Residents, advocates accuse City of Wheat Ridge of breaking promises to indigenous food project at Happiness Gardens

Anemone Salome, a community organizer with the Jefferson County Food Policy Council, told the City of Wheat Ridge City Council on Oct. 13 that they and other volunteers were effectively forced out of a community food project after the city failed to finalize a written agreement.

"I was effectively forced to flee the city after receiving ongoing racially charged death threats directed at me and my business," Salome said. "When I reported them, Wheat Ridge police and detective Rayna Johnson dismissed them as too vague to act on." Salome identified the business as Perma Tierra and said she had to leave the city for safety.

The central complaint from speakers was that the city allowed Nerissa Rivera to steward land at Happiness Gardens for two growing seasons with an oral promise of a five‑year agreement, but then did not put that agreement in writing. Several speakers said that city staff later added conditions that required Rivera to reconcile with…