GREELEY — A group seeking to repeal a city-approved financing plan for a proposed entertainment center in west Greeley has collected more than enough petition signatures to place the question on the Nov. 4 municipal ballot, the office of City Clerk Heidi Leatherwood announced late Wednesday.
The clerk’s office next must deal with a protest that was filed against the legality of those petitions.
“These procedures ensure fairness, transparency and due process,” a news release from Leatherwood’s office stated.
The group Greeley Deserves Better submitted petitions containing 8,279 signatures on Aug. 6, the clerk’s office reported Wednesday, adding that 5,538 of them were valid. That office noted that “there were 16 petition sections determined to be invalid due to incomplete circulator affidavits which included 547 signatures.”
Leatherwood’s office had to certify that the petitions contained at least 4,586 valid signatures from registered voters residing in Greeley — “equal to 10% of the total vote cast in the last general election,” according to the city’s code — to either place the issue on the November ballot or force the City Council to repeal the ordinance.
If the council opts to place the question on the ballot, it must do so no later than Sept. 5 to meet county and state deadlines, Leatherwood’s office said. The council’s next regular meeting is Sept. 2.
But before that can happen, her office must deal with the protest filed Friday by four Greeley residents who challenged the legality of the petitions in a 22-page protest that called the proposed ballot measure “fundamentally unconstitutional,” contending that under state law an administrative decision by an elected body cannot be reversed by voters.
“Following the submission of a protest, a public hearing process is initiated,” Leatherwood’s office wrote in Wednesday’s news release. “This hearing is set to occur within five to 10 days after notifying all parties involved, allowing for a timely review of the protest. During the public hearing, the hearing officer will evaluate the arguments presented regarding the protest. The hearing must be held within 25 days from the date the petition was submitted, and the hearing officer must make a determination within five days of the hearing.”
The ordinance approved May 6 by the City Council authorizes a $1.1 billion financing plan for the entertainment district dubbed “Catalyst” 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’s proposed Cascadia mixed-use project.
In an email to BizWest, Greeley Deserves Better co-chairs Pam Bricker and Dan Wheeler celebrated the preliminary certification.
“This is what democracy looks like when citizens unite around fiscal responsibility and transparent governance,” said Bricker, former executive director of the Greeley Downtown Development Authority. “The record-breaking volunteer participation shows this is truly a homegrown movement. It’s clear that Greeley residents deserve better than a deal that puts our police stations, fire houses and City Hall at risk while guaranteeing a private developer millions in profits.”
Wheeler noted that “this ballot measure doesn’t just address and repeal one piece of financing — it completely eliminates the entire billion-dollar arrangement that puts taxpayers on the hook for unlimited liability while developer Martin Lind collects guaranteed fees regardless of project performance. Voters will decide whether Greeley should be in the business of guaranteeing private profits at public expense.
“This repeal is comprehensive because the problems with this deal are comprehensive,” he said. “When the entire structure puts taxpayers at unlimited risk while guaranteeing private profits, the entire structure needs to be eliminated and replaced with fair terms.”
Voter approval of the repeal would not necessarily kill the vision and the project, Bricker and Wheeler said, but would force renegotiation under terms more favorable to taxpayers.
“We want Greeley to grow and thrive with innovative projects,” Bricker said, “but growth should strengthen our community, not put our most essential services at risk. Beautiful projects should attract private investment rather than requiring taxpayers to guarantee private profits.”
“Ballot certification is just the beginning,” Wheeler said. “Now we have the opportunity to engage in a community-wide conversation about fiscal responsibility versus unlimited liability. We’re confident that when voters understand the choice, they’ll choose to protect Greeley’s financial future.”
However, Greeley Forward, a group that supports the financing plan and was formed to oppose the drive for repealing it, called the fact that the city clerk rejected many of the signatures “a major blow to the credibility of Greeley Deserves Better.”
In a statement emailed to BizWest on Wednesday evening, Greeley Forward said “the Greeley city clerk rejected nearly 3,500 petition signatures originally claimed by the petitioners as not valid or deficient. With nearly 40% of the group’s signatures tossed out, this enormous rejection rate calls into question the organization’s repeated claims of being ‘grassroots funded and led.’”
In a prepared statement, Tom Donkle, registered agent for Greeley Forward, said that “this rejection rate is staggering. The more we learn, the more it looks like an outside-coordinated, professionally funded political campaign operating under the cover of a ‘grassroots’ brand.”
This article was first published by BizWest, an independent news organization, and is published under a license agreement. © 2025 BizWest Media LLC.
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