker 3:Oh no, that's good. And you know, I mean, now you try to get to Denver and you don't know if you're gonna get there safely or if you're gonna get there in an hour or three hours. I was down just in Commerce City on Saturday, and it took me two and a half hours to get home.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So. I think everyone will be excited to see another way to travel in our state.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So I'm excited for that. And then I think we're gonna just continue to be this forward looking, innovative place. I hope we see some of the, um, new sectors that really fit well with what we're doing. Yeah. Like climate, maybe we could
Speaker 2:add brains, brains, beers, bikes like it, bikes and bands.
Speaker 3:B four.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Before 2030. Yeah. Um, well, we're already got a lot of brains here and that's part of, we do, you know, why we succeed is we've got, we over punch in terms of our, uh, intellectual and educational capabilities for a town of our size.
Speaker 3:Right? Like I would say, um, I represent district three, which is the southeast corner of the city. Okay? Yep. And 9% of the district has a PhD.
Speaker 2:Oh, my. I know. And I, for real,
Speaker 3:for real. I think that's really an incredible statistic. Um, I can't imagine there's that many, uh, council districts across the country that have that percentage of PhDs in them. I
Speaker 2:wouldn't imagine very many places. Um, I think we're ready for number four. Eva. Snappy that time. Good job. Is this the rebel uprising? It looks like the rebel uprising. This is one, this is one of my favorites, if not my favorite from among these various. It's got a little more punch, you'll notice and, uh, we can get our milks filled up after when we take a break here after this question. But, um, I think it has a very nice, uh, profile.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's, it's pretty smooth. It's getting hot. It's getting a little warm in here. It's getting hot in here.
Speaker 2:Oh wait. Explicit lyrics ahead. You might be my mayor here a few months. Um, how would you describe, if you will, to somebody, uh, wondering what the rebel uprising is like?
Speaker 3:Um, I. I would say more of a Mexican flare. Mm-hmm. Um, definitely spice forward. Mm-hmm. Feeling it in the front of my tongue. Um, yeah.
Speaker 2:Kind of a tomato forward, I would say for a hot sauce these days.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Taking it up a notch.
Speaker 2:Good. Good. Mm-hmm. Well then you'll be ready for milk here after this question. This one's from Sean, old Town Spice Shop. The proposal for paid on street parking in Fort Collins aims to address revenue and parking turnover. How do you plan to balance the city's need for revenue and parking management with the concerns of business owners and customers regarding accessibility and affordability?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I think we really need to be mindful as we move forward. How do we ameliorate, um, the adverse impacts of a program like this? Um, I'm. Interested to see it come forward to, uh, city council for first reading. Um, and I, as I said, you know, as a small business owner, I understand those worries and concerns about what your customer base continues to look like. Um, I think the staff has really researched this deeply and, you know, I, I look to our peer communities.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Do you know what the proposal is at this point?
Speaker 3:Yeah. Um, it will be paid parking in the garage and also the streets. Okay. It's looking at, um, a dollar 50 to$2 an hour on streets. Um, slightly more for the parking garages to Okay. Kind of incentivize, um, people who are staying longer term to use the garages. And then, so out of the 19 peer communities, 16 have paid parking. So, um. You know, and looking at that list, these are thriving communities that have strong businesses. Um, so I, I think we can work it out and make it work for everyone. Yeah. And then also I think that is how will
Speaker 2:people pay just those little QR code scanner things, just like the. City paid parking lots now and different things.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And my hope is that we move towards more of a European system, um, where once your license plate is in the system, that's it. You don't have to think about it again. It automatically does it for you. Oh, interesting. So as you enter. Or leave a, a parking lot or parking garage. You're charged. Yeah. And'cause I do think like you're in a hurry and you I was pain in
Speaker 2:my butt. Yeah. Yeah. I don't care about the money as much as I do, like Right. Hoping the app doesn't not work. Right. Or I mistype my credit card number if it's the first time I'm using it.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah. So I hope we think about the ease of use as we move forward.
