Happy holidays and keep your eyes and ears open for coming events in 2026 during the election season. As a heads-up, the closer government is to the people, the easier it is for small amounts of money to have big impacts.

Take the recent Commerce City City Council election. For just about $175,000, local homebuilders were able to turn the council over to promote its business interests. If the money were raised and spent on the up and up, no problem. But a deeper dig into these elections based on communication between the homebuilders’ consultant Bill Ray, his Commerce City “influencers,” and the homebuilders’ supported candidates reveals some possible no-nos.

Granted, Colorado’s and the nation’s election financing rules are a travesty. Granted, those with money to burn on elections have found many intriguing ways to slip and slide through the rules that do exist. But one incontrovertible rule is independent expenditure committees may not coordinate with candidates they support.

As is so often the case in areas of Colorado where shade exists, land ownership, oil-and-gas drilling, mineral rights and housing development converge in a cornucopia of special interests. In Commerce City and surrounding areas, these special interests abut the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge and expected expansions around Denver International Airport.

The previous Commerce City Council had taken steps to pause or at least regulate hydraulic fracturing within city limits. City boundaries include residential subdivisions at Villages at Buffalo Run built on acreage owned by long-time Commerce City businessman Russ Watterson, Sr. Apparently, mineral rights on these lands are at stake with drilling interest from Civitas Resources Inc, previously known as Extraction Oil and Gas. Other energy companies also have poked their noses into possible drilling.

It turns out the developer kept mineral rights on some of the land but not on all of it, so individual property owners on some Villages at Buffalo Run land retain mineral rights. This setup creates a divvying-up problem for oil-and-gas companies as they must negotiate with individual property owners to obtain a right to drill. They need to get 45% of landowners to agree to drilling and then present their case to the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC). Recent legislation gives local governments more authority over oil-and-gas drilling.

SB24-185 on “oil and gas pooling” for extraction purposes further complicates drilling access. With this legislation, oil-and-gas companies can’t just “say” they have obtained mineral rights, they must show evidence of those rights with written documentation that individuals have agreed to a deal.

Since 2011, some Commerce City residents have been adamant about resisting energy development in the city. With the Suncor Refinery in its heart, residents especially in the south part of town put up with pollution events close to homes and schools. The city is also beneficiary of pollution from Weld County’s drilling activity up north and from the massive traffic from interstate highways cutting through the area.

The goal of Housing for Colorado, the independent expenditure committee collecting funds to defeat environmentalists Renèe Chacon, Lucy Molina, Kristi Douglas and Ryan Keefer was to elect council members who support more development and drilling in the city to maximize returns on land investments.

By September and October of 2025, attacks on opponents were relentless. Consultant Ray had numerous Zoom calls with his influencers, including Kendall Gay aka “Bulliung”, who labeled the four environmentally oriented candidates as Commerce City Mafia. Preserving air quality apparently is on a Mafiosi to-do list.

Ray, Gay aka “Bulliung”, et al orchestrated a campaign of slamming their opponents using social media, mail, and door-to-door campaigning. Ray prepared and shared pre-set questions for community debates to put the opposition on the defensive. He admitted in one conversation with his influencers he talked to his supported candidates during the campaign, reassuring them of their strong position. His supported candidates should have stepped away from that exchange. 

Ray’s plans worked out as his four candidates won their seats. That victory leaves Commerce City with two council members, Mayor Steve Douglas and member Susan Noble, as the remaining environmentally oriented elected officers. At-large Councilmember Charles Dukes celebrated the homebuilders’ victory through his social media channel with this statement of confidence: “Commerce City is Open for Business.”

Ray’s work isn’t done. Mayor Douglas and Susan Noble remain on the council. They are inconvenient. Noble particularly raises hackles as a determined environmental defender of city residents. She rejects industry pollution producing bad air especially affecting children near industrial facilities that release toxic material inadequately regulated by the state. Recall, anyone?

Commerce City’s Adams 14 school board is also a target. The board continues its diligent advocacy to reduce pollution near schools and ensure timely notice of pollution events at Suncor and other industrial facilities.

Ray’s influencers accused his opposition of spreading conspiracy claims. Yet it’s probably ongoing. Commerce City’s residents could greatly benefit from independent media reporting inside the city. Without it, electioneering can too easily go off the rails as it did in 2025.

Paula Noonan owns Colorado Capitol Watch, the state’s premier legislature tracking platform.