The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Six out-of-county donors funding the group
[ By Mark Reaman ]
The Political Action Committee formed this summer to represent the positions of second homeowners in the Gunnison Valley filed its state reports this week. The reports show the PAC received half a dozen contributions totaling $47,500. The smallest donation was $2,500, and most came from out-of-state residents.
The GV2H (Gunnison Valley Second Homeowners) PAC filed the required documents with the Colorado Secretary of State on Monday, October 19, after being late with the first filing requirement that was due October 6.
The report shows that of the $47,500 in donations, $11,234 has been spent thus far. An ending balance of $36,265 was reported. The expenditures were primarily spent on legal fees along with banners, signs and newspaper ads supporting Gunnison County commissioner candidates Dave Taylor and Trudy Vader.
According to the filing, the six donors contributed between $2,500 and $10,000.
Donors include Jack Beard of Dallas, Texas who contributed $2,500; Interstate Electrical Contractors of Aurora, Colo. gave $10,000 and is run by Jim and Joyce Cillessen, who filed a lawsuit against the Gunnison County commissioners and Public Health director Joni Reynolds last April. They contended the public health order prohibiting non-resident homeowners from coming to Gunnison County because of the COVID-19 crisis was a violation of the state and U.S. constitutions and was a regulatory taking.
Other donors include Jeff Smithers of San Antonio, Texas, who gave $5,000; Bruce Wilkinson of Houston, who contributed $10,000; The Will-Drill Agency of Shreveport, La., which gave $10,000; and Jim Moran, who founded the PAC and donated $10,000.
The next filing for the Secretary of State is due on November 2. Moran indicated that while he is still learning and working through what he called the state’s stringent reporting process, he said there would be donors of all sizes listed in the future once “past the lag effect of the reports.”