Speaker 2:Would there, would there, and could there be any kind of like a. Annual pass or locals pass, I think about like for employees of our restaurants and of the various retail shops and things like that. For, for them that dollar 50 an hour is a lot. Yeah. You know, that's 10% of their wage almost, you know, 8% of their wage sometimes.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah. And I think about that too. Um, I worked in Larimer Square. In grad school. Yeah. And I'd get there, you're familiar, 5 55 and think I didn't have to pay the meter and inevitably I'd get a ticket. Um, but yeah, you know, you have to think about how that's going to impact employees who, um, are lo lower wage and No, but the
Speaker 2:proposal right now doesn't have any kind of allowance for that. No, but
Speaker 3:I, I can address that when we bring that forward. Okay. Yeah. But I think the opportunity here too is how we can better use our curb space. Um. So more for deliveries or for handicap accessible? I, um. I had a bike accident in the fall and broke my ankle, so, okay. It was a really great exercise as an elected official to be mobility impaired and be on a scooter and really have to think more about getting around and the accessibility and, you know, getting off a curb. Um, so. I think we need to make sure we have adequate parking for, um, our
Speaker 2:Oh, so that on street parking?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So it, it'll allow us to rejigger and then also, you know, 15 minutes spots for people who are picking up something quickly. Quickly. There really isn't
Speaker 2:very good handicap parking downtown is there?
Speaker 3:There's not a ton, I would say. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I haven't tried to notice that. I noticed when I go to. Whatever target and there's 11 empty handicap spots.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, I noticed that The Economist to me is like, okay, you know?
Speaker 3:Yeah. But should be
Speaker 2:a flex option.
Speaker 3:You know? That's a valuable commodity when you really think about it. Our curbside parking in our old town area, and how can we maximize that for everyone's benefit? Yeah.
Speaker 2:No, and I can, I can make a strong argument for those that are ability impaired in that way. In particular, that. The current system of driving around hoping to find a street parking, I wish we could get more people to just use the parking garages more.
Speaker 5:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Right. And I guess that's part of the notion is people would actually use these parking garages if they had to be in for a a, a trifle on the street too.
Speaker 5:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Hopefully. Yeah. Alright, well let's take a break Oh. Yeah. and we're back. Thanks to morning Fresh dairy for equipping us for this next segment. The next one's not too bad. Okay, this is the Matador buffalo sauce.
Speaker 3:Okay,
Speaker 2:so ladies first again, please.
Speaker 5:You didn't make us happy with a face on that one or as a spice
Speaker 3:No, I'm trying to, um, I'm afraid I'm not gonna be a really good, um, describer of the sauces, but that one, it didn't taste very buffalo to me. It was a really nice flavor. It has a little bit more barbecue.
Speaker 2:That's, that's what I would, components I would say, Paul, we think you should just rebrand this as like spicy barbecue or something because the buffalo rub. It tastes like buffalo is supposed to. Yeah, the Frank's hot sauce plus buttery flavors kind of thing. So sorry you're not the first to kind of dis on the
Speaker 3:I'm not to think. Nice.
Speaker 2:It's good, it's lovely. It's good. It just isn't Buffalo we eat.
Speaker 3:Yeah. The, I guess that was what I was trying to figure out flavor. Yeah, that's the Love you Paul. Odd look.
Speaker 2:Even though though, uh, we're uncertain about your naming on that one. Um, the next question.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 2:Is our social hot topic. How would you rate the city of Fort Collins on its homelessness initiatives in recent decades and recent years? And what changes would you recommend to the program going forward?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think we've done a lot of great work since I got on council in 2021, you know, right after COVID. Sure. Um, so, and the need
Speaker 2:was probably the most extreme for a while there. Yeah, yeah. Over the big camps, over by Schrader's Country store and stuff like that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so we have the Hope team, which um, works with, um, our population and experience homelessness. And we also have Outreach Fort Collins. So
Speaker 2:City of Fort Collins has a hope team Yes. Of the, oh, is that right?
Speaker 3:Police services. Okay. Yep. Yeah. And then we, and I'm
Speaker 2:familiar with Outreach Fort Collins that came to my Rotary Club, but please share a little bit about that.'cause I don't think people know about it much.
