150 unpaid after collecting petitions for initiative on oil and gas setbacks

At least 150 Coloradans are out of a paycheck after helping gather signatures for the effort to keep oil and gas wells away from homes and businesses.

The workers were a driving force that kept the momentum going for Initiative 97 despite strong industry opposition. Now they are facing a crisis, many unable to pay rent, their mortgage or utilities.

Shelby Warr of Broomfield is behind on her car payment after not getting a $900 check she was expecting. Her power was cut off until a church helped her out. “I’m still not caught up,” she said.

Warr and others are struggling because of a contractual dispute between Colorado Rising, the activist group that has spearheaded the initiative effort, and Direct Action Partners, an Oregon company the group hired to collect signatures.

It’s another twist in the spat between Colorado Rising and Direct Action Partners that unfolded in the final weeks leading up to the Aug. 6 deadline for petitions. Colorado Rising faulted Direct Action Partners, which hired the signature gatherers as independent contractors, for holding ballots hostage when the company returned to Portland, Ore. Direct Action Partners maintained the signatures were kept because of unpaid work but eventually returned them to Colorado Rising.

The stakes for workers extend beyond getting signatures to qualify the ballot measure.

At least 150 people have not been paid, according to Brian Loma, who did managerial work in Direct Action Partners’ Denver office. Michael Selvaggio, president of the company, said in a statement that he only received enough money from Colorado Rising to pay about a third of the workers.

Direct Action Partners stopped working on Initiative 97 after Colorado Rising didn’t pay a $42,397.40 invoice, he said. That invoice covered 14,372 signatures that were gathered, according to a copy he provided.

“Colorado Rising created this unfortunate situation and could have prevented it,” he said. “It is unfair and disingenuous for them to try to shift the entire blame to Direct Action Partners.”