Pueblo mayor tries to keep seat against city council president in mayoral runoff election

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- Now that ballots for the Pueblo mayoral runoff election have been sent out, KRDO13 Investigates sat down with the two candidates — Pueblo Mayor Nick Gradisar and Pueblo City Council President Heather Graham — to discuss their vision for Pueblo’s future and their plans to improve public safety and develop the city’s economy.

Gradisar, the incumbent, is vying for a second term and said his record and experience over the last four years gives him a leg up against Graham. He touted his relationships with local, state and even national officials, which he claimed helped earn Pueblo a seat at the “big kids table.”

“Our leadership style is different,” Gradisar said. “My leadership style is one of cooperation and collaboration. I've seen my opponent's leadership style and some of the interactions she's had with Pueblo County, where she threatens them if they don't do what she wants.”

Graham disagrees. She said she was elected to city council president by her peers and works collaboratively with the other members and the community. She told KRDO13 Investigates Pueblo has plateaued and blames the current administration, which is why she said it’s time for change.

“I have the ability to learn new ideas because I haven't been in the office for five years and I haven't been an attorney for 40 years,” she said. “I truly care about the needs of all the citizens of Pueblo and I just want to make changes for them.”

Public Safety

Both candidates’ top priority is addressing public safety. This comes as Pueblo began the new year with multiple homicides. The Pueblo Police Department said youth crime has increased by about 28% in the last three years and much of the violence can be tied to gang activity.

Gradisar said the staffing within the police department remains a critical problem. Despite pay increases and other retention efforts, he said the department is still struggling to attract officers. So he said they are trying to work smarter to fight crime by reducing the types of calls officers respond to and developing a real-time crime center, which he said should be up and running in March. He said these strategies will hopefully keep criminals off the streets.

“In the short term, what we have to do is we need to enforce our laws and make sure that those people who are involved in those gang activities are being taken out of circulation until they're willing to change their behavior,” Gradisar said.

Graham is still looking to address the police shortage. She said it takes about nine months to become a police officer. If elected she said she would pause that lengthy process for 90 days so the department could hire officers more quickly.

“Pueblo is a great place to live,” Graham said. “It's a great place to raise a family. I think we can really make some strides if you're able to be a police officer quicker than you normally are.”

Economic Development

Both candidates said Pueblo has a perception problem, which Graham blames on the current administration.

“The current mayor doesn't do a good job controlling the narrative of the city,” Graham said. “Sure, we have a crime problem, but this is what we're doing to combat it. There's been no call to action. I think if you had somebody telling the story better, it would change the perception of the public.”

Graham said she would improve the perception of Pueblo by making it more attractive to residents and visitors. She said she wants to revitalize northern Avenue, which she said can be done by changing Pueblo Economic Development Corporation in how it spends its money and brings in local businesses.

“You make (Pueblo) more attractive so that they want to spend their money here on the weekends and they don't want to travel to other communities,” Graham said. “So you have to give them things to do, places to go, things to see, and you have to make them feel safe in doing so.”

Gradisar points to the new business developments he has helped bring to town, including CS Wind, as proof the perception of Pueblo is changing. He said he will continue to address it by bringing more businesses and jobs to town that will help keep people in Pueblo.

“I want to develop an economy in Pueblo where every young person who wants to stay in Pueblo is able to find a job or a career that will allow them to support their family,” Gradisar said.

He said he wants to revitalize old Pueblo neighborhoods with lots of blight by utilizing a vacant property ordinance, which places liens on vacant properties and allows people to fix them up for a low cost.

“We have more vacant houses in the city of Pueblo than we have homeless,” Gradisar said. “Think about that. If we could put some of those houses back into productive use at an affordable rate, we'd make a big dent in the supply of housing that could help some of these homeless individuals who are homeless because they can't afford a house.”

Pueblo residents have until Jan. 23 to turn in their runoff ballots, at which point we will learn if the Steel City wants a change in leadership.