Speaker 3:About outreach? Fort Collins? Yeah. Or the Hope team? Either way. Again, they help provide resources. So if you, um, encounter someone who is experiencing homelessness, you can reach out to Outreach Fort Collins and they can help, um, get those individuals squared away with resources. Okay. Um, and then the same thing with our Hope team, which, um, is police services again. Wonderful. Officer Annie leads that team.
Speaker 4:Okay.
Speaker 3:And, um, I've been able to do a ride along with them and just really see them in action and their compassion and the work they do to really work with those experiencing homelessness to make sure they're taken care of. Um,
Speaker 2:so you feel like they've been doing a pretty good job the last. Decade?
Speaker 3:Uh, yeah, since, since I've been on on, especially since you've been there. Okay. Yeah. I mean, there's still a lot of work to do. Um, yeah. We know we had the fire recently at, um, the rescue mission here in Fort Collins.
Speaker 2:Oh, I don't think I knew about that. I don't read the news very much.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So maybe that was about a month ago. Okay. And a kitchen fire. And so they don't have any kitchen facilities. They're not in the building. So we're have temporary shelter right now.
Speaker 4:Oh wow.
Speaker 3:Uh, fortunately there we are celebrating the ground groundbreaking of the new shelter. Yeah. Which will have much more capacity than the rescue mission here. I, I believe it's the next week or two. Sorry. Yeah. Yeah. I haven't, I remember It's
Speaker 5:right. Upcoming. Yeah. I.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So that'll be an exciting move forward. Yeah. And that'll be, um, trauma informed design. It'll be wraparound services. It'll be a 24 hour shelter. So I really am hopeful about, um, the services that'll be provided there. Yeah. Then we have so many great partners that are working in the community that are, are trying to help, um, with this issue and, and help everyone who's unfortunately in that position. Um, and then I, I think, you know, we are looking at some more. Difficult moments ahead, potentially because Loveland's closing their shelter. Um, Loveland's,
Speaker 2:that was kind of gonna be my question is like, does having this amazing shelter with all these wraparound services and things like that potentially become a magnet for those experiencing homelessness? Like everybody in Lovelin currently experiencing homelessness is gonna be like, Hey, they got a great new place up there in Fort Collins.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I, I don't really think so. Um, last time I. We really dug in on the data. Okay. Um, for continuum of care, which is, um, works with all of Northern Colorado on this issue. Um, they. I believe it was a very low percentage that were from outside of Larimer County. So what we're seeing is, okay, it's, it's our own. So it's not
Speaker 2:much transient. It's Yes, it's homegrown. Yeah. Homeless.
Speaker 3:And so another component of all this is how do we make Fort Collins more affordable for, um, those that live here, that work here? I think we had a
Speaker 2:question on that front coming up. Oh, here later, don't we? I forget. I don't think so. I'm not, no, let's talk about it then. No, it should have made the list, but it's,
Speaker 3:yeah. And so I'm, I'm. Proud of our, um, eviction prevention fund that we've funded through this cycle. Okay. Um,$440,000 for, um, both 20 25, 20 26 Okay. To help keep people in their houses. Okay. And then, um, it's like
Speaker 2:if they're facing eviction, they can be like, Hey, I need Yeah. Some help. Yeah. It's milk.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And then we, again, we have so many great programs like Neighbor to Neighbor that helps to keep people in their houses. Yeah. Don't kill for
Speaker 2:years.
Speaker 3:What's that?
Speaker 2:I've known Kelly for years. Yeah. I mean they did some amazing work, especially during the COVID Nation Times.
Speaker 3:Yes. Yeah. And just so many incredible partners. Um, and then I think we have to think about, um, our school district as well and how we partner with them.'cause there are so many homeless students.
Speaker 4:Hmm.
Speaker 3:Um, and then I think another thing that we're looking at piloting now is a safe lot where people can be parked in their cars.'cause we know so many. Are forced to live in their cars. They don't have other options.
Speaker 2:That's an interesting notion actually. Mm-hmm. It would probably alleviate a lot of tenting and parking on in neighborhoods and whatever, right?
Speaker 3:Yes. And so loved one has had, uh, you know, not just loved one, but. Communities across the country. Yeah. But loved ones had one in place for, uh, quite a while now. And so really kind of working with them, using that as a model to see how we can have a successful program that doesn't have, um, outside, um, impacts on the neighborhood, not of overhead. Yes. Right. Yeah. You know, it's
Speaker 2:just a, a, a space that's reasonably secure.
