Pueblo City Attorney forced to retire after giving incorrect legal advice on petition to change style of government

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- 13 Investigates has learned the Pueblo City Attorney, Dan Kogovsek, was asked by Pueblo Mayor Nick Gradisar to retire after he provided the City of Pueblo with incorrect legal advice.

The advice centered around how many petitions a group of citizens needed to receive to change the style of government in Pueblo from a Strong Mayor to a City Manager style of leadership.

Kogovsek told Gradisar and the City Clerk Marissa Stoller that the petitioners needed 3,678 valid signatures when they actually needed 7,260 valid signatures.

The mistake comes down to whether the City of Pueblo needed to follow the City charter or state law during this process. Kogovsek was under the impression they had to go by the city charter, but in reality, they had to go by state law.

In an email to the City of Pueblo department heads, Dan Kogovsek said:

"I gave the City Clerk incorrect legal advice regarding the number of signatures necessary to place an initiated City Charter amendment on the ballot. The Mayor requested that I retire. Friday will be my last day. I have enjoyed working with each of you over the last 10 years. I really mean that. You are great bunch of public servants. I have been inspired by your dedication to your jobs and the people of this great city. I will miss you. I really mean that too."

13 Investigates reached out to Kogovsek for comment on his retirement and legal error. At the time of publication, we are awaiting a response.

Petitioners were initially told they needed 3,768 signatures to trigger a special election. When organizers initially handed over the petition in early March, they had 3,829 supposed signatures. However, Pueblo City Clerk Marissa Stoller said 1,016 were invalid signatures. Petitioners had 15 days to garner enough signatures.

Wednesday, city officials announced petitioners had come up short again. According to officials, because they need to follow state law, petitioners needed to receive 10% of the city's registered electors at the time of the petition representatives' statement of intent - which equaled 7,260.