In our ongoing investigation into metro districts, reporter David Migoya this week shows us how developers and homebuilders contribute generously to political candidates where they have ongoing projects.
After The Post’s initial stories about metro districts and how they operate, readers told us their concerns about the money some candidates had gotten from metro district developers, particularly because districts are reliant on government approval to exist.
Migoya delved into hundreds of pages of campaign finance reports filed with different cities — many of them hand-written reports — as well as several computer spreadsheets detailing the sources of candidates’ funding around the Front Range. It was tedious work chiefly because developers don’t only contribute under their personal name but also under the names of dozens of companies they control.
A number of patterns began to emerge as well as a clearer picture of where developers think their contributions are best made.
Please note, this story is one of our new Post Premium stories, which are available only to subscribers.
— Lee Ann Colacioppo, editor
Colorado’s metro district developers among the biggest campaign contributors | Post Premium
RELATED:
- Reporter David Migoya answers your metro district questions
- Scores of metro district residents are running for board seats
- Read more from this investigation
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A border war? Wyoming considers massive land, mineral rights purchase from oil company, which would spill over into Colorado | Post Premium
Wyoming is weighing a massive land and mineral rights purchase that could give it a piece of Colorado — actually, a lot of little pieces, Aldo Svaldi reports. Along with the land, the purchase would give Wyoming a big straw to dip into Colorado’s oil and gas reserves.
The purchase involves 1 million acres of land and 4 million acres of mineral rights now owned by Occidental Petroleum, including nearly 200,000 mineral acres in Larimer and Weld counties. Read more…
As Colorado college students go hungry, state encourages them to apply for SNAP benefits | Post Premium
Colorado is pushing its colleges and universities to better connect students to SNAP benefits, trying to correct misinformation that leads college students to believe they can’t qualify for food stamps and reverse years of higher education institutions discouraging students from signing up for federal benefits. Read more from Elizabeth Hernandez.
In metro Denver, iBuyers no longer the new kids on the real estate block | Post Premium
Online home-buying services market the elimination of showings and having to handle repairs. They promote the certainty of a solid offer over having to haggle with a buyer who may or may not come through. They can provide a fixed closing date, one timed to the next purchase, eliminating the costs and hassle that come with double moves.
In short, these “iBuyers” are selling a convenience not available going the traditional route, and the market is still trying to figure what that is worth. Read more from Aldo Svaldi.
RELATED: Metro Denver housing market holds its ground in February
Colorado’s return to a presidential primary delivered on turnout promise
More than 1.8 million Coloradans cast ballots in the Democratic or Republican primary, according to the secretary of state’s office, with a few still being counted. That means at least 51% of the state’s active voters participated, according to an analysis of ballot returns by Louisville-based political firm Magellan Strategies. Read more on this year’s primary from Jon Murray.
RELATED: Five takeaways from Colorado’s Super Tuesday primary
In improving roster, Broncos should look at how top teams fared in five key statistics | Post Premium
Improvement in these five statistical categories will help end a streak of four consecutive years out of the playoffs for the Broncos, Ryan O’Halloran reports.
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