Speaker 3:Yes. And working with our community partners again, mostly, um. Faith institutions. Yeah. To, to sponsor those safe lots.
Speaker 2:Hmm. I was thinking that you saw my big ambulance camper out here and my wife and I go on long road trips with it. I want to eventually start taking like month long and working from the road and stuff. But it would be nice if there was a lot of those safe lots I could pop in there. Yeah. It was in Lincoln, Nebraska or Fort Collins or you know, wherever. Anyway, that's probably not what it's for, but I always like this city subsidized security for my rig. Yeah. Um, so Well thank you for that. I think we're ready for the next one. Pow. This is, it's, it's pretty high up in our sequence, but in my opinion, it's not that spicy. This is a jerk seasoning from, okay, uh, old Town Spice Shep. Um, to me it doesn't hit as hard as the rebel or the buffalo.
Speaker 3:Okay, give it a go.
Speaker 2:Ladies first please. Here we go. Yeah. I appreciate your, oh, I set you up for No, you just breathe. You try to breathe the uh, sauce. I will make some, I'll fill some dead time here while you're preparing yourself to respond.
Speaker 3:I like the sweet side of that one.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm. I agree. And I like to milk. The milk is really nice accompanying these things. Yeah. I mean, I like bourbon too. You like beer? You know, we, we like beers, bikes, bands, brains. Uh, but milk also. Good.
Speaker 3:I'll have to come up with a B word for milk.
Speaker 2:Bovine juice.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's probably not like a par of our brand though. No. How would you like, you like the sweet part of that jerk? I do. Um. Would you like jerk chicken in general, or jerk, whatever else?
Speaker 3:Jerk shrimp. Jerk shrimp, but jerk chicken. Yeah. You're
Speaker 2:more of a shrimp girl. Sounds like. I do like seafood. Yeah. What's your favorite?
Speaker 3:Hmm. Well, I did live in Maine for a couple years. Okay. And we could get a lobster for$3 and 50 cents a pound. Right. And our favorite place to go for live lobsters was the grocery, not the grocery store. The, um, gas station on the corner.
Speaker 2:Oh, wait. Yeah. They just had a pot full of live lobsters ready to go.
Speaker 3:Yeah. They had a tank. Yeah. In the gas station. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's pretty cool. I, I want, they used to feed lobster to like prisoners and stuff in the early America because it was. So annoyingly abundant must not be good.
Speaker 3:Oh, wish it still was
Speaker 2:right. Um,
Speaker 3:but that one's staying with me a little
Speaker 2:good. That's what we're here for. We actually have the grab bag now. So I'm gonna pass this to you and ask you to draw three. You must answer at least one. Um, but I'll ask you all the questions, right? And if you want to just grab your three and then you can hand it back to me. I'll hide it back onto the table. Boom. And order. You choose.
Speaker 3:Okay, so six,
Speaker 2:six. This is a six. If you could only eat one color of food for the rest of your life, what color would it be?
Speaker 4:Hmm.
Speaker 3:How about beige?
Speaker 2:Sexy? Are you Norwegian?
Speaker 3:No, Swedish, but
Speaker 2:my wife is actually from, uh, Northern European heritage and. She likes to have meals once in a while where everything is like beige, beige sauerkraut with potatoes and country style ribs please.
Speaker 3:But I was thinking that'll give you the greatest variety.'cause then you could have fish.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Lots of different fishes. Potato, not salmon, but otherwise, yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3:French fries. Um, bananas.
Speaker 2:That's pretty good actually, we haven't, apples haven't touched on that. Oh, you just peel them. You get the bay part of the inside, right? Yeah.
Speaker 3:Kind of like a yellow apple though.
Speaker 2:Oh, sure. Pears. Yep. Oh yeah. Asian pears. Mm-hmm. Yummy
Speaker 3:though. It's lemon. Cucumbers. They all, all this stuffy.
