Facts are Not Partisan: A Response to Mayor Pro Tem Brandon Bell

Editor’s Note: In the interest of public transparency and community dialogue, Yellow Scene Magazine is publishing this response to address recent criticisms of our investigative reporting. We remain committed to the facts as documented in the public record.

We appreciate the response from Mayor Pro Tem Brandon Bell regarding our recent investigative article. However, his response was also unfortunately inaccurate regarding the nature of our reporting. It is necessary to address his criticisms with the clarity that the public record demands.

Firstly, to address the claim that this reporting is an attack on faith: at no point does the article claim that either council member is a parishioner of St. Scholastica. In fact, the only claim made regarding Mr. Bell is that he was included in email chains and involved in specific discussions. Mr. Bell actually confirms this in his own response as he recounts conversations he had with staff, the church, and Mayor Moore. Furthermore, we have explicitly reported twice that there is no evidence Mayor Moore attends this church. His personal religious background is irrelevant to our reporting. Our work is driven by his own words, both in council meetings and in emails obtained through the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA). To frame this as a question of faith, rather than a matter of bureaucratic transparency, appears to be an attempt to politicize a standard investigative process.

Secondly, Mr. Bell asserts that he was accused of “backdoor dealings.” No such language appears in our article. Our reporting described the planning as being “privately underway” or “quietly pursued.” These descriptions are based on the following established facts:

“The CORA records reveal that a planning process involving St. Scholastica, Catholic Charities, a project management firm, the Mayor, and other Erie figures had been privately underway for at least five months before Moore raised it at the November council meeting. Aside from Pro Tem Brandon Bell, no other council members were included in the conversations Yellow Scene Magazine obtained.”

Our central point is that this planning process occurred for months without the knowledge of the broader Town Council or project managers. Mr. Bell does not attempt to refute this. In fact, he extends the timeline of these discussions by stating he participated in early talks about this plan as far back as “2022 or 2023”. Our statement that the majority of the council was left out of the loop was substantiated by two of Mr. Bell’s own colleagues on the council.

Thirdly, Mr. Bell criticizes our reporting for misrepresenting the consultants involved, stating, “These consultants were parishioners volunteering their time—not individuals hired by the Town.”

At no point did our article claim they were hired by the town. We stated they were involved in the planning and discussions, and we quoted their emails directly. Whether they are volunteers or people of faith is irrelevant to the fact that they were participating in government-level planning. Mr. Bell seems to be attempting to turn a systemic critique into a personal one.

In his response, Mr. Bell also admits to his misgivings about the further subsidization of affordable housing.

“[…] providing additional subsidies for affordable housing could lead to similar outcomes: vacant units that remain too expensive for those who need them and insufficient demand among those who can afford them.”

While this may be a valid policy position, it adds weight to our reporting regarding his and Mayor Moore’s potential opposition to using funds specifically intended for affordable housing for their original purpose. While Mr. Bell describes the legal room for ARPA funds to be used otherwise, that is a separate matter from the original intention of the funding or the needs expressed by the Erie community through last year’s survey.

Finally, I will address the allegation that our article is “purely hearsay.” If by hearsay Mr. Bell means that the article quotes the individuals involved and references their own emails obtained by process of CORA, then we have provided exactly that. Any allegations made regarding the actions of the involved parties are supported by their own words on the public record for any citizen to see.

It is telling that despite Mr. Bell’s framing, he fundamentally agrees with our primary claims. He, Mayor Moore, the church, and others began considering a project to relocate the church for several months and did not communicate these plans with the full council. In November, Mayor Moore framed the project as a new thought he was ‘tossing around,’ despite having discussed it extensively for months.

Yellow Scene Magazine holds a deep respect for all religious individuals and backgrounds. This is not a matter of partisan division, but a matter of transparency. Our article aims to start a dialogue about processes from which the community and other council members were excluded. Before publication of our article, we reached out to Mayor Moore and the church for comment and they declined to respond. We would still welcome their voices. We hold our reporting to the highest standards, and every claim we have made is backed by evidence.

Thank you, Mr. Bell, for continuing the conversation our reporting has started.