A Weld County District Court judge dismissed a lawsuit accusing the co-chairs of Greeley Deserves Better of defamation for their public criticism of the Cascadia and Catalyst projects.
Martin Lind, the developer of the projects, brought the lawsuit against Greeley Deserves Better and its co-chairs in October after the committee published statements criticizing the legal efforts that blocked their proposed ballot measure.
On Monday, Weld County District Court Judge Allison Esser dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice under Colorado’s anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) law.
“It appears undisputed that all statements at issue arise from an act in furtherance of the Defendant’s right to petition and free speech on public issues. The proposed development of the Catalyst/Cascadia project is an issue of high interest to the public,” Esser wrote in her order dismissing the case. “The two publications in question relate directly to frustration with the legal processes that prevented the ballot measure being sent to the electorate.”
Greeley Deserves Better gathered just over 5,000 signatures over the summer, creating an initiative to repeal an ordinance passed by the Greeley City Council to fund predevelopment and design work for the Catalyst entertainment district. The initiative was quickly embroiled in legal battles that challenged the initiative’s legality, leading to its dismissal on the grounds that the ordinance was administrative and not subject to repeal by voters — a dismissal Esser also upheld.
Lind sued Greeley Deserves Better and its co-chairs, Pam Bricker and Dan Wheeler, in October, alleging that “their false and defamatory statements” about the proposed Cascadia mixed-use project and the city-owned Catalyst entertainment district were harming his reputation and business interests. His lawsuit sought to receive compensatory and punitive damages, but with the dismissal, Lind is instead required to pay attorneys’ fees to the defendants.
“When large developers sue private citizens for raising legitimate concerns, it punishes dissent, chills speech, and sends a message to everyone else: stay quiet or get dragged into court,” Greeley Deserves Better Attorney Suzanne Taheri said in a news release. “That is not how we do things in America, in Colorado, or in Greeley.”
Among the statements Lind took issue with was one claiming he and city of Greeley officials colluded to deny residents the opportunity to vote on the project and another that he had deliberately delayed the group’s ballot initiative with legal challenges. Esser found these claims could not be considered defamation under the anti-SLAPP statute and that Greeley Deserves Better provided evidence for its statements that Lind did not dispute in court.
In an email, Lind showed little concern over the legal loss, stating that “the real victory already happened several weeks ago, when the former chairs of Greeley Deserves Better publicly disavowed a series of malicious and demonstrably untrue statements.”
Asked for clarification about how Bricker and Wheeler disavowed previous statements, Bill Rigler — a spokesman for Greeley Forward, a group supporting the projects — shared a joint motion to dismiss Bricker and Wheeler from the lawsuit. The motion referred to an email Wheeler sent to the Greeley Tribune in mid-January asking for Wheeler and Bricker’s names to be removed from a guest opinion column containing one of the statements that was at issue in the lawsuit.
The Tribune did not grant the request to replace their byline with “Greeley Deserves Better.” The newspaper does not retroactively remove names from published content, as doing so would compromise the integrity of the public record and the accountability of those who submit signed commentary for publication.
Taheri denied the claim that Wheeler and Bricker publicly disavowed any of their statements, accusing Greeley Forward of “misrepresenting the facts.”
With the case closed, both groups will turn their attention to the upcoming special election ballot question 1A, which was brought forward by Greeley Deserves Better’s successor, Greeley Demands Better. The ballot question asks voters whether to repeal zoning for the Catalyst and Cascadia developments, which could delay some work on the project for up to a year.
Supporters of the measure hope a delay will give time to address their concerns about the project, while opponents worry a delay would negatively impact projected economic benefits including thousands of jobs and millions in tax revenue.
Follow the Greeley Tribune’s ongoing coverage of the Cascadia development and stay up to date on all project milestones at greeleytribune.com/cascadia.
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