Speaker 2:I guess that's kind of bey kind of yellow. I'm gonna,
Speaker 3:I'm gonna, you know, beige
Speaker 2:yellow. Spectrum of spectrum because you're so, it a boring, uh, answer with beige, uh,
Speaker 5:but green, I give you a lot
Speaker 2:of credit actually. You, you've impressed me intellectually with coming around to that.'cause I think the, like red and green is kind of the obvious. Like red meat or green plants, whatever.
Speaker 3:Mm-hmm. I say green is very limiting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure. There's no green meat for one thing.
Speaker 3:Mm-hmm. Well, I don't eat. Red meat. So not at all. No, wouldn't big. Yeah. No
Speaker 2:pork. Just chicken and fish mostly.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Pescatarian. Do you call yourself pescatarian with chicken PEs? Oh wait, yeah. Duh. Well, chickens are basically like land fish.
Speaker 3:Okay. Yes. Then I'm a pescatarian.
Speaker 2:You want the next question?
Speaker 3:16.
Speaker 2:Who has had the most significant influence in your life?
Speaker 3:Um, you know, I would say my husband. Yeah. Yeah. He's just, I just saw something the other day where like,
Speaker 2:does he have a name?
Speaker 3:He has, the name is Scott. Hi Scott. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2:You'll probably listen to this.
Speaker 3:It was like the weighted vest club. Okay.
Speaker 2:I like it. Do you have a weighted
Speaker 3:vest yet?
Speaker 2:No, um, but I've been thinking about it. Honestly, my brother-in-law was wearing one for a long time, for a big event he was gonna do and stuff.
Speaker 3:But this was, you know, it was on Instagram. It was a joke, but you couldn't join the neighborhood vest club unless you're willing to bitch about your husband. Oh. And so I was like, well, like right now, he's, um. He, I mean he's, we've been married for 20, he late run for mayor. He let me run for mayor. I know. That's gotta be a
Speaker 2:relationship tester, I'm sure. Yeah.
Speaker 3:And he is, uh, become, he's, he's testing out. Did he encourage you to run for mayor? Uh, or he's encouraging you? No, he did not. You made the decision
Speaker 2:and now he's encouraging it within it. Yes. She's gonna do what she's gonna do and I might as well Yeah, yeah. Try to help.
Speaker 3:Um, so just. Taking care of basically every aspect of life right now that, so I can just concentrate on running.
Speaker 2:I dig it. I dig it Well, good job, Scott. Yeah. You got a fan? You wanna do the last question too, or at least hear it? You can pass it. We can hear it. Yeah. Until you've already answered 2 30, 30. Describe your first kiss.
Speaker 3:Oh. Oh gosh.
Speaker 2:Was it with Scott? Probably not.
Speaker 3:No.
Speaker 2:Well, you have to choose what?
Speaker 3:Wayne. Lloyd.
Speaker 2:Oh, ooh. A double first date.
Speaker 3:Well, first and last, yeah. Well, it
Speaker 2:was rural
Speaker 3:Georgia, so. Okay. Well
Speaker 2:that's, there's a lot of Wayne Lloyds down there.
Speaker 4:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3:I think we, we went out for three days, so, okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And you were in what grade?
Speaker 3:Um. I think it was eighth grade. Okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah. I snuck a quick on
Speaker 3:Ville Middle school.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Underneath the bleachers or something?
Speaker 3:No, waiting for the buses to come. Oh, really?
Speaker 2:Just closed it. Oh yeah. Yeah. Well, Wayne, you missed out. I'm just kidding. I think we're ready for the next, like, so this one. Oh, I can take those back. Thank you. This one is the red from Matador.
Speaker 3:Okay. Does it have any sort of description?
Speaker 2:Uh, the red.
Speaker 3:Okay. But it's not a true red. I mean,
Speaker 4:it's got a little,
Speaker 2:yeah, it's got some brownish tones in there, I guess, or whatever. Yeah, it could be redder.
Speaker 3:Hmm. Okay.
Speaker 2:You like that one?
Speaker 3:Now we're moving up. Hmm. Little smokier?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Mm-hmm. It must have some kind of smoked pepper in there as part of that base. I eating all of my nuggets. Uh, which I got another podcast right after this. Lately I've been doing it'cause I was getting hungry after the five o'clock podcast. But I should stop, I should start doing partials. Okay. How would you describe that to your friends?
