Where campaigns for and against Eagle County School District’s ballot initiatives are getting funding

Editor’s note: The article’s previous subheading, ‘Funding for opposition is outpacing the support as election day approaches,’ refers to the amount of contributions reported in TRACER, but did not account for the $14,000 in pledges that the Citizens for Exceptional Eagle County Schools currently has, as reported in the story.

As the Eagle County School District seeks to pass two separate ballot initiatives, two primary citizen issue committees have formed — one to support the measures and the other to oppose them.

The opposition and support have drawn considerable attention, with both sides fundraising and campaigning to get their point across ahead of Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 7.

The ballot issues

The school district’s two issues are listed on the ballot as 5A and 5B.

Issue 5A is a mill levy override question in which the district is asking voters if taxes can “be increased $3.5 million in 2024 and by such amounts as generated annually thereafter by imposition of a mill levy which generates revenue,” according to the ballot language.

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In the question, the district adds that this will be spent toward “attracting and retaining quality teachers and staff” as well as enhancing security and safety, providing support for services like mental health counseling and maintaining programs for art, music technology and physical education.

Issue 5B is a bond question in which the district is asking voters if it can increase its debt by $100 million “with a maximum total repayment cost of not more than $195 million” according to the ballot language.

In the question, the district adds that these funds will be spent on the construction of employee housing, enhancing safety and security, building a Gypsum Early Learning Center and expanding the Edwards Early Learning Center, addressing critical school repairs and updating certain facilities.

How the committees are funded

Eagle County Citizens for Progress — with registered agent Ken Armstrong — was formed to “oppose the Eagle County School bond issue and oppose the state mill levy override issue on the November ballot,” according to the description of the issue committee on the Colorado Secretary of State’s campaign finance disclosure website, TRACER.

As of the committee’s last report on TRACER on Oct. 30, Eagle County Citizens for Progress has received $27,400 in monetary contributions and $1,823 in non-monetary contributions. As of the same date, it has spent $27,196.35 of these funds.

Citizens for Exceptional Eagle County Schools — with registered agent Wendy Rimel — was formed “to campaign for Eagle County School District’s 2023 bond and mill levy initiatives,” according to TRACER.

As of its last filing on Nov. 3, Citizens for Exceptional Eagle County Schools has raised $22,960 in monetary contributions and spent $21,232.07 of these funds.

The contributions for each committee differ in where their money is coming from as well as the average size of its donations.

For the group opposing the two initiatives, half of its donors (19 of 38) came from local businesses — totaling $16,700 — and the other half are private donors — totaling $10,725 in contributions. The average private donation was around $564, and the average business donation was around $879. Five of the citizen donations were considered a major contribution — as defined by the secretary of state office — each of $1,000. The average private donation excluding these five significant contributions was around $408.

The three largest contributors to the committee were Acme Roofing with a $3,000 donation, followed by R&H Mechanical and Plumbing Systems, Inc., both of which donated $2,000.

Jim Harper, the president of Plumbing Systems, said that the way the ballot initiatives were presented to him was “that we were going to be paying for teacher housing through a mill levy.”

“I think there’s a lot better ways to support our teachers than providing housing through the people. I think we have to be very sophisticated about the way we do that,” Harper said. “I think the way they’re going about that is not sophisticated at all. And I don’t think that the public understands the way it’s being done.”

For the other issue committee that’s in support of the district’s proposals, two of its 25 donors were organizations — totaling $18,000 — and the remaining were from private citizens — totaling $4,960. The average private donation was $216 including two major contributions, one from Tab Bonidy at $2,000 and another from Paul Aaker at $1,000. The average private donation excluding these two donations was $93. Many of these donors were school district employees and two were school board members.

The majority of this committee’s donations come from two sources: the Education Foundation of Eagle County, which donated $12,000 to the committee, and the Colorado Fund for Children and Education (which is a funding arm of the Colorado Education Association), which donated $6,000.

Rimel, who in addition to being the committee’s registered agent serves as EFEC’s president, said that its contribution came from its advocacy budget.

“We received, a while ago, a grant from the Colorado Health Foundation for advocacy work. So we had that money in our restricted fund for advocacy outreach and decided to give it to the campaign,” Rimel said.

Sydney Slifka, director of digital communications for Colorado Education Association, said in a provided statement that the organization is “dedicated to advocating for the best interests of students, educators and public education as a whole.”

“The support for ballot issues 5A and 5B was a decision made by local educators in Eagle County and was driven by their commitment to improving educational opportunities and resources for the students in Eagle County,” Slifka added.

Rimel also commented that the fundraising isn’t yet over, adding that the committee was grateful “for the people who are pinch-hitting this last week so we can get text banking out there.”

She added that as of Thursday, Nov. 2, it has $14,000 in pledges that have yet to be reported in TRACER. Rimel said that these donations are part of a “last ditch effort” to do text banking in support of the initiatives.

Where the money is going

TRACER also provides reports on each committee’s expenditures, much of which for both groups have been spent on the mailers, postcards and yard signs that are circulating the community. However, each committee has also contracted with consultants, according to their spending.

The Eagle County Citizens for Progress has three expenditures — one for just under $2,000 on Sept. 21, one for $3,000 on Oct. 17, and another for $6,000 on Oct. 12 — to Copperhead Consulting Services, a firm located in Ocheyedan, Iowa, as “payment for services.” According to the firm’s website, it “provides consulting services in political and financial matters designed to start rolling back the cost and spending patterns of local government.”

It adds that “levies, ‘Opt Out’s’ and general obligation bonds are our specialty.”

The Citizens for Exceptional Eagle County Schools has three expenditures for consultants and professional services. Two of these were for Graymatters, LLC for “consulting on and creation of website and media creation,” for $2,500 and $4,088, both on Oct. 11. The third consulting payment was to Jitterfly for “website and graphic design” totaling $7,153.60 on Oct. 11.