Pueblo City Manager Didn’t Mean To Avoid TARGET 13 Questions

Pueblo City Manager Jerry Pacheco didn’t mean to avoid TARGET 13 questions Wednesday when he drove off with cameras rolling.

Assistant City Manager Jenny Eickelman told TARGET 13 in a voice mail that Pacheco was dealing with back-to-back meeting Wednesday and couldn’t meet up for a tentatively scheduled interview.

She added a court mandated class for divorcing parents prevented him from stopping and speaking with TARGET 13 as we waited for him to leave his office.

Pacheco was recently investigated by the Pueblo City Attorney after allegations he was having an affair with Marisa Walker, the Director of Human Resources.

The alleged affair brought up concerns of preferential treatment and conflict of interest, since Pacheco was Walker?s boss. The City Attorney investigated after the allegations surfaced.

TARGET 13 spoke with Pacheco on the phone last week and again on Tuesday to get his side of the story.

He first agreed to do an on-camera interview, but backed out Wednesday afternoon when we arrived at City Hall.

Pacheco said on the phone, he was going through a divorce and his personal attorney told him not to talk about the allegations of his relationship with Walker.

Pacheco never admitted or denied the allegation of a romantic relationship with Walker.

When TARGET 13 asked him about him being Walker?s boss, he said that he was no longer her immediate supervisor. She now reports to an Assistant City Manager.

City Attorney Tom Florczak told TARGET 13 that he went through hundreds of emails between Pacheco and Walker and found nothing criminal. He added, there also was nothing sexual in nature in the emails.

TARGET 13 also went through the emails. However, because of a Colorado court ruling that limits public access to public records, many of the emails were blacked out and unreadable.

Florczak said some emails were redacted because it either involved personnel issues or because the email didn?t deal with city business, meaning any personal communication between Pacheco and Walker isn?t viewable to the public, even if it was on a taxpayer paid email system.

The emails we were able to read did not show anything inappropriate.

TARGET 13 continues to investigate the allegations and welcomes Pacheco?s side of the story.