Speaker 3:Smoky, spicy, but I'm. Pretty,
Speaker 2:you're managing
Speaker 3:it. Spice limited, I'd say so.
Speaker 2:Well, you seem to be toughing it out pretty good. You're not like freaking out or anything.
Speaker 3:I wouldn't staying with me though.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Well, good.
Speaker 2:A little milk. Mm-hmm. Before we get onto this next question,
Speaker 3:it's, yeah, it just keeps giving,
Speaker 2:I think if that keeps on giving, um, the community hot topic. How can the city of Fort Collins maintain financial strength in light of declining sales tax collection trends? What mix of cost cutting and revenue enhancement strategies do you envision as being the most important?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So, um, this is our topic for tomorrow night is budget.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:And at city council, I guess? Yes.
Speaker 5:Okay.
Speaker 3:And, um. You know, I came on council at a pretty interesting time. I would say it was 2021, um, April, 2021. So we were still kind of in the midst of COVID. Yeah. Everything was, uh, still kind of remote and I'm still tasting S spice. Um,
Speaker 2:good job, Paul. But you kinda like it. Am I sensing that correctly? Like it's kind of a good pain.
Speaker 3:That's the hitting my, getting towards my limit. Um. But money was flowing. It was a tough time. Right. So, you know, the,
Speaker 2:I mean, I think that's part of the problem is the city kind of grew, its spendings a lot because of temporary dollars and those dollars have gone away in some parts.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And I think we tried to be really mindful where we could, that this was temporary money that wasn't going to stay.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:But, um, I don't. I think there needs to be, I, I, I'm seeing this as an opportunity. Okay. We can be, we can be scrappy and Okay. I think, you know, when you do have an opportunity to tighten your belts, I'll, I'll call it dot, the sauce is affecting you a little bit at this point. Um, it makes you examine what you're spending money on. Yeah. And is it. The priorities that you really want. So I, I am seeing this as an opportunity. It's not going to be the easiest.
Speaker 2:So there will be some cost cutting,
Speaker 3:there'll be cost, cost cutting, and, but I think we can like work around the edges. Uh, you know, my hu like my husband's been an unemployed a couple times. Yeah. And when that happens, you really kind of dig into your budget and you're like, wow, I didn't realize I had that
Speaker 2:subscription. Totally.
Speaker 3:And you know, just trying to.
Speaker 2:My wife and I adapted from a hundred thousand dollars income to a$60,000 income when I left banking to start a restaurant that didn't work and turned into local think tank that did kinda, you know, so, and, but it was. Yeah. One of the best seasons because we had to figure out how to Yeah. You know, and we didn't see nearly as many concerts anymore. We didn't go to beaches nearly as often. You know, there was real sacrifice.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And there, there will be some changes that won't be, um, as enjoyable as it would've been if we had that same
Speaker 5:sure
Speaker 3:option that we did. Like 20 21, 20 22. Yeah. But, um. I think there's ways that we can make it not as painful. So for instance, we were hiring someone to help, uh, do that work well. We hadn't filled that position and now we've already rolled it into another position that's like a 50% of one FTE's job now. So is the public gonna really feel that difference? Right? I don't think so.
Speaker 2:Is that like the volunteers that cross the streets and stuff? Well, just really
Speaker 3:identifying where there are shortcomings in our students safely reaching school and what are the road projects that we need to occur. Um, making sure there's sidewalks or bike trails that really help. Gotcha.
Speaker 2:But somebody just figuring all that out. Um, is hard. Yeah. Yeah. But maybe it doesn't need to be a full-timer.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And so I think then too, like we, we have a chance to look through our budget, see where we're not being as efficient as possible. You know, the hiring freeze is helping to. We're, everyone gets, everyone is keeping their positions, but do we really need all these positions that we had intended to hire for? Yeah. Um, so I think there's that, and I think we can really look at technology and how we can incorporate it. Um, cities like Commerce City and Castle Rock have started going to, um, drone first responders. So you know when you're somewhere and all of a sudden you see. Four police cars and three ambulance. Sure. So what if a drone said, was able to evaluate this situation? Oh. And said This is what we need here.
