Local councilman rebuked by fellow members

At the end of a five-hour work session Monday, Andy Pico heard stern words from some of his fellow members of the Colorado Springs City Council.

Pico introduced a resolution that read: “Declaring opposition to the relocation of refugees from the United States Refugee Resettlement Program to the City of Colorado Springs.”

At the outset of introducing the resolution, Pico said it was incorrectly written and did not accurately reflect his opinion on the subject.

“I support refugee relocation, I want to make that clear,” he said. “This does not ban refugee relocation. It requests that the state and federal governments who are involved in this program provide the city with notification when people come here, and it seeks to insure that they are screened.”

Pico said he wants to prevent terrorists from entering the country under the pretense of being refugees from Syria and other nations.

“I don’t know how often it’s happened here but I know it’s happened in Europe,” he said.

Several council members quickly chided Pico, with the strongest comments coming from Jill Gaebler.

“I’m a little upset right now,” she said. “I humbly request that you kill it (resolution). We don’t have any jurisdiction over the issue. It makes us look mean-spirited at best. At worse, it makes us look bigoted, racist, xenophobic and I am concerned about that.”

Gaebler said the council has received more email in three days regarding the resolution than the council has received in three years.

“Maybe you didn’t mean to, but your resolution creates the perception that we’re trying to ban refugees in our community,” she said. “We don’t need this. We’re Olympic City, USA.”

Pico agreed to withdraw the resolution and review it but said he may reintroduce it later.