Pueblo petitioners take first steps to remove role of Mayor from city government
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- A handful of Pueblo voters are taking the first steps to potentially change Pueblo's style of government and get rid of the role of Mayor once again.
According to the Pueblo City Clerk’s office, petition organizers submitted a proposed Charter Amendment Initiative or a drafted petition on Thursday. If the petition is approved by city officials and organizers collect the required number of signatures from voters, an election would be held asking voters to amend Pueblo’s charter and revert back to a City Manager style of government.
In 2017, voters in Pueblo chose to amend the city’s charter to switch from a City Manager style of government to one with a Mayor. The following year those same voters chose Nick Gradisar as Pueblo’s first Mayor in more than 70 years.
Just a few years later, a handful of voters want to go back in time.
“I do think that when you actually talk to people, they don’t want a Mayor,” said Judalon Smyth, one of the petition representatives, told 13 Investigates.
The City Clerk and City Attorney have five days to review the language in the proposed initiative to confirm it aligns with state law. If the language is approved, petition organizers can start gathering signatures.
In order to trigger a special election in May, petitioners must obtain 3,768 signatures by Jan 23. If they don’t meet that deadline, petitioners will have to start the process again and submit another petition draft in order to get the ballot question to amend the charter on the November ballot.
According to Pueblo's City Clerk's Office, the cost of a May special election could be more expensive than $90,000 for taxpayers. The organizers of the petition say that they plan to join a county ballot in May and that should cost less.
13 Investigates spoke with multiple former Pueblo officials that were in city positions prior to the switch to a Mayor style of government.
According to these former city officials, there are close similarities between the roles of Mayor and City Manager: hiring and firing duties, proposing budgets to the council, and relationships with the local police department.
However, there is a major distinction between both styles of government. The city manager worked at the direction of city council members, while the Mayor works at the direction of Pueblo voters.
Smyth believes this style of government diminishes the role of the council and subsequently each of Pueblo's four voting districts.
“City council is supposed to be the voice of the people in their district, it really doesn’t matter anymore,” Smyth said. “Our voices don’t matter now.”
Unlike the role of city manager, “the Mayor shall have all of the power, rights, and privileges of a Council member” according to the 2017 charter amendment approved by Pueblo voters. The 2017 charter amendment also gives the Mayor the power of the veto over city council votes that don’t reach a super majority (5-2 or greater).
“It shouldn’t matter to anyone the name of the individual that’s carrying the title of strong Mayor,” Smyth said. “The problem is the power that’s given to the position.”
This isn’t Smyth’s first attempt at reverting the government back to a city manager style. The petition organizer says she has asked the city council to put the question on the ballot themselves, bypassing the need to gather signatures.
According to the city clerk’s office, organizers last submitted a petition draft in July. However, it was rejected because of formatting issues and the summary of the petition’s goals was not deemed impartial.
The election for Pueblo’s next Mayor is scheduled for November of 2023. Currently, three people have registered to run for Mayor through the Pueblo City Clerk’s office.
Those include current Mayor Nick Gradisar, current city council President Heather Graham, and business owner Samuel Hernandez Jr.
13 Investigates reached out to Mayor Gradisar for comment regarding the petition. We are still waiting on a response.
On the other hand, council President Graham says she isn’t hearing dissatisfaction with the current city government style from Pueblo’s voters.
As the president of city council this issue has already been before us earlier this year, in which the vast majority of the council decided that we have not heard enough from the citizens of Pueblo in which they are not satisfied with the current form of government that the citizens passed five years ago. Not one time in last 12 Months has one single person came to public forum stating this dissatisfaction of the strong mayoral form of government. I find it interesting that a city councilor who ran for mayor is pushing this agenda. I sure would hope that the petitioners of this ballot issue grasp the amount of tax paying dollars it will cost the citizens of Pueblo to run this ballot issue, I would calculate at least $90,000 if not more for something no one is certain would pass. I agree that we don’t have the best person in the seat, but I think this is about the “person” not the position. This is our first Mayor, as citizens we need to have something to compare to. I also would have to wonder if we do away with this position does that mean my fellow councilors will take on more of a role in the jobs that would need to be done? I am not sure we could ever agree with the track record we have now.
Pueblo City Council President Heather Graham
13 Investigates also reached out to Hernandez.
As being a Pueblo native and small business owner, I think Pueblo has not given the role of the Mayor position a chance to develop and grow. Of course with Mayor Gradisar it is a rough and challenging job to make every citizen happy in Pueblo but, if we keep Pueblo first and politics second I have faith the Mayor role will succeed like in many other cities. I do believe the Mayor is an important role for Pueblo to keep before trying to turn it back into a city council role.
Samuel Hernandez Jr, Pueblo mayoral canidate
