Pro-Redtail Ridge lobby vastly outraises opponent, draws big support from developer

LOUISVILLE — The special election committee formed in support of the proposed Redtail Ridge development outraised its opposition nearly 40-fold, according to campaign finance reports made public Wednesday by Louisville.

Yes for Louisville, the pro-development faction, raised a total of $55,617.23 in monetary and in-kind contributions.

Of that total, about $48,000 in in-kind donations came from Redtail Ridge’s developer Brue Baukol Capital Partners LLC, including $30,000 in marketing services from consultancy The Strategy Division.

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The Denver-based developer plans to build as many as 3 million square feet of office, industrial and flexible-use buildings at the long-vacant, former Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) site off U.S. Highway 36. 

In all, Yes has spent $5,382.74, the lion’s share going toward print and digital advertising from Prairie Mountain Media, publisher of local newspapers such as the Boulder Daily Camera and Colorado Hometown Weekly. (Disclosure: BizWest has a content licensing agreement with Prairie Mountain Media)

The campaign’s largest single donors, each of whom gave $500, were former Louisville mayor Chuck Sisk, who is married to Yes organizer Terre Rushton, and Centura Health’s Avista Adventist Hospital CEO Isaac Sendros, whose involvement is notable because Avista is seeking to relocate to Redtail Ridge. The hospital’s official position is that it is “neutral on the referendum.”

“We are thrilled that our citizen-led initiative has inspired so many Louisville residents to generously support the Yes For Louisville campaign and council’s 2021 approval of the Redtail Ridge redevelopment plan,” Yes treasurer Richard Morgan said this week in a prepared statement. “From the beginning, we have said that we would be transparent and fact-based, and that’s why we’ve properly recorded and disclosed all contributions and expenditures.”

For its part, Citizens raised $1,425.85, with the three highest individual donors forking over $103.48.

The group reported spending $2,107.49, apparently operating at a deficit. 

The biggest expenditures for the group were yard signs, $1,010.60, and fliers, $614.99.

The special election campaign has been fierce with Yes filing a rules complaint, which was dismissed by Louisville’s City Clerk’s office (although Yes organizers claim the dismissal was in error), and Citizen’s accusing its opponents of operating as pawns of Brue Baukol.

“The developer has spent tens of thousands of dollars spreading professionally-crafted

misinformation in the belief that residents can be persuaded to vote against their collective

best interest. It just shows their contempt for the people of Louisville,” Citizens supporter Justin Solomon said in a prepared statement. “Maybe this cynical strategy has worked for them in the past, but Louisville voters are a savvy bunch. They won’t be manipulated.”

The April 19 special election, which the Louisville City Council initiated after a successful petition led by Citizens organizers and other opponents of the Redtail Ridge plan, asks voters to decide: Shall Louisville Ordinance No. 1811, Series 2021, An Ordinance Approving the First Amendment to ConocoPhillips Campus General Development Plan (Redtail Ridge Master Plan), be approved?

A “Yes” vote allows Redtail Ridge developer Brue Baukol Capital Partners LLC to move forward with its plans for the property. 

A “No” vote would result in the site reverting to its previous land-use designation, which is more restrictive than the plan approved by the Louisville City Council in 2021 after more than a year of debate and public hearings.