Big spending continues for Colorado's 150th anniversary
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Colorado overwhelmingly rejected Gov. Jared Polis' plan to build a $29 million pedestrian bridge to mark the state's 150th anniversary.
Yes, but: His team is still shelling out taxpayer dollars on a statewide celebration next year, even though the majority of respondents to the governor's recent public survey said they don't want any money spent on the occasion.
Driving the news: The America 250 – Colorado 150 Commission, the majority of which Polis appointed, is spending more than $686,000 to organize the celebration.
- The dozen "signature initiatives" the commission developed include a six-part history documentary for classrooms and a series of drone shows to mark "a new era."
- Other efforts include adding 150 new or revised historic sites and climbers summiting each of the state's 14,000-foot mountains on July 4.
Follow the money: Private foundations and donors are expected to cover the costs of the statewide celebration, according to an internal commission document.
- A handful of foundations partnered to donate $5 million to support the projects, but half of those initiatives still lack full funding.
- The commission's members are fundraising to cover the remainder, but they acknowledge that state and local governments may need to contribute additional taxpayer dollars for the celebrations at a time when officials are pinching pennies.
Between the lines: The price tag for the sesquicentennial became a sticking point after the governor proposed the downtown Denver bridge.
- The governor's office already spent just over $1 million on the failed project, a Polis spokesperson told us. Some of that money came from federal pandemic aid dollars.
What they're saying: The public's objection to spending on the anniversary is not deterring the commission.
- "I have to believe it had to do with the bridge," commissioner Robin Brown, CEO of the Colorado Mesa University Foundation, told us. "I assume [respondents] were taking their anger out in the survey."
- Jay Seaton, the publisher of the Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction and a commission member, said the governor's bridge and the commission's initiatives are entirely separate.
- "This list is more about events," Seaton said in an interview. "It's really up to local communities and what they want to do that represents them."
The bottom line: As the Polis administration plays party planner, taxpayers are watching the cost to honor the state's past.