Convincing a city to allow you to build a new hotel takes a lot of planning. Forging signatures on a petition of support for that project apparently does not.
Marriott Residence Inn wants to build a new hotel at 5580 S. Park Place.
On Tuesday night, the Greenwood Village planning commission was going to decide if it would recommend the project to city council.
Spoiler alert: the commission did not.
A keen-eyed Greenwood Village planning commissioner discovered what appear to be forged signatures on a last-minute addition to the hotel project packet. As commissioner member Elizabeth Barnacle reviewed the 29 signatures on a three-page petition of support for the project, she noticed a familiar name and grilled the person who handed the signatures to the commission.
"So then, you have no information as to explain 'line 17, Jeff Kahn,' signing this piece of paper, when in fact we are in receipt of a letter from him adamantly opposing the project, February 13 of this year. Can you explain that at all?" she asked.
Peter Wall, from CRL Associates, which was the local group hired to do community outreach, assumed that Kahn must have signed the petition since emailing the city his opposition earlier this year.
"Since I wasn't at the door, I can't sit there and talk to you about how the conversation went," said Wall.
"I pride myself on knowing the people that I represent," Barnacle told 9News. "It was just like a Perry Mason moment when Jeff Kahn walked in."
Kahn actually showed up at the meeting a short time later and went to the microphone to oppose the project.
"If my signature is on record anywhere, I'd love to see it. I have my driver's license in my pocket. They can compare it," Kahn said at the meeting.
He showed the commissioners his license, with a different looking signature than what appeared on the petition.
"I wouldn't say that matches, thank you," said one commissioner.
"I was immediately shocked and angry and pretty appalled," Kahn told 9News. "I looked at it, and it's a signature that's clearly not mine. It's much nicer and it's legible. If there's any record of me having supported this thing, it's a fraud and a forgery."
SECOND FORGERY DISCOVERED DURING MEETING
But the Perry Mason moments at the meeting continued.
While resident Jeff McCall told the commission why he opposed the project, Barnacle stopped him.
"Mr. McCall, I'm sorry to interrupt you. Are you aware that your name and signature are also on this statement of support for the Marriott Residence Inn, in Line 21?"
"No, I'm not. I don’t want to eat into my time, but I'd love to see the signature, and I'd be happy to produce my driver's license as well," said McCall.
"I was against the development, and to see my name on a petition in favor of the development was disconcerting to say the least," resident Tony Spafford told 9News from his front door. "It said Anthony Spafford. That's my middle name. It's not my first name, and it's certainly not the way I sign any documents."
Spafford found out his name appeared on the petitions from his HOA president, and then got a visit from police on Thursday.
"I was offended and, kind of, outraged actually," said Spafford. "My first reaction was, if I find out who's responsible for this, I would definitely press charges if that's required for the criminal offense."
"Would I press charges if they asked me? Absolutely," said Kahn.
OUTREACH GROUP HIRED SEPARATE FIRM FOR SIGNATURES
"I think you stand there stunned and not sure 100 percent what's happening," said Roger Sherman from CRL Associates.
He wasn't the representative getting grilled at the commission meeting, but found out about the questionable signatures soon after. The signatures weren't even required as part of the hotel application.
"It adds credibility to the application to have residents supporting it," said Sherman.
He told 9News that CRL Associates hired Turn Corps to handle signature gathering. The head of Turn Corps told us they hired someone else.
"We worked with a local canvassing agency to go door-to-door. We have no reason to believe these signatures were forged and have not been contacted by law enforcement," said Bryan Blakely, Turn Corps' Principal.
We asked who he hired and if he really believes the signatures are legit.
"There is no incentive for a canvasser to forge a signature or falsely increase the number of signatures collected. We never pay by the signature, so if a canvasser comes back with 10 or five or even zero, the payment would be the same amount. What would be his motivation for forging?" said Blakely. "The canvasser was not provided a list of names of residents to work from. The canvasser just knocked on 350 doors and spoke with whomever answered and would have no way of knowing who lived in the home. How would he know who lived in each home?"
He said they hired MG Connections to go door-to-door.
WHO COLLECTED THE SIGNATURES?
Melanie Gann from MG Connections told 9News that the signature collector is no longer an employee.
"We had no idea about any of this going on; kind of shocked," said Gann.
Gann said that the signature collector, Eric Forney, started collecting signatures on Nov. 17.
"I really value quality control. It's really the first problem that's come up for my company. It won't happen again," said Gann.
She said she could not break confidentiality to tell 9News if Forney had collected signatures for other petitions, though she said he was a seasonal worker dating back to Fall 2016.
"They never stopped at the door. I never met a guy named Eric," Kahn said at Tuesday's meeting. "It's reprehensible. It's immoral."
Sherman said he sent employees back to the neighborhood to double check the petition signatures.
"We did talk to two residents who did sign the petition, but a significant number of them appear to be false," said Sherman. "If, indeed. it's proven that these signatures have been falsified, I think they need to follow the law and prosecute the individual."
Greenwood Village city manager John Jackson, the former police chief, said that he was notified about the signatures on Tuesday night, and a police investigation was started immediately.
Marshall Zelinger is an investigative reporter for Next with Kyle Clark. He was once called "Mitchell," by a U.S. Senate candidate, when confronted with questions about forged signatures on his petitions to make the ballot. Got a news tip or a story idea? You can contact Mitch -- er, Marshall, at marshall@9news.com
