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Who controls CoCo: The governance architecture Polis leaves behind
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Who controls CoCo: The governance architecture Polis leaves behind

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Sal Pace knew the project before he ran it. In October 2025, the Front Range Passenger Rail District named Pace its first General Manager.  The district is a nominally independent, special taxing district created by the Colorado legislature in 2021 to plan, fund, and build passenger rail along the Front Range. Governor Jared Polis issued a personal statement praising the hire. According to FRPRD's hiring announcement, Pace had co-chaired the Governor's own Transition Committee to advance rail initiatives.  The board chair responsible for evaluating Pace's performance is John Putnam — a Polis appointee. That is one loop. There are several more. CoCo's governance structure runs from the district level ...
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Rail plan on the brink: Court ruling and ballot fight could kill funding
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Rail plan on the brink: Court ruling and ballot fight could kill funding

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice On April 29, Governor Jared Polis declared in a press release that Colorado had struck a deal to bring passenger rail to the Front Range — three daily round trips between Denver and Fort Collins, launching in 2029, with no new taxes.  "At nearly half the cost of previous studies," he wrote, "this agreement proves that through partnership and collaboration, passenger rail service across the Front Range is not a far-off dream, but a reality." The day before, RTD's board voted to authorize $5.58 million from its FasTracks savings account and support the project's preliminary funding framework. The term sheet itself was executed April 30 between the Colorado Transportation Investment Office (CTIO), a government-owned ...
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The $3M campaign behind Colorado’s CoCo rail tax proposal
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

The $3M campaign behind Colorado’s CoCo rail tax proposal

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice The Colorado Department of Transportation had options when describing what $3 million in state transportation funds would buy. Public education. A feasibility study. Community engagement. It called it a Ballot Access Plan. That language — "develop a Ballot Access Plan and Implementation of the Plan" — sits in the purpose clause of a contract which took effect on March 26, 2026 between CDOT and the Front Range Passenger Rail District, the latter established by the legislature in 2021 to plan and eventually build passenger rail along the I-25 corridor. RMV obtained the contract through a public records request. If voters approve a sales tax increase this November, the district would use those funds — along with money ...
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