Greeley Demands Better Wins. Greeley Citizens’ Screams Finally Acknowledged
Greeley, Colo. (November 7, 2025)
Today the city clerk verified the cured signatures needed to procure the ‘veto referendum’ petition, a process that began in mid-October when Greeley Demands Better submitted 7,739 signatures to give residents a vote on the zoning of the $1.1 billion Cascadia/Catalyst hockey arena and entertainment district.
“The citizens of Greeley have been screaming at the top of their lungs for an opportunity to weigh in on Cascadia’s fate,” said Suzanne Taheri, Greeley Demands Better attorney. “They have finally been heard, despite repeated efforts by city officials to disenfranchise them. Now, the zoning for the Cascadia/Catalyst project is halted until either City Council repeals the zoning or there is a vote of the people. Greeley wins!”
Signatures could be cured in one of two ways – collecting additional signatures or correcting the signatures in question. 32 signatures were needed, and GDB submitted 501 signatures to the city clerk collected in just one weekend – over 15 times the amount required.
On Wednesday evening, October 29, 2025, the Greeley City Clerk disqualified an astonishing 41% of the petition signatures and determined that the number of petition signatures submitted by the grassroots citizen initiative, Greeley Demands Better (GDB), was “insufficient” by 32. Of note, the standard rejection rate in municipal and statewide petition efforts is 20%.
Many of the 4,000+ signatures were rejected in contravention to state laws, standards, and jurisprudence for trivial matters, such as street names missing road suffixes (Blvd, Drive, Avenue, etc.) and addresses missing an apartment number.
In both cases of petition signing, Greeley residents showed their concern by delivering a petition signature counts far above the requirement. Colorado courts recognize the right to petition on the same footing as the right to vote. Courts apply a standard of substantial compliance to avoid disenfranchising voters. In contrast, the Greeley city clerk applied a standard of strict compliance disqualifying and disenfranchising voters at a level beyond traditional standards.
Despite the astonishing, systematic effort by city officials to disenfranchise its voters, Greeley citizens prevailed in their demands to give residents the right to vote on the Cascadia/Catalyst project, and to help decide the future of Greeley.