I think we’ve all received a few pieces of mail by now advertising for the incumbents…you’ll note those have been paid for by an independent expenditure (IE) committee called ‘Citizens for a Vibrant Woodland Park’. Who are they? Let’s follow the money.
The only reported donor to this group is the Western Prosperity Alliance, a Colorado non-profit formed on 6/7/2023 by Scott Gessler. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because the district hired Gessler on March 27th to be another of its lawyers. Let that sink in for a minute…a Woodland Park school district attorney filed articles of incorporation for a company used to funnel money into an IE committee established to support the incumbents.
What sort of support did Western Prosperity Alliance provide? On 10/3, they provided $5,450 in ‘legal fees for Citizens for a Vibrant Woodland Park’, and also on that date paid $5,000 in ‘research and consulting fees to Bullhorn Communications‘, a Nebraska advertising firm. Finally, on 10/3, Western Prosperity Alliance donated $22,500 to Citizens for a Vibrant Woodland Park. Western Prosperity Alliance has not reported donations to any other political groups, they have only reported donations to Citizens for a Vibrant Woodland Park. Their current registered agent is “CT Corporation”; before that it was Thomas Bearden.
What can we learn about Citizens for a Vibrant Woodland Park? So far, not much. Their mailing address in Colorado Springs is shared by a couple organizations, the Colorado Liberty Alliance and also The Winter Night Club. William (Bill) Baber is the registered agent for this group; he appears to be an attorney.
Citizens For a Vibrant Woodland Park reported an expense of $3,944.65 on 10/18 for a direct mailing, followed by an expense of $4,522.96 for another direct mailing. Their next mandatory campaign finance filing is due tomorrow, October 30th.
So in summary, we don’t know much about who’s calling the shots with this group, just that one of our district’s attorneys helped start up the entity that is financing it.