Pueblo mayor touts successes in crime and homelessness in annual State of the City

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) - Tonight, two years after she first took office, Pueblo Mayor Heather spoke to her constituents at the annual State of the City Address

WATCH: City of Pueblo hosts State of the City

It was a night showcasing progress and future goals for Pueblo. Two of the biggest areas people want to see continuing improvement in? Crime and homelessness, which are still two of the biggest issues facing the city right now.

It wasn't so long ago that Pueblo found itself in need of 60 new police officers. Tonight, Mayor Graham said that the number is now down to 27.

"When I first became the mayor, I passed some policies that allowed us to hire lateral transfers from other communities at a quicker pace," Mayor Graham said.

But the mayor isn't taking all the credit; she also points to a surge in community support for the department. Support that saw a pivotal swing after three officers were shot in Bessemer last March.

"With the shootings that happened last year, I had cops who left, and...decided to come back to work for the police department because they didn't want to leave their brothers and sisters in blue so short-staffed," Mayor Graham said.

"People want to be cops in Pueblo, and I don't think that you necessarily see that in other communities," she continued.

Ironically, an alleged crime helped drive sweeping, positive changes at the Pueblo Rescue Mission. The mayor praised Safeside Recovery for expanding the shelter to a year-round operation and touted upcoming improvements that will facilitate further expansion. Specifically, allowing people to bring their pets to the mission.

This all came about after Lorie Arabie was charged with stealing thousands of dollars from residents at the mission.

RELATED: Judge rejects plea deal, woman accused of stealing from Pueblo Rescue Mission set for trial

"I was happy to see the previous rescue mission unravel, because we were able to build it back up to something much better than we've ever seen," said Mayor Graham

Arabie is currently set for a jury trial to begin the first week of April.

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