The Manufactured Distraction in Woodland Park
What Jameson Dion Doesn’t Want You to See
Jameson Dion’s recent guest column in the Pikes Peak Courier is a chef’s kiss example of projection. He claims that Woodland Park’s city council members are neglecting local governance in favor of “fringe national ideologies,” yet his entire piece is nothing but a hyper-partisan hit job designed to protect the very movement that is actively dismantling public education and local democracy in Woodland Park.
It’s no surprise. Dion, a Leadership Program of the Rockies (LPR) graduate and conservative activist with deep ties to dark-money school privatization groups, is playing his role in the broader right-wing playbook: distract, distort, and demonize anyone standing in the way of the Christian nationalist takeover of public institutions. His op-ed is less about city governance and more about keeping the focus away from the well-documented, coordinated effort to replace public education with a taxpayer-funded religious indoctrination system.
So, let’s break this down.
The “Hot Water” That Wasn’t
Dion kicks things off by parroting a recycled smear — a nonsense claim that I “found myself in hot water” over a meme. What actually happened? Heidi Ganahl’s right-wing propaganda machine trolled my social media, ripped a joke out of context, and Libs of TikTok amplified it to manufacture outrage. If you’ve spent five minutes online in the last decade, you’ve seen this meme a thousand times in a thousand different ways.
The idea that this meme was somehow linked to an alleged death threat against a Moms for Liberty leader is so absurd that I wouldn’t be surprised if Ganahl and Dion try to blame me for bad weather next. Meanwhile, let’s not forget that Derrick Wilburn, a school board member in Academy District 20, an instructor at the Charis School of Practical Government, and frequent guest on Ganahl’s podcast, was caught in leaked Discord messages wishing that God would hit me with a brick. So, while the right clutches its pearls over a joke, they remain silent when their own people openly fantasize about divine violence against their political opponents.
But sure, tell me more about my rhetoric.
Also, just for the record, I have not been associated with the El Paso County Democratic Party since February 8, 2025.
Dion’s Real Problem? He Doesn’t Want You Looking at Wommack
Dion claims Council Member Teri Baldwin is fear-mongering when she points out that Andrew Wommack and Charis Bible College are deeply involved in Woodland Park’s school board and ballot initiative efforts. Let’s be clear: Wommack is on video stating his explicit goal of “taking over Woodland Park.”
In 2021, Wommack said:
“We decided that we were going to take Colorado back… During the last election cycle, we started with the school boards. We singled out five districts in Colorado… Out of 178 people that we were supporting, we got … somewhere around 78 or 80 of them elected.”
This isn’t speculation. This isn’t a “conspiracy.” This is Wommack, in his own words, describing how his religious empire is working to reshape public institutions to reflect his theocratic vision.
His organization planted people on the school board, pushed book bans, eliminated mental health resources for students, and implemented the right-wing “American Birthright” curriculum — all while overseeing a mass exodus of teachers and staff from Woodland Park’s public schools.
And where does Dion fall in all this?
Right in the middle of it.
Who is Jameson Dion, Really?
Dion brands himself as a local “concerned citizen,” but he’s deeply embedded in the same conservative dark-money network that has been dismantling public education across the country. He’s the founder of Families for Freedom (FFF) and the “news” outlet Freedom Watch News (FWN), both of which are part of the Independence Institute/Americans for Prosperity/Advance Colorado pipeline — the same groups pushing school privatization, teacher purges, and right-wing Christian curriculum changes in Colorado.
Want proof? When FFF registered as a nonprofit in Colorado, Dion didn’t even list himself as the agent. Instead, he used Gwen Benevento, a conservative operative linked to school privatization efforts in Douglas County and across Colorado. She’s also connected to Task Force Freedom and Advance Colorado, both of which funnel money into conservative school board takeovers.
Dion is part of a larger political machine working to privatize public schools, demonize teachers’ unions, and inject religious indoctrination into K-12 education. That’s why his entire op-ed is designed to keep you from looking too closely at the people really pulling the strings.
What Dion Gets Wrong About City Governance
Dion accuses Baldwin and Council Member Jeffrey Geer of neglecting “real” city business. His proof? Baldwin didn’t follow up with a business owner fast enough, and Geer once questioned why gender-neutral bathrooms are controversial.
That’s it. That’s the earth-shattering evidence of government neglect.
Meanwhile, what’s actually happening in Woodland Park?
- Wommack’s influence network has installed hand-picked candidates across city and school governance.
- A coordinated attack on public schools has driven dozens of teachers and staff to resign.
- A school board-backed crackdown on books, teachers, and LGBTQ students is in full swing.
- Families are pulling their kids out of Woodland Park schools because of the political climate.
But Dion wants you to believe the real problem is a Facebook post.
And speaking of hypocrisy:
Dion claims to care about fiscal responsibility but is silent when Wommack lobbies the city for tax-exempt status on student housing — a move that shifts the financial burden from his religious empire onto actual taxpayers. He complains that city council members questioned school financial transparency, despite the fact that examining finances is literally their job.
His outrage is manufactured. His priorities are partisan. And his goal is to ensure that Wommack’s growing influence remains unchecked.
Who is Really Neglecting Woodland Park?
Dion accuses council members of being “too focused on national issues.” But let’s be real:
- It’s not Teri Baldwin who is turning Woodland Park into a right-wing laboratory for school privatization.
- It’s not Jeffrey Geer who is pushing a tax-exempt scheme for a televangelist.
- It’s not the city council who is dismantling public education, banning books, and forcing teachers to resign.
That’s Dion’s side.
Dion and his allies are not saving Woodland Park. They are waging a slow-motion war against the very idea of public governance. They want the city to become a Christian nationalist stronghold where public money funds religious education, dissent is crushed, and political opponents are smeared into silence.
That’s why they need distractions.
That’s why Dion writes op-eds attacking anyone who stands in their way.
That’s why they spend more time policing Facebook memes than questioning why a televangelist is trying to control their school board.
Because if Woodland Park residents start asking the real questions, Dion and his allies know exactly where that will lead.
And it won’t be a good look for them.
