The Mayor's Mixtape-Episode 26

 Episode 26 of the Mayor's Mixtape, Mayor Graham addresses the incorrect listing of Pueblo as one of the most dangerous cities with comp stat data and year-to-date information. Additionally, she breaks down next steps for the ballot measures for the 1/2 cent sales tax renewal and the City Council- City Manager form of government. Mayor Graham gives insight for the timeline with the Pueblo Municipal Justice Center (PMJC) project for the HVAC update and also invites residents to one of four upcoming town halls in each of the four districts. 

 Don't forget to like, subscribe and share the podcast. Email your questions or topic suggestions to mayor@pueblo.us. Thank you for listening!

Transcript

Welcome to Mayor's Mixtape

Haley Sue Robinson 0:06

All right, welcome to the 26th episode of the Mayor's Mixtape. I'm Haley Sue Robinson, Director of Public Affairs for the City of Pueblo,

Mayor, Heather Graham 0:13

Heather Graham, City of Pueblo Mayor,

Debunking Pueblo's "Dangerous City" Ranking

Haley Sue Robinson 0:16

and I'd like to remind you you can find us on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Buzzsprout, Channel 17,. Wherever you get your podcasts, Like, subscribe, share it with your friends and if you have topic suggestions or questions, you can always email us at mayor@pueblo. us. Mayor, before we get into the City Council recap for this week, I did want to talk a little bit about something that came up over the last couple weeks and we decided to address it was the ranking of Pueblo as among the top 10 most dangerous cities in the US. A couple weeks ago, US News and World Report listed Pueblo as number 10, and then the city put out some information which refuted that and why that might not necessarily be true. Can you talk a little bit talk about that ?

Mayor, Heather Graham 1:12

Yeah, there this picture floating around Facebook that's where everyone gets their news right and it said that my city was number 10 on the most dangerous cities, which I think is interesting, because when you go and compare the other nine cities, they have triple digits in homicides right so how could little old Pueblo Colorado, with only nine homicides, be on the top 10 when you have, some of the cities, two and 300 homicides?

Mayor, Heather Graham 1:42

So we did some more research, kind of to figure out where all this came from. And it was from, uh, President Trump and his deployment of where he was going to be sending the national guard to the most dangerous city. So we pulled the list that President Trump is referencing. Yeah and lo and behold, Pueblo, Colorado is nowhere to be found on that list and nowhere in Colorado actually.

Haley Sue Robinson 2:03

That list was actually more extensive.

Haley Sue Robinson 2:10

That was a list of 30 cities, not just 10.

Mayor, Heather Graham 2:11

It was 30 cities, most dangerous cities of 100,000 or more, so that fits Pueblo 113,000 people within city limits. And Pueblo was nowhere to be found. So I think it's important that we combat the misinformation that's put out into our community because it hurts our community.

Mayor, Heather Graham 2:26

That's who it hurts, right, and I don't know how we could be the week before one of the most friendliest beautiful cities, right like in the top 20 or whatever we were listed on there, and at the same time be the most dangerous that's strange.

Haley Sue Robinson 2:40

I saw another one, probably three, four months ago, and we were ranked 12th actually for friendliest for folks looking for a retirement community, and so I think those two things are conflicting. If you're looking to retire, you're probably not looking at a dangerous city.

Mayor, Heather Graham 2:58

Probably not. I mean, I'm not.

Haley Sue Robinson 3:01

I mean, I'm not ready to retire, but I'm also not looking for a dangerous city. But another thing that I found interesting um, so you know you and Chief Noeller talked about this extensively, so I, I did a little bit of deep dive. I know you shared with me the homicide tracker for Memphis, Tennessee. They were ranked first. But what I found interesting was Monroe, Louisiana. They were number nine on that list, ahead of us. They actually had no data.

Mayor, Heather Graham 3:30

Oh, because they don't report

Haley Sue Robinson 3:31

Right

Mayor, Heather Graham 3:32

It's all self reported

Haley Sue Robinson 3:33

So they had no data available for any of their crime statistics and, um, this article was for dangerous cities in 2025-2026.

Haley Sue Robinson 3:49

And so, you know, as someone who works in the communication profession, I find it frustrating when folks put out misinformation and then don't have a news source. And then a news source puts out information,

Mayor, Heather Graham 4:00

calls it facts

Haley Sue Robinson 4:01

and calls it facts. And one thing that you talked to the news about was just how damaging this is to the community, and they kind of pressed you on that and said in what ways is it dangerous or or damaging? Um, and and I thought it was interesting, one of the things you mentioned was that becomes our narrative.

Mayor, Heather Graham 4:22

Yeah

Haley Sue Robinson 4:23

and I think sometimes we forget that we also have control of our narrative, and I don't mean we as in you and I,

Mayor, Heather Graham 4:30

Yeah

Haley Sue Robinson 4:31

I mean we as Pueblo citizens,

Mayor, Heather Graham 4:32

Yep

Haley Sue Robinson 4:33

and I thought that was a really great reminder for folks to realize there are things that happen. We're not downplaying crime or what's happening in Pueblo, but we don't have to attach ourselves to a narrative that's untrue.

Mayor, Heather Graham 4:51

Right

Mayor, Heather Graham 4:53

It's all in the math yeah,

Haley Sue Robinson 4:56

Yes

Mayor, Heather Graham 4:56

and they didn't do their math right and then made me mad.

Haley Sue Robinson 5:01

I know

Haley Sue Robinson 5:01

So I know

Mayor, Heather Graham 5:02

it was all that data here

CompStat and Crime Reