Dark Money Group Funding Denver Homeless Ballot Initiative
Photo: Giles Clasen
By Robert Davis
Big money is pouring into the “Let’s Do Better” issue campaign from a dark money group that is well-known in Republican circles and has ties to Mayor Michael Hancock.
“Let’s Do Better” is a ballot issue campaign that is asking voters to approve a new ordinance that would allow property owners to hold Denver civilly liable if it fails to enforce its urban camping ban. The campaign was initiated by Garret Flicker, the 25-year-old chairman of Denver’s Republican Party.
Under the proposed ordinance, property owners could sue the city for civil damages if it fails to clean up a homeless encampment within 72 hours of notice. It would also allow the City to host no more than four temporary safe outdoor cap sites, given that each site has restrooms, running water, and other hygienic provisions.
According to a post on Flicker’s Facebook page, the campaign has already turned in over 13,000 signatures of support. Denver Elections Division is still certifying the signatures. If approved, the ballot issue would appear on the November 2021 ballot.
Over the campaign’s first two months, Defend Colorado has financially supported it to the tune of $113,750, according to campaign finance documents from the Clerk & Recorder’s Office.
According to the group’s website, Defend Colorado bills itself as “an alliance of state community leaders focused on defending Colorado’s economy from extreme anti-business policies.”
Denver VOICE reached out to Flicker to discuss the ballot issue and his relationship with Defend Colorado but did not receive a response. Defend Colorado also did not answer Denver VOICE’s questions about its membership or donors.
The nonprofit group made a name for itself in 2019, when it launched an opposition campaign against Proposition 112. Prop. 112 would have set minimum distance requirements between oil and gas developments and neighborhoods and schools, among other restrictions. The group spent over $455,000 on Facebooks ads opposing the proposition, according to Facebook advertisement data.
The group also opposed Proposition CC in 2019. Prop. CC would have rescinded state revenue caps under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, thereby allowing Colorado to reinvest tax surpluses into floundering public services.
Facebook data shows Defend Colorado ran eight ads against Prop. CC and paid between $28,000 and $32,000 to do so. According to a report by Colorado Sun, the group also gave $182,000 to the No on CC campaign, which was started by the libertarian-leaning think tank Independence Institute.
Records from the Secretary of State’s office show the nonprofit group is owned by Katie Kennedy, a lobbyist, and owner of Strategic Compliance, LLC. A report by Colorado Sun indicates that Defend Colorado was created by Republican political operatives Alan Philp and Sean Duffy.
Kennedy is also the registered agent for 67 different accounts, according to records from the Secretary of State’s office. She also manages important political accounts for the Republican Party like the Senate Majority Fund and Colorado Citizens for Accountable Government.
The Center for Responsive Politics found that Strategic Compliance’s largest expenditure to a political action committee (PAC) during the 2020 cycle went to a PAC supporting former Congressman Scott Tipton from Pueblo.
However, she also works across the aisle. Kennedy’s firm donated to left-leaning PACs such as the Friends of Dominick Moreno and the House CD6 PAC. Kennedy is also listed as the registered agent for the Esgar Leadership Fund, a PAC that supports Democratic candidates in Colorado.
Campaign finance records show three of Kennedy’s clients have ties to Mayor Hancock—the Apartment Association of Metro Denver (AAMD), the Metro Housing Coalition (MHC), and Colorado Concern, a pro-business advocacy group
Each of these organizations has donated to Mayor Hancock’s election and reelection efforts, with AAMD and MHC showing the lion’s share of the support. AAMD and MHC have donated to at least one of Hancock’s campaigns since 2003, according to the records.
Once Hancock decided to run for Mayor, the two organizations increased their financial support. In 2011, they donated a combined total of $10,000 in support of Hancock’s mayoral campaign. Since then, the three groups combined have donated $13,000 to Hancock’s campaigns.
In 2019, AAMD donated a total of $50,000 to oppose the Right to Survive Initiative, also known as Initiative 300, campaign finance documents show. The “Together Denver” campaign raised a total of $2.3 million to defeat the initiative.
Another one of Kennedy’s clients – the Colorado Wyoming Petroleum Marketers Association – also donated $15,000 in opposition to Initiative 300, according to campaign finance records.
Initiative 300 would have allowed people experiencing homelessness to sit, lie down, and share food in public spaces. It would have also allowed people to sleep in their own cars if they were legally parked on public property.
At a recent press conference, Mayor Hancock doubled down on his support for the city’s urban camping ban, saying “unsanctioned campsites” will not be tolerated.
Denver also recently announced that it will create a “Street Enforcement Team” (SET) to help enforce 20 of the City’s quality of life ordinances. Some include public camping, urinating or defecating in public, or public consumption of marijuana.