Fool Us Once, Shame on You; Fool Us Twice, Shame on Us

What You Need to Know About a Certain Law-breaking and Unethical DCSD BoE Candidate…

DougCo Collective was founded following the 2021 school board election, when a group of public education advocates in the community were concerned about the direction the school district seemed to be heading under the helm of a board majority that was clearly aligned with national extremists and their agenda.

Our charter has always been to educate the community about public education issues that impacted our district. We had no idea that less than a month into our genesis and subsequent incorporation as a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization that we would be operating in a state of hyperdrive.

Starting with the Educational Equity Policy coming under threat in late January 2021 and illegal firing of Superintendent Corey Wise in early February 2021, our small core of founding volunteers have been sustaining that level pretty much ever since!

Sometimes it is hard to know how big of an impact you’re making, but one clue was the formation of a counter-organization called DougCo Protective.

What is DougCo Protective?

The group (whose name is strangely similar to ours) seems to have formed in response to the appropriate community pushback of the “Kids First” directors after they violated Colorado Open Meetings Laws when they fired former Superintendent Corey Wise. 

Much of the language of this seemingly now-defunct group (their last social media post was more than a year ago) was in alignment with the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR) and other emerging so-called “parents’ rights”/anti-LGBTQIA+ groups. 

The group attempted to gain support on May 24, 2022, with a “coming out” party at BoE public comment. A few community members mentioned the DougCo Protective name within their public comments. Noteworthy was Amity Wicks (comment read by another community member starting at 2:57:06), who was the campaign manager for State Rep. Brandi Bradley (HD-39). Both Bradley and Wicks are advocates for this “parents’ rights” agenda and are aligned with the Colorado Parent Advocacy Network (CPAN). Bradley has also called for a Moms for Liberty Chapter in Douglas County, perhaps due to DougCo Protective’s failure to launch.

Interestingly, another familiar name, Erin Kane, follows the DougCo Protective social media account. Likely if Kane was approached about following this group, she would claim that she has not been active on social media, as she did when it was discovered last year that she was part of the FEC United Facebook group. She was questioned about her involvement with the extremist organization after it shared in that Facebook group its plans to infiltrate a DCSD Equity Advisory Council Meeting.

Campaign Finance Violation Filed Against DougCo Protective

On Oct. 31, 2022, a campaign finance violation was filed against Douglas County resident and book banning activist, Aaron Wood, and an organization called DougCo Protective.

The complaint alleged that advertising and a website to oppose then-candidate, Bob Marshall, (now HD-43 State Representative) during his campaign was purchased without including the legally required disclaimer of who paid for the campaign materials. Some of you may remember the electronic billboard towed by a truck and the “BobsNot4Colorado” stickers in various spaces in Highlands Ranch.

On Sept. 5, 2023, the office of Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser filed a complaint against DougCo Protective (the SOS removed Aaron Wood as a respondent), as a result of the original October 2022 complaint. The complaint made the following allegations regarding violations of Colorado campaign finance law:

• Failure to Include Sufficient Disclaimers – DougCo Protective did not have the legally required notice of “Paid for” on their paid advertising content with the name of a registered agent, which has to be a person, not an organization.

• Failure to Register – DougCo Protective did not file as an “Issue Committee” with the Secretary of State, as legally required to do so when more than $1,000 was spent on paid campaign advertising content

So what does a video billboard and a disclaimer against Bob Marshall’s 2022 campaign have to do with DCSD?

It’s a fair question to ask why we are writing content about DougCo Protective and this alleged campaign finance violation with the Secretary of State. The answer is a simple one: DougCo Protective has connections with both the “Kids First” directors and the “Best DCSD” slate and their campaign manager.

It is important to care about the potential malfeasance of individuals campaigning to become elected officials and those supporting them in official capacities.

The most notable connection with this alleged campaign finance violation and the “Best DCSD” slate is candidate Andy Jones (District A). As you can see from this screenshot, Jones paid for the video billboard on behalf of DougCo Protective.

One would think that Jones would be more conscientious with campaign finance requirements, as he is already an elected official, serving as a board director for the Highlands Ranch Metro District. Additionally, this is not his first attempt at a run for a DCSD school board director position; he lost to current DCSD BoE Director Susan Meek in 2019.

Holly Horn, campaign manager for both the “Kids First” and “Best DCSD” slates, is also connected with DougCo Protective. In May 2022, she attempted to generate support for this fledgling organization and encouraged others to join, and implied that DougCo Protective would protect the “Kids First” directors from a potential recall. 

Why are we Concerned? 

These same players keep popping up in different areas of our community, sometimes behind organization names, sometimes in their own personal capacities. All with the same goal – to disrupt and dismantle public education.

Holly Horn was a virtual unknown in political circles until she was spotted with a bullhorn during a small protest she helped organize outside the Douglas County Government’s Wilcox Building in December 2020. She emerged a few months later as the campaign manager for all four “Kids First” candidates, now current DCSD BoE Directors.

For ultra-conservative GOP candidates in Colorado, Horn is now considered an expert, having managed several campaigns, including Deborah Flora (lost in Senate primary), John Kellner (lost to incumbent Attorney General Phil Weiser), and Ken Buck (re-elected to U.S. House of Representatives). Horn is currently the campaign manager for the “Best DCSD” candidates Jason Page, Andy Jones and Maria Sumnicht. We think we can safely assume for more of the same – disregard for community input, noncompliance with COML, not understanding and fighting against equity, etc. – from this slate.

Andy Jones has a long history as a far-right disrupter in DCSD. He lost to current DCSD BoE Director Susan Meek in 2019. He is a former head of the Douglas County GOP and is currently serving on the board of directors for Highlands Ranch Metro District. He is perhaps most recognized for his antics at a DCSD BoE meeting during the 2021 election when he claimed that there was a sniper on the roof of the District Building. Jones was an avid campaigner for the “Kids First” slate and was rumored to be present at its notorious retreat in Estes Park just after the 2021 election.

It isn’t terribly surprising to see Horn and Jones linked, but the ties they both have to DougCo Protective – Horn for promoting it and Jones for being named in a lawsuit against it – give us pause. It is pretty clear that the “Best DCSD” slate is just “Kids First” 2.0. And do we really need more school board directors in DCSD who think they’re above the law?