The Mayor's Mixtape
Mayor Heather Graham's weekly brief of current events related to the City of Pueblo.
The Mayor's Mixtape
The Mayor's Mixtape-Episode 10
This week Mayor Graham recaps the Monday, April 28, 2025 City Council Meeting. Additionally, Mayor Graham shares about her recent trip with Chief of Staff Brian McCain to Grand Junction and a recent meeting with the energy committee of Canon City and potential energy future with Black Hills Energy. Brian gives an update regarding HB11-47 and the Mayor talks about a future meeting with Castle Rock.
Don't forget you can email mayor@pueblo.us for questions or topic suggestions.
Welcome to the 10th episode of Mayor's Mixtape. I'm Haley Sir Robinson, Director of Public Affairs for the City of Pueblo.
Speaker 2:City of Pueblo Mayor Heather Graham.
Speaker 3:Chief of Staff, brian McCain.
Speaker 1:And you can get this podcast on Apple, Spotify, Buzzsprout, YouTube. You can also watch a replay on local channel 17 with Comcast. Also, don't forget, you can email us, suggest a topic or ask a question, Mayor at Pueblous, and find us that way. So episode 10, we'll get into a little bit of what you did last week and then we'll also do a recap of last night's city council. I also just want to acknowledge that we had another officer involved shooting early Monday morning. Thankfully, our officer is recovering, has been released from the hospital, but another really scary way to start our work week this week.
Speaker 1:It's a call you never want to get when my phone's ringing at that time of night it's never a good thing, yeah, okay, so let's jump right into city council from last night there was quite a discussion, mayor, uh, regarding a proposal with the convergence building in bessemer. The resolution was to appropriate nine hundred thousand dollars in order to have redevelopment specifically for affordable housing. Can you walk us?
Speaker 2:through this proposal. Yeah, so this is a project that myself and my staff have been working on for several months. We were approached by a private developer who wants to purchase the entire city block. Okay, and they want to put a business on the front side, closest to Northern Avenue. But they don't really have a use for the additional two acres that are on the back side. So they came to the city asking if the city would use its demolition funds to knock down this ugly, blighted, burned building in the middle of Bessemer that's been vacant for several years the Convergence building. The roof is half caved in. We've had issues with fires there, issues with unhoused there, so I thought this was going to be a slam dunk great project for Bessemer, especially because it's in a TIF district, right, right, so this developer comes in. They asked the city to use its demolition funds. So, like I've been doing in other projects coming forward in the city, I go to the accounts and I look and see, maybe, which account hasn't used all of the funds that were allocated to a project.
Speaker 2:So over three years 2016, 18, and 19, there were three accounts that had a little bit of demo funds left in them, along with our ARPA interest that we've been gaining with the large amounts of ARPA that is still in our bank accounts about $375,000 to this point.
Speaker 1:For the interest.
Speaker 2:Yep. So we wanted to allocate all of these funds, provide it to help with demolition on this parcel, in which the city, in exchange for using our funds, would get two acres of property right in the middle of Bessemer, okay, in which we would then try to put an affordable housing, project, market rate housing, sure, really any kind of housing, any kind of development for that area is good, right. So I thought it was good.
Speaker 2:But city council doesn't always agree with me, so unfortunately it was an argument. It failed. I had city councilors saying that the money should be used to knock down single houses within different districts in town. The city of Pueblo has other funding sources CDBG money that we receive every year in order to do those projects in which we are actively doing. So we have four houses that are going to come down soon.
Speaker 2:It's a quite lengthy process when it comes to the condemnation of acquiring these properties, acquiring the liens on the properties, and, if it has asbestos, we have to get an open air permit from the state. So it's a long process. So it's not that we're not doing it, it takes time to do it. So, along the lines of the city council, you know, not approving it, it's it's unfortunate. This was a great project for Bessemer um, that district. We continuously hear counselor Gomez, we continue to hear counselor Latino talk about their districts and how they need some love. So this was the mayor bringing some love to counselor Gomez's district. Unfortunately, the rest of city council didn't see it that way. So, um, we're going to try to put another proposal together and bring it to city council because I think that this is a great project, and the reason why this project works is because it's a public-private investment into the community.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. You have city funds, city demo funds, cities acquiring property. You have a new business that'll be going in which is going to generate TIF revenue which will help with public improvements and infrastructure into the Bessemer area. I don't know what else anybody could ask for with that specific piece of property. That area, that intersection, is a very high crime rate intersection.
