Four Greeley residents on Friday challenged the legality of a citizen-initiated petition that could derail the city鈥檚 financing plan for a $1.1 billion entertainment district on the city鈥檚 western edge.
The 22-page protest, filed with the office of Greeley city clerk Heidi Leatherwood, contending that under state law an administrative decision by an elected body cannot be reversed by voters.
Former Greeley city manager Leonard Wiest, along with Tom Hacker, John DeWitt and Zach Bliven, filed the protest Friday afternoon against the two co-chairs of citizens group Greeley Deserves Better, Pam Bricker and Dan Wheeler.
Greeley Deserves Better on Wednesday that it said contained 8,993 signatures of registered voters to put a question on the Nov. 4 municipal ballot that, if passed, would repeal the ordinance by the Greeley City Council, which authorizes a financing plan for the entertainment district dubbed 鈥淐atalyst鈥� on city-owned land near Weld County Road 17 and U.S. Highway 34 that would include an ice arena, hotel and water park and anchor Windsor-based developer Martin Lind鈥檚 proposed Cascadia mixed-use development.
Leatherwood鈥檚 office would need to certify that the petitions contain at least from registered voters residing in Greeley 鈥� 鈥渆qual to 10% of the total vote cast in the last general election,鈥� according to the city鈥檚 code 鈥� to either place the issue on the November ballot or force the City Council to repeal the ordinance.
However, the protest filed with the city clerk contends that the ballot issue 鈥渟eeks to exercise administrative control over the executive functions of the City, and in doing so, it travels well outside the legislative power that is reserved to the people in the Colorado Constitution and the Greeley Home Rule Charter.鈥�
According to the protest, 鈥渓ongstanding case law dictates that the power to initiate legislation through the ballot box is reserved solely for legislative enactments, not administrative actions. There can be no doubt here that the proposed initiative is administrative in nature because the underlying administrative provisions of the ordinance targeted for repeal 鈥� dealt specifically and in painstaking detail with administrative implementation of a policy decision the City Council had 鈥� in April.
鈥淏ecause it is an administrative measure,鈥� the protest continued, the proposed initiative 鈥渕ay not constitutionally be referred to or ultimately enacted by voters. Voter initiatives may only be used to enact legislative ordinances, not administrative actions. Moreover, because there is a legal presumption that an initiative to amend or repeal a prior administrative action is itself administrative in nature, it is the proponents of this ballot measure who must shoulder the burden of proving that their proposed initiative is legislative rather than administrative.鈥�
DeWitt, a real estate broker, told BizWest Friday afternoon that 鈥渁s proud Greeley residents, we filed this complaint because the so-called citizens initiative isn鈥檛 about policy. It鈥檚 an unconstitutional attempt to micromanage City Hall. Greeley Deserves Better knows it, and they鈥檙e hoping voters won鈥檛 notice.鈥�
Wiest worked for the City of Greeley for 35 years, according to articles in the Greeley Tribune, including as finance director, assistant city manager and city manager. He retired from the city in 2005, taking subsequent roles with , where he worked from 2005 to 2013, and the Town of Milliken.
Hacker told BizWest that he has been 鈥渨atching it from a distance, and I set my thinking against the backdrop of all of the years that Greeley had chances to move ahead, with Anheuser-Busch, with I-25, its failure to really move to retain Hewlett-Packard in Greeley, lots of missed opportunities, and this seemed to me like a chance for Greeley to recoup some of that.鈥�
Hacker had been a reporter for the Greeley Tribune, Fort Collins Coloradoan, Loveland Reporter-Herald and the Northern Colorado Business Report, which was merged in 2014 with the Boulder County Business Report to become BizWest. He also had worked in public relations for the City of Loveland and its police department.
鈥淭he other thing that drew me into this, frankly, is just the arrogance of the opposition,鈥� Hacker said. He read the 鈥渁bout how they refuse to pull the veil off this polling tactic that was put to work,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd, you know, we鈥檝e all seen push polls. We know how they work, and I think that they鈥檙e hiding that. And it鈥檚 too bad.鈥�
Bliven, who could not be reached for comment in time for BizWest鈥檚 afternoon deadline, is the owner and operator of Bliven 19 Ltd., which owns a small fleet of trucks used in the crude-oil industry.
According to the city鈥檚 code as quoted in the complaint, 鈥渢he city clerk must fix a time for a hearing on the election protest, with the hearing to be concluded no later than 25 days after the filing date of the petition with the city clerk, and that not later than five days after the hearing, the hearing officer must issue a written decision on the sufficiency of the petition.鈥�
In a statement emailed to BizWest late Friday, the Greeley Deserves Better campaign responded to what it called 鈥渕isleading claims鈥� made in the complaint 鈥渇iled by supporters of the risky billion-dollar Cascadia financing scheme. The complaint represents a desperate attempt to distract from the overwhelming opposition to a deal that puts Greeley taxpayers at unlimited financial risk while guaranteeing millions in profits to a private developer.鈥�
In the Greeley Deserves Better news release, Wheeler said that 鈥渢his week, Greeley voters delivered a loud and clear message in opposition to the risky Cascadia funding scheme by providing a record-smashing 9,000 petition signatures to give Greeley voters the opportunity to repeal the risky scheme this November. Rather than address why 87% of informed voters oppose their risky financing scheme, project supporters are manufacturing distractions.鈥�
鈥淟et me be crystal clear,鈥� Wheeler said in the prepared statement. 鈥淎n army of volunteers engaged in the effort to repeal Ordinance 2025-15. Greeley Deserves Better, consisting entirely of and wholly funded by Greeley residents, operated alone and did not coordinate efforts with any other advocacy groups. Our signature gathering was conducted by our incredible volunteer team of over 50 Greeley residents, supplemented by professional services from The Field Group, a legitimate professional signature-gathering firm.
鈥淭he real issue remains unchanged: this deal puts over $1 billion in risk on taxpayers while guaranteeing the developer millions in profits every year regardless of project success,鈥� Wheeler wrote. 鈥淕reeley deserves better than a financing scheme that puts all the risk on the public while guaranteeing profits for a private developer.鈥�
In the news release, Suzanne Taheri of Denver-based West Group Law + Policy, the campaign鈥檚 attorney and a former Colorado deputy secretary of state, noted that 鈥渢his complaint was filed by a group hastily formed just this week and is transparently political. Allies of the city council are panicked and have launched a desperate attack designed to mislead voters and distract from the groundswell of opposition to the council鈥檚 risky Cascadia funding scheme, evidenced by this week鈥檚 record-smashing petition submission.鈥�
Reached Friday afternoon, Bricker said she wouldn鈥檛 comment on the protest, but added that 鈥淚 have a team that did a great job.鈥�
Bricker, former head of Greeley鈥檚 Downtown Development Authority, paid tribute to 鈥渁 group of mostly women and some men who are Greeley lovers and are really upset about this financing deal. I just want to say how grateful I am that this group got around and got these petitions done.鈥�
