COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Tuesday night, Colorado Springs voters will know the results of a special election to determine whether a proposed development near Schriever Space Force Base should be annexed into the city limits.
Text messages, mail fliers, and signs throughout the city have been seen in various ways to try and get you to vote a certain way.
News5 took a look at who is funding each campaign based on campaign finance data available through the city’s website.
There are two primary groups registered for the campaigns “Citizens to Stop Illogical Growth” for the opposition and “Stand Against Monopolies” for the proponents of Issue 1.
“Citizens to Stop Illogical Growth” is made up of local community members, the registered agent is Ann Rush, who lives near the proposed development. In one of the early campaign finance filings, it shows more than $400,000 given to the group in in-kind contributions from the group “Defend Colorado”.
The contributions related to efforts for the signature-gathering petitions to trigger the special election.
When News5 asked Rush who was behind the group “Defend Colorado”, she encouraged News5 to reach out to the group directly.
Defend Colorado’s website lists an email, which News5 sent questions to including if they were affiliated with Norwood, a prominent developer in Colorado Springs. Defend Colorado is a 501(c)4 and is not required to disclose its donors.
It’s a claim that’s been made by supporters of the ballot issue.
News5 also reached out to Daniel Cole, who owns the canvassing firm used to collect signatures for the campaign. He confirmed Defend Colorado funded the effort but said he could not give out their contact information.
The same group contributed thousands of dollars during the 2023 city election.
One for a group called “Citizens for Protecting our Water”, which backed then-mayoral candidate Wayne Williams and another to “Citizens for Responsible Leadership”, which backed a slate of city council candidates.
News5 also found a complaint filed by the group in 2021, and found former Deputy Secretary of State Suzanne Taheri working with the group.
The proponents of Issue 1 reported $200,000 in contributions all coming from Norris Ranch Joint Ventures, which is the group that owns the land for Karman Line.
Norris Ranch Joint Ventures is made up of three entities including the Kevin O’Neil, who owns the O’Neil Group, and two other groups, Norris Ranch Development LLC, and FBLLC, which is an LLC registered in Wyoming that Eli Bremer is a part of.
The O’Neil group is a part of “One Vela” which recently received approval to build what will become the tallest building in downtown Colorado Springs at 27 stories.
On the campaign’s website it says “La Plata Group” owns zero percent of the project.
La Plata Communities, a local developer, formed a new company with the O’Neil group earlier this year known as “One La Plata” which is the reported developer on the project.
Another campaign finance reporting deadline is scheduled for later this week, which will include additional data about the spending and contributions during the bulk of the campaign season.
The deadline to turn in ballots for the special election is June 17th at 7 p.m.
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