Speaker 2:We have one of our real calls for service there yep real-time crime center trailers deployed on that intersection because of the drive-by shootings, because of the crime incidents that we have at the park, and so what better way to try to eliminate some of this blight, some of this crime, other than to put new businesses and new developments in the heart of bessemer? So I'm really disappointed in the city council that this project has failed, but we're going to bring it back and we're going to keep pushing forward because that's what we do.
Speaker 1:It's also a really good location because it's right on a transit line. So one of the reorganizations that we had last year with Pueblo Transit is right there through Northern and Mesa, which is just adjacent to that property. There's a bus stop right on that property. So if you're talking affordable housing or any type of housing at all, really good access, and it's right in that Northern Avenue corridor that's so frequently traveled. Yeah, it seems like there still could be a path forward.
Speaker 2:Yeah well, we're going to keep pushing it. We know there's a path forward. City council needs to educate themselves on the way that these processes work. This is not the first time that the city has used a large lump sum of demo funds to demo a property this size. City council voted two years ago to use $800,000 to demo the Albany building, if you remember that's right up by Vidmar Motor.
Speaker 2:Company and Connect School, right on that corner. So this isn't new to the city, this isn't new to the way that we operate. What is new is we have a developer coming to the city to ask for a private public partnership. Who's ready to go? So that's new and that's something that we need to do, and these are things that we need to work on. So, um, bring it back to city council and hopefully they, you know, have a new look at it, maybe ask some questions um get things figured out.
Speaker 1:So okay, great um. Additionally, I think another surprise from last night was the much-anticipated ordinance with the sit-lie ordinance that failed 5-2. Ultimately, president Aleph gave our Deputy City Attorney, harley Gifford, some direction to work with Counselor Latino about it, but a little bit surprising that that failed last night.
Speaker 2:Yeah, totally Latino about it. But a little bit surprising that that failed last night. Yeah, totally, uh. So this ordinance was actually my ordinance right that I drafted in 2022 to bring forward to city council. It was for the downtown district. It failed 4-3 when I brought it forward right. This is something that councilor Latino is passionate about. The downtown area is part of his district. We heard from city council about six weeks ago that they wanted to see it expanded. It expanded into other business districts, so I'm not sure why they failed it.
Speaker 1:Um even though, because this one was more inclusive, it included some of like elizabeth highway 50 corridor there were.
Speaker 2:There were the areas that we see, uh, this happening a lot, so hopefully they can bring it back to city council and get it passed. I think it's important to have these kinds of rules in our business districts, especially with what we're seeing in our business districts. We know that this was really supported by the downtown and the businesses down here. So, yeah, I'm not sure what happened with that, um, but I guess a little bit surprising, surprising, and maybe after the confusion settles, they'll bring it back and, um, maybe we'll see it passed at that point sure, okay, um, jumping into some legislation.
Speaker 1:I know last week we talked uh, state budget and what we could anticipate there, but Governor Polis did actually sign that and we saw $1.2 billion in cuts to the state budget. We won't go into all of those details, but how about any update regarding 1147?
Speaker 3:It's on the governor's desk right now. So, being that it's so close to the end of the session, he will have 30 days to veto it. One important factor in that is that after the session ends, there's not a chance for the bill to come back and they could override the veto. So you're hearing this about I believe it's the CORA bill where the legislature is saying there's a possibility to overturn the veto when you get towards the end of the session. He has the 30 days. So when the session's out they can't come back and override that veto unless they get a special session on that, and that takes a whole lot of jumping through hoops.
Speaker 3:So, we're anxiously awaiting to see what the governor is going to do, as the bill sits on his desk and he has 30 days from last Wednesday to either sign it or veto it.
Speaker 1:So he could. He could potentially wait this out so that they would either have to call a special session yes, Okay, that's uh, and I don't know what he's doing.
Speaker 3:I don't know why it's going this way, but I found it that it was interesting that they laid this bill over till it hit that timeframe to put them out of that. So, politically thinking, you know it could be a tactic to veto it and then they can't override it. Or, you know, maybe he'll sign it, I don't know. I do know that there was an article last week, and not just mayor graham but the mayor of denver also opposes this bill and is asking him to veto it.
Speaker 3:So the three biggest, largest cities in the state, the mayors of those three cities, so Colorado Springs, Aurora, I believe it was, and Denver sent him a letter last week saying that they need to veto this bill. So politically it's interesting because you have the left side of the aisle saying you need to veto this and the right side of the aisle saying you need to veto this. So hopefully he listens the aisle saying you need to veto this, so hopefully interesting. Yeah, okay, cool so stay tuned, I guess yeah, I guess.