Speaker 2:Yeah,
Speaker 3:so that's, you know, I have
Speaker 2:seen it at times where there's like seven cop cars and it's one dude and his. Volkswagen and you're like, did everybody need to come? You know, where's
Speaker 3:Yeah. And then last week I had the opportunity to, um, tour the jail. And that was a really interesting conversation. Part of it was, um, each, um, inmate now gets a tablet. And I know you're like, wait, that so seems like a big expense. Why would we give each inmate a tablet?
Speaker 2:Well,
Speaker 3:but
Speaker 2:if it decreases their recidivism, because they can actually educate.
Speaker 3:Right. But all their, um, any visits they need to have with their lawyer or other services. They can schedule through the tablet and not need to interact with a staff member. Hmm. If they want books, it comes through the tablet. Yeah. You know, if they're taking classes, they can take it through the tablet. And also like their earphones are plugged into the tablet to watch the tv. So there's like, it was remarkably quiet in the pods. Hmm. So there's less fighting. And so all that staff time that's being saved and all those interactions, so it, they were,
Speaker 2:it's just give'em screen time. It's like how you get rid of your annoying kids.
Speaker 3:Yeah. But it was, it was more like, I'm teasing a little bit. Oh. And all their mail comes through on the tablets, so it's another way, you know, instead of going and passing out all these males Sure. And, and
Speaker 2:walking around.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So it was really remarkable. I hadn't thought about,
Speaker 2:yeah. Okay.
Speaker 3:How that tablet is saving so many hours and, and staff time and makes the job of the deputies there easier. So I, I think, you know, how do we look at technology in that way that we can save money and time and
Speaker 2:Okay. So you don't imagine necessarily raising taxes to try to cover the shortfall?
Speaker 3:No, I, I don't see that happening right now. Okay. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Alright.
Speaker 3:And I, I do think that we also have to look on the positive side.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:How do we bring in other businesses? How do we bring in those sectors that we've talked about and we're really concentrate on economic development.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Well, I mean, being a really efficient city would be an amazing thing, right?
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Before I drift to the next question, I'm thinking about like, like the parks and the maintenance of the parks and stuff. Mm-hmm. Is a huge number like. Yeah. Anything to be done there? Would you ever envision giving any parks back or anything like that or,
Speaker 3:well, you know, we pa thanks to all of our residents who passed the 2050 Yeah. Yeah. Tax to help, um, refresh our parks and keep them moving forward. Um, I do think, you know, maybe we have to get used to. The turf being mowed every week and a half instead of every week. Like yeah. Could we do with a little less perfection in Fort Collins? Yeah,
Speaker 2:that's an interesting question.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Maybe the flowers, we were just down in Boulder, my exchange student and I, uh mm-hmm. Took a 150 mile motorcycle right. On Saturday.
Speaker 4:Wow.
Speaker 2:And, uh, went down to Netherland and then dropped down Boulder Canyon and hung out in Old Pearl Street. Fort Collins Flowers are way better than Pearl Street Flowers. Just saying in Boulder, you, you got ways to go.'cause we, I don't know if they're just better.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I was in Old Town yesterday and I saw these two women going up to the flowers and examining all the different leaves and I was like, it's so nice to see people really engage with what we've invested in our old town. Right. What makes it really special?
Speaker 2:And you know. I'd love to have one third of the flower budget in my bank account.'cause that would be a lot. Yeah. Yeah. So, so it goes, um, this is the last one. This is the, uh, I forget the Room two 17. Uh, this is also from, uh, well, it's called Brewhouse Sauces, but Old Town Spice Shop retails this on their website and it's ghost pepper, uh, in part. So you've got. Just enough milk left probably. You feel good about that?
Speaker 3:I don't think I like those words together.
Speaker 2:Here. Want me to, here I can tip this so you can get a nice, good. This is the last dab, so I think I'm gonna dab The tradition is to just gonna dab the tradition is to like soak it up real good, but you can get more if you want to on the backside. Taste it.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Tasting notes.
Speaker 3:Hmm. Well, I don't typically go that hot though. It's a little hard to describe. Definitely more heat than everything else, than still like blooming.
Speaker 2:What would you say about the flavor profile outside of the heat?
Speaker 3:I don't really know'cause I'm just concentrating on the heat.
