Pueblo Mayoral Runoff continues with live Q&A

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- Just days away from the runoff election, Mayor Nick Gradisar and current at-large city councilmember Heather Graham met at Pueblo Community College to answer questions from the Latino Business Council in Pueblo.

The main focuses of the evening, centered on economic growth and cracking down on crime.

Incumbent Mayor Nick Gradisar commenting on the growth during his five-year tenure:

 "I hope when you cast your ballot that you'll agree with me that we've made remarkable progress here in the last five years that I've been the mayor of the city of Pueblo," Gradisar said.

City Councilmember Heather Graham, during her section of the night, sharply disagreeing with that assertion:

"I've seen that the progress the city has been made. We're at a  plateau. The crime rate has risen significantly over the last five years that we've had the current mayor," Graham said.

Gradisar, leading the charge toward increased tourism in the area as a way to boost the local economy:

"One of the things we need is we need more hotel rooms in Pueblo.  I mean, we lose some visitors, and some conventions because we don't have the hotel rooms that can accommodate some of those conventions," Gradisar said.

Graham, on the other hand, is ready to boost local economic growth by supporting businesses:

"We don't really have all these new businesses that maybe grew out of our talks about coming into the  Pueblo 4000 business licenses. But how many brick-and-mortar businesses?" Graham questioned.

The runoff vote will go until January 23rd. According to the City's website, voters can drop off their ballots at the Fairgrounds, CSU Pueblo, Lamb Branch Library, and the Pueblo County election office.