There’s an interesting smell in the air in Greeley right now, and it’s not the famous “smell of money.” It’s the smell of politics. It’s the smell of a town realizing, again, that growth is never just about dirt and concrete. It’s about power, trust, and who gets to make the call when the dollar signs get big enough to make everybody’s pupils dilate.
Last Tuesday, February 24, 2026, Greeley held a special election. Ballot Issue 1A passed, 11,342 “yes” to 9,506 “no,” and Ordinance 30, 2025 got repealed. That ordinance created the Cascadia Planned Unit Development zoning tied to the big West Greeley plan. With the repeal, the approximately 834 acres north of U.S. 34 and east of Weld County Road 17 revert to the prior zoning designations, including Holding Agriculture for portions of the property. The City also said certification is expected March 5. (greeleyco.gov)
If you’re keeping score at home, that’s a scalp-taking. And it was delivered by a political coalition that I have not seen in my years watching how Weld County and Greeley work. Folks from the left, right, libertarian corners, and business circles all linked arms long enough to deal the project a real blow. Not a death blow, probably, but a blow. The Colorado Sun put it plainly: the vote does not kill the project, but it likely delays it at least a year. (The Colorado Sun)
And that “probably” matters. Because here’s where I’m going to irritate everyone equally, which is kind of my ministry.
This whole thing was incredibly complex and incredibly nuanced. I am not pretending I mastered every financial line item. I did not sit down and “study the complex financials” because, bluntly, that was not my lane as a County Commissioner. That was, and is, the job of Greeley City Council members, the people elected to do the city’s business.
And yes, I ultimately came out in support of the project and in opposition to 1A. For nuanced reasons. Classic me, I know.
As a former mayor and town council member, I’ve learned something that makes policy purists twitch: sometimes you just have to take a shot. Catalyst and Cascadia were a big, hairy, risky shot. The kind that can change a city’s trajectory, or leave you holding the bag, or both, depending on timing and execution and whether the projections are real or a piñata full of taxpayer dollars.
So let’s name the core tension without the tribal screaming.
I am VERY pro constitutional republic. VERY pro elected representative. The whole point is we elect people to represent us, to absorb the complexity, to take the heat, and to make decisions. Greeley City Council did what councils do. They acted.
But citizens also have the right to petition their government and put legislative actions on the ballot. Zoning is legislative. Voters exercised their right. That is also America. Both things can be true, even if social media acts like nuance is a felony.
Now, the money part.
I despise COPs. I think they are sneaky. I think they are a workaround to TABOR reality. But they are a valid tool available to local governments, and Colorado has used them for a long time. At the simplest level, COPs function like a lease-purchase financing tool, and in Colorado, they’re commonly discussed as not requiring the same prior voter approval as certain “debt” instruments. (Colorado General Assembly)
In this specific case, City Council approved a financing plan that included $115 million in COPs, with reporting describing high-profile city facilities being leased as collateral in the structure, paid back through the project’s revenue assumptions. (KUNC)
That reality lit up fiscal conservatives like a Christmas tree. And I get it. I may have supported the project, but I did not suddenly become a COPs fanboy. Public debt is still public debt. If you’re a taxpayer, you’re allowed to ask, “Wait, what exactly are we putting on the line here?”
Libertarians had their own very valid question, and I don’t think it ever got a satisfying answer in the public square: is it the proper role of government to own sports and entertainment arenas?
That’s not a gotcha. That’s a foundational question.
At the same time, we already live in a world where local government owns community facilities people love. Union Colony Civic Center. The Greeley Family FunPlex. Those are not exactly dystopian nightmares. So the “government should own nothing fun” argument has always been a little… selective. These facilities add to “quality of life,” which is a metric difficult to measure but very valid for a city to pursue. But it is still a fair debate.
Then came the uglier layer. The personal destruction.
Martin Lind became the human punching bag in this fight, and I despise the politics of personal assassination. Look, Martin is a native. He’s been around a long time and has done big things. Yes, he’s bombastic. So what? So am I. Yes, he can be acerbic. Can’t we all?
Martin and I are not BFFs. I count him as a fond acquaintance. I know him. I like him. Most of the time. During the radio days, I belonged to Pelican Lakes and played way too much golf there, according to my wife, and Martin supported me in my first campaign for County Commissioner. That does not mean I’m beholden to him. He has hated some of my decisions, and he called to let me know about it. He has supported some of my decisions, too.
Here’s what I do know about the guy: he loves Northern Colorado, he loves Weld County, and he busts his ass to do work. He’s a businessman. He wants to make money. That does not make him evil. That makes him a capitalist in a capitalist nation. Most importantly, he genuinely wants to make Northern Colorado better – and he has!
You can oppose a deal without turning a human being into a cartoon villain for sport.
And now we get to the part that has me most concerned, and it’s the reason I am launching a new content category here on my website.
Social media.
I truly believe this election was swayed, at least in part, by half-truths, mis-truths, misinformation, and some full-blown lies told on social media. Not everything was a lie. There were kernels of truth on both sides. But the volume of noise was insane. People were “sure” about things they could not possibly be sure about, because they saw a graphic with an eagle emoji and 900 angry comments.
Free speech is messy. No, I’m not calling for mandatory fact checkers. Hard pass. But we also have to admit what we’re watching in real time: social media has devolved into a tribal, vile, ugly place where truth is a casualty and dopamine is the prize. We hunker down in our silos and throw word grenades. We scroll until our brains are pudding. We celebrate “owns” like they’re accomplishments.
That’s the unruly mob the founders feared. It’s just digital now.
Here’s the deeper thing underneath it all. It’s not left or right. It’s not Democrat or Republican. It’s far more common man, far more “We the People.” You can see that energy nationally, too. President Donald Trump is serving a second, non-consecutive term after winning the 2024 election, and whatever you think of him, that era is fueled by millions of Americans who are demanding accountability and consequences. (PBS)
And I get that. I am one of “We the People.”
But I desperately want “We the People” to be informed, not just enraged.
So here’s what Social Sheet is going to be: me taking the scattered claims flying around on social media, pulling the thread, reading the documents, checking the reporting, and then telling you what we actually know, what we don’t know yet, and what is opinion dressed up like fact.
Receipts matter. Dates matter. Process matters.
For example, here are a few receipts that should be non-controversial because they’re literally in black and white:
Greeley voters repealed Ordinance 30, 2025, by passing 1A on February 24, 2026, and the property’s zoning reverts to what it was before, including Holding Agriculture in portions. (greeleyco.gov)
The City’s own “next steps” language says a new rezoning request would be required for “urban vertical development,” and a substantially similar PUD application cannot be resubmitted for one year and would face heightened review. (greeleyco.gov)
The public financing controversy included $115 million in COPs, and reporting described those COPs as tied to city facilities as collateral. (KUNC)
That’s the lane. Facts over fan clubs.
If you’re conservative or liberal, Democrat or Republican, libertarian or socialist, the facts should be the facts. The truth should be the truth. And yes, sometimes that means your tribe doesn’t win a point. Good. This isn’t about points.
God made me a peacemaker, a bridge builder. I like researching. I like learning. And I like sharing what I learn, because I think we’re all better when we’re operating on reality instead of memes.
Welcome to Social Sheet. Bring your best arguments. Bring your skepticism. Bring your receipts. We’ll critique what we read, translate the jargon, date the context, and try to land on what’s true. Because if we lose truth, we don’t just lose elections. We lose each other.
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