Speaker 1:So that'll be much awaited, that's. That's kind of just been top of mind all of the legislative session, okay. Um. So, mayor, last week you also talked about, uh, you and chief of staff, uh, brian mccain, went to green junction. You went to an economic development conference, saw some pictures. There were like 400 people at this event. Can you tell us a little bit about that, what you maybe brought back from the conference or some things that sure?
Speaker 2:yeah, it was a very interesting event. So we had not only did we go to the conference, but we were able to meet with their chamber oh great, their college representative and and really got to hear about their economic development and what they do, what works for them and what's successful. So we got to take a tour around Grand Junction and see the different businesses, the different amenities and attractions, um what they have that really drives businesses there, and economic development, um, it was pretty eye-opening. So really, in 2024 there they were able to land 299 new primary jobs. Really that's huge. That's several new businesses coming in.
Speaker 2:It was a $91 million economic impact into the community In just 2024?.
Speaker 1:Just in one year.
Speaker 2:Yep and an average salary range of $62,000 a year. So they're doing something right and it really makes you wonder what Pueblo is doing wrong, right. So these are avenues that we're looking at and how to try to improve economic development in the city of Pueblo, in Grand Junction. They don't even incentivize businesses to come there with dollar amounts, really. Yeah, they also have an economic development fund that they use. It's .75 of their sales tax, so it generates quite a bit of money, sure, and they primarily use it for capital improvements within their city and amenities to make their community attractable for businesses to come here. So it was very interesting. We talked to five different site selectors and what their businesses look at, their developers look at when they want to come into the community, and really it's not about money, it's more quality of life, yep so they want to know is it good for single people to be there?
Speaker 2:Are there amenities? Is there nightlife? Are there entry level jobs? What is thelevel jobs? What is the education like, what is the workforce like and what is the cost of living there? Are they able to start at an entry-level position and keep the majority of their paycheck without paying high utility rates, high housing rates?
Speaker 2:And so those are really the key factors that site selectors look at when they think about bringing companies. The biggest eye-opener I think that they talked about is speed to market. So when they have new businesses that are looking to potentially come there, it's about how fast they can get this business and the doors and the businesses open and upright. It's not a five-year process. It's not a five-year process. It's not a three-year process. It's a two-month process when they're trying to get new developers to come into their community. So these are things that we're looking at as we're looking at the HACCP sales tax, the primary job aspect of it, what we can change, what we can do better. On Friday I'm going to be traveling to Castle Rock to meet with their Economic Development Council because I think that there's things that the city could be doing differently and better in order to attract new jobs, not just primary jobs, and to increase the sales tax rate base in our community.
Speaker 1:So they're essentially kind of at the point where they're just giving the green light to folks. It's less about, I guess for lack of a better term like the dating process. Like you said, it's not really like a three-year or five-year process, it's more like let's press, go and get it done.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they also have a small business incubator that we got to visit. They have really cool concepts of design going on. They have a 3D printing room, a sewing room, they have industrial workspaces, a commissary kitchen for food trucks. They have contracts with over 40 different food trucks that come and use this commissary kitchen and these businesses can stay in this incubator space for five years. And cool then. A lot of those businesses are now multi-million dollar businesses within grant junction. So, um, they really start you and hold your hand from you know step one all the way up until you've graduated into your like in a brick and mortar building so they want you to be successful.
Speaker 1:It's not just, you know, bring you here. They want you to stay and be invested in the community. Yeah, yeah, absolutely it's great.
Speaker 2:It's much different than than what we do now, so it's definitely things that we're paying attention to. Um, we'll take it back to our economic development partners at the city and see what ways we can mold to better fit communities who are thriving in economic development, unlike the city of Pueblo.
Speaker 1:Well, and Grand Junction is pretty, similar size, pretty, it's actually half the size.
Speaker 2:Yeah, 60,000 people, so half the size of the city of Pueblo.
Speaker 1:But the demographics, I would say, of Grand Junction is pretty similar to Pueblo. We're much bigger, although their university is larger than ours, but they're still not like a college town, whereas I would say, you know, pueblo, we're not necessarily a college town either, even though we have the community college and the university.
Speaker 2:We're not like a Fort Collins, which is like a college town and their you know their outdoor activities, their outdoor rec are very similar to what we have to offer in the city. So there's more that we could be doing, there's new things that we can explore and, um, we really need to look into it and and figure out what we're doing wrong.
