The League of Women Voters of Larimer County (LWVLC) will host a program on civil discourse on July 12, 7:00 p.m. via Zoom. The speaker will be Jeni Arndt, former state legislator and current mayor of Fort Collins. Mayor Arndt will teach participants how to build civility into everyday conversations and public debate. This program is free and open to the public. Spanish interpretation and closed captioning in English will be available. To receive the Zoom link, please register through the LWVLC calendar at Events – League of Women Voters Larimer County (lwv-larimercounty.org).
Mayor Arndt notes she became interested in helping people engage in civil discourse as she watched the recent presidential campaigns. She says she became especially concerned when incivility at campaign rallies escalated into physical violence between those expressing different opinions. She notes that recent polling by Weber Shandwick found that 95 percent of Americans think civility is a problem.
“In light of violence occurring at rallies in Fayetteville, St. Louis and Tucson, it is imperative that we highlight the fact that uncivil words led to uncivil actions,” Mayor Arndt says. “These incidences of physical violence are not happening in a silo; they are the direct result of the nature of the rhetoric expressed by those competing for office.”
Those observations led her to become a certified instructor with the National Institute of Civil Discourse (NICD). The NICD receives requests from legislatures across the country to conduct bi-partisan trainings in civility. While she served in the Colorado General Assembly as a representative from Fort Collins, Mayor Arndt was on the team of NICD facilitators who conducted trainings for legislators in Minnesota and Idaho.
During her presentation on July 12, Mayor Arndt will encourage people to focus on eliminating political dysfunction and incivility and allow diverse viewpoints to be heard and discussed.
”Left unchecked, our lack of civility in all walks of life will compromise our freedoms of safety, mutual respect and basic humanity. But, if we take action now, we can be a force for improving our nation’s political dialog,” she says.
Besides serving as a state legislator, Mayor Arndt worked as an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher, Peace Corp volunteer and university faculty member. She and her husband, Chandler, have three children. She is a native of Fort Collins.
The League of Women Voters of Larimer County is a nonprofit, non-partisan political organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government; works to increase understanding of major public policy issues; and influences public policy through education and advocacy. Our members, women and men ages 16 and up, volunteer their time year round. For more information on the League and its diverse work, visit https://www.lwv-larimercounty.org.
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June 24, 2021 at 09:13PM
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