Speaker 2:This actually reminds me of, I, I did a quite a bit of research watching Hot Ones, uh, episodes. I don't know if you're familiar with that show, but this is at least a, an honoring tribute to, um. Like movie actresses and stuff come on to promote their new movie.
Speaker 4:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:Um, but have to go through an experience kinda like this, but with hot wings and even hotter sauces. Um, we're being gentle in comparison, but, uh, it's surprising how much your brain can't really. Do things right when you're really heated up and you're trying to think and talk and mm-hmm. Drink milk and reflect on flavor profiles. I think there's a little bit of, I. Like, is there some Scotch bonnet in there too? It almost feels like in addition to the Ghost Pepper that has got a little bit of that cream flavor. I don't, don't eat that either, so it's too hot for me too. So this is the really the only part of this conversation that's traditional to the Loco Experience Podcast, which is the closing segment. The craziest story or moment from your lifetime that you're willing to share with our listeners?
Speaker 3:You are sweating, huh? Oh, yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah. No, I'm sweaty Betty.
Speaker 3:Okay. Let's see if I can say this. Muscle through. Yeah. My spicy story. Um, so summer I was 22. I. Was backpacking across Europe with my then boyfriend, now husband.
Speaker 2:Oh, really? Okay.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And we went to the running of the bowls in Pamplona. One of my good
Speaker 2:friends just came back from that
Speaker 3:Oh.
Speaker 2:Uh, like a week and a half ago.
Speaker 3:Did he run?
Speaker 2:He did, yeah. And they didn't get trampled.
Speaker 3:Good job.
Speaker 2:Yep. He was talking about how like if you're older, you have to kind of like get like screened at the gate. Nowadays they, they, if you're over 60, I think. It's cool, but you, you gotta like, they'll, they'll scope for you. If you look like you're 75 and you move like you're 75, they're not gonna let you in anymore.
Speaker 3:Yeah. They, they were not screening.
Speaker 2:No,
Speaker 3:that's,
Speaker 2:and then that's why old people got trampled.'cause they didn't do no screening anyway. So you're at the
Speaker 3:Yep. And, um, I did not run with the bowls. My, my husband and his best friend did. Okay. Um, but there is the tower. In this, um, square where everybody was hanging out and dancing and having fun, and people were climbing this 15 foot tower and diving into the crowd below.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay.
Speaker 3:So I made a bet with another girl that if she did it, I'd do it. And unfortunately, she climbed the tower and dove off into the crowd and, uh, you know, people were holding their arms. Uh, across and with the, the people across from them to catch the people as they jumped or dove and, um. Huge guy ahead of me was like 6 3, 6 4. They caught him. No problem. Well, you gotta remember when you dive into a crowd, you need to belly flop and not swan die. Oh
Speaker 2:shit.
Speaker 3:So I dove between their hands and, oh no. Got to visit a Spanish emergency room and slashed open my hip and
Speaker 2:Oh dang.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Your head didn't hit the ground though. My head
Speaker 3:did not hit the ground. So, um. The Spanish doctor, luckily she spoke French. I spoke French'cause we didn't have other language in common. And um, she just was like, you dumb foreigners. We, Spaniards are too smart to do this, right.
Speaker 2:It's just the Americans and sometimes the Aussies who this dumb shit.
Speaker 3:So nobody died, um, with the running of the bowls, but three people died diving from the tower that week. For reals?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Oh dang.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I felt very lucky with just my.
Speaker 2:Yeah, my sliced open hip. Well, and you're lucky somebody deflected your swan dive away from the ground at least. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So that's the lesson. Don't swan dive, the newer crowd.
Speaker 2:Never. Yeah, I never will. No, I'm, I'm an expert at back flopping, so I think I would just do that. Well, Tricia, I thank you for the time. Well, thank you Kurt. Um, it looks like your nose is starting to run at least a little bit there, so I'm glad I You're not as sweaty as me though,'cause um, then you wouldn't be able to endure this election season.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's gonna, it's gonna heat up still.
Speaker 2:No, it's still heating. Yeah. Thanks again. Well, thank you. I appreciate the invitation. That's good luck in November.
Speaker 3:Thank you. Bye-bye.
