Pueblo City Council President says she learned of pending litigation from a KRDO story
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- After a 13 Investigates report outlined allegations of discrimination and retaliation in the office of the Pueblo Mayor, the Pueblo City Council President claims the council was not briefed on pending litigation before the report aired. The report detailed reasons why the former Deputy City Clerk in Pueblo is suing the City of Pueblo and Mayor Nick Gradisar.
"The last thing I wanted to touch on tonight is the news story that everybody saw air on Friday night by Sean Rice and KRDO, the allegations of discrimination by the Mayor and the city, Council President Heather Graham said. "I'm confused why the council has to find out about this on the 5 o'clock news."
Graham said she and the rest of the City Council were not briefed on the litigation prior to the story. However, she claims the litigation is not a reflection of the clerks' office, but more so of leadership in the office of Mayor Nick Gradisar. She tells 13 Investigates the council should be briefed on pending litigation because they are responsible for taxpayer money.
"It is my personal opinion that this is not a reflection on our city clerk or our city clerk's office. These people are doing an excellent job," Graham said. "This is a reflection of the direct leadership we have in the mayor and the appointing he does. It pains me to see another lawsuit this year the city will suffer."
The lawsuit by former Deputy City Clerk Belinda Kimball is not the only pending lawsuit against the City of Pueblo. Reverend Paul Elder, the pastor of the Christian Growth Center, is suing the City of Pueblo for allegedly banning the church's RV Evangelist Ministry. You can find the specifics of that lawsuit here.
In a letter sent to Graham and 13 Investigates, Gradisar said he told Graham about the lawsuit before Monday's meeting and claims that he too found out about the lawsuit from a 13 Investigates story.
In the letter, Gradisar says, "Unfortunately some members of your City Council are more interested in playing 'gotcha' than they are in moving the community forward."
Gradisar claims that multiple members of the city council are trying to defeat him in a future race for the mayor's office. He says information in an executive session was used against him in negations with Pueblo West about buying the City of Pueblo's water.
In addition to those claims, Gradisar said he views one member of the city council as a "partisan hack" and another as an "admitted tax cheat." However, Gradisar did not name who specifically he was referring to in the letter.
It's no secret that Gradisar was regularly sparring with members Lori Winner and Regina Maestri in recent months. That was before Gradisar stopped attending meetings altogether in May. Those heated discussions centered around the handling of an incident last October between Winner and City Attorney Dan Kogovsek.
Winner filed an intent to sue the City of Pueblo in March. Her claims stem from the alleged behavior of City Attorney Dan Kogovsek during a council meeting last October. She has not filed her lawsuit yet. However, she tells 13 Investigates it is coming next year.
Graham told the public during Monday night's meeting that there is very little communication between herself and the Mayor's office.
"It is very hard getting information that we need to get our job done. The information, if we get it, is always filtered and it takes at least two weeks," Graham said.
The City Council President said believes things would be much clearer if Mayor Gradisar attended the City Council meetings.
"If we are supposed to work together as a team for the city, it would make sense if he was here to participate," Graham said. "We are hitting roadblocks and we are not being able, under one roof, to discuss the best road for Pueblo to take."
In Gradisar's letter to Graham, he says, "given I will be a candidate for re-election it seems to me that the work of Council will less be politicized if I am not a regular attendee."
He says the work of council does regularly require his presence at meetings. In Monday night's meeting, city council members Dennis Flores and Larry Atencio said they have no issues getting timely information from the Mayor's office.