Speaker 1:okay, great and, uh, looking forward to hearing what you maybe bring back from castle rock later this week too. Wonderful, okay, um, speaking of traveling, I I guess this is kind of just the week of travel. Yesterday you also posted on your personal Facebook page. You made a visit to Canyon City, met with their city council and members of their energy advisory committee. Yeah, so kind of similar to what we're developing with our new energy commission. Can you tell us a little bit about what that meeting was?
Speaker 2:like yeah, so we went to specifically talk about Block Hills and the.
Speaker 2:Block Hills off-ramp. They opted to take their off-ramp in 2017. They've brought it back in a ballot issue to their constituents about re-entering the franchise agreement and it's failed. So they do not want to get into bed with Black Hills Energy. They want to see what the different options are and, as the city is exploring our different options, whether it's this year or over the next five years, they're definitely going to have to be one of our partners moving forward. So it was interesting to learn how they were able to opt out and how they were able to stay opt out of their franchise agreement. They also cut their franchise fee From their citizens right off the top.
Speaker 1:They were saving 3% in their rates, but the residents voted that the residents voted that yeah, so it's not even just like a decision by their council members. The residents said no, we still don't want a franchise agreement with Black Hills because we want an alternative.
Speaker 2:They'd also talked about how Black Hills really wasn't keeping track of what was going on in the community and they actually only spent $50,000 to campaign to try to get people to engage in not taking the off ramp. You know, in the city of Pueblo we know that they've already spent $1.5 million and their campaign finance reports are due again Friday. So I'm interested to see how much more money they've now spent in the month of April. Reports are due again Friday, so I'm interested to see how much more money they've now spent in the month of April.
Speaker 2:So, um, they're spending a lot of money in the city of Pueblo to make sure that the citizens are confused enough that they do not vote to take the off, that they do not vote to let the city council explore taking the off ramp. Um, and? And they were successful, and so I I'm I'm curious to see how the May 6th election is going to go.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're a week away.
Speaker 2:We're a week away. We've been doing the best that we can, in the capacity that we have, to go out and speak to the community and educate the community. But ultimately it will come up to the city council on how they decide and if they want to take the off-ramp come August. Sure.
Speaker 1:So we'll hear from the residents in a week.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, and just really, edu. People need to educate themselves. We have our last town hall tomorrow night at Rowling's at five 30. Um, so if anybody still has questions, please come and and talk to me and um, I'll, I'll help you fill in um the areas that you don't quite understand and we'll make sure people are educated for next week.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know both you and President Elif pretty vocal last night about coming to the last town hall and turning in your ballots. I think, regardless of how folks choose to vote, we want to see people turn in their ballots. Yeah, okay.
Speaker 3:And Councilorino was very passionate about it last night. If you go back and watch the I would.
Speaker 1:I would say so, yeah, that's one of his more uh, heated commentaries that maybe we've seen from counselor latino, but um wanted to make sure that people knew exactly how he felt. Okay, so, uh, tomorrow's your last personal town hall and we want folks to get their ballots in next tuesday by 7 pm and that's also the day, or this week sometime.
Speaker 2:This week is the day that recall petitions are due back in the city, so I'm anxiously waiting to see if you're going to get 6,200 people who don't want me to be the mayor anymore. 6,281. 6,281.
Speaker 1:To be precise. Yeah, okay, so lots of results coming in.
Speaker 2:Lots of results coming in the next week.
Speaker 1:Okay, so next, uh, next week's podcast should be pretty juicy.
Speaker 2:I would say Don't you think Great, okay, um.
Speaker 1:Well, with that, then I think we'll wrap for the day. Don't forget you can email us with topics, questions, mayor, at pueblous you can find us on apple, spotify, youtube, buzzsprout wherever you get your podcasts, and also check us out on local channel 17. Anything else you want to add, mayor?
Speaker 2:I don't think so. Um the river walk, the boats are opening this weekend oh yeah, because it's the first week of may, so that's exciting. So if you're looking for something to do, absolutely come to check out the progress on the boathouse um and get a boat ride or paddle, paddle, duck or whatever they're called out there.
Speaker 1:That's always yeah. The little pedal boats with the ducks, those are yeah spring is in the air.
Speaker 2:You can see our parks and rec department actively working oh, they're working so hard. Streetscapes getting the lawns ready for the city before it's 100 degrees and everything burns up. The golf courses look good too, of course it's nice and green, so this is this is like my favorite time of year great, yeah, okay, then we'll see you next week, okay, thank you.