Dear Secretary of State Jena Griswold,
I am writing to you as a former mayor who cares deeply about the integrity of elections and the future of the community I served for many years. Put simply, Greeley needs your help in solving a 鈥�$100 million mystery.鈥�
In a special election on February 24, , effectively halting a city-owned entertainment district known as聽Cascadia. Whatever one鈥檚 position on that vote, the immediate consequence shifted the developer鈥檚 legal obligation to pay over $100 million in debt tied to Certificates of Participation (COPs), instead pushing that burden solely onto the City of Greeley (the debt was scheduled to be paid through bonds issued by the development).
For a community already grappling with a $24 million budget deficit this year, the financial consequences of an additional $100 million debt are beyond catastrophic. City assets were listed as collateral on the COPs, and we must now find some way to pay the required $10 million to $14 million in annual payments without risking community assets or our bond ratings. The first casualty will likely be our planned Downtown Civic Campus redevelopment.
To this day, we do not know who is responsible for causing Greeley to add $100 million in new debt. Whether it was a neighboring county upset about losing tax revenues or a rival developer trying to stifle competition (or both), a sophisticated effort to spend hundreds of thousands and cover tracks was in place. As a Weld County commissioner has observed, 鈥淚f you are moving almost six figures to influence local ballots, the community deserves receipts or a clear legal rationale for why receipts are not required.鈥�
We couldn’t agree more. For over six months, tied to the anonymous donors opposed to Cascadia, including We Are Greeley聽 and With Many Hands. These complaints demonstrate a clear and consistent pattern of obfuscation and blatant disregard of campaign finance laws.
One of the complaints under your review alleges that We Are Greeley was a 鈥渃onduit to funnel anonymous donations” in support of the “yes campaign”. In fact, the yes campaign鈥檚 own finance disclosure forms detail at least $97,800 in We Are Greeley contributions over a two-month period last year. The group did not appear on a single financial disclosure this year.
We believe the same anonymous donors to We Are Greeley provided at least $150,000 in unreported support (both direct and indirect) to the yes campaign throughout the special election via a vast network of organizations and consultants.
For example, Greeley Deserves Better, Greeley Demands Better (also known as the yes campaign) and We Are Greeley share the same attorney: Suzanne Taheri. A former deputy secretary of state known for her defense of dark money campaigns across Colorado, Taheri and her firm have litigated nearly two dozen Cascadia-related lawsuits, motions, orders, and other maneuvers since last summer. Although neither she nor her firm has appeared on a single campaign finance disclosure, we conservatively estimate that legal expenses exceed $100,000.
Newmark Asset and Valuation conducted another unreported in-kind contribution 鈥� a market feasibility study paid for by We Are Greeley and used solely for the yes campaign 鈥� at an estimated cost of $25,000.
And finally, Denver-based Novitas Communications, which had provided public relations support to the yes campaign since at least August 2025, only disclosed $12,000 in services and fees in late January 2026 in an amended campaign finance report.
Perhaps the most extraordinary 鈥� and miraculously timed 鈥� contribution came from Defend Colorado, a 501c4 that lists the Taheri’s West Law Group as its registered agent. Just days after the election, Defend Colorado contributed $20,000 to the yes campaign, helping close what had been a large, five-figure operating deficit. Just like We Are Greeley, Defend Colorado鈥檚 donors are shielded from public disclosure.
Protecting the integrity of elections means ensuring that the public can see who is spending money to influence them. That principle is fundamental to Colorado鈥檚 campaign finance laws, and it is the responsibility of your office to enforce those laws fairly, consistently and with urgency.
Secretary Griswold, your office now has an opportunity to bring clarity to what many residents are calling Greeley鈥檚 鈥�$100 million mystery,鈥� and help us learn the identities of the donors who have caused so much harm to our community.
John Gates is a former mayor of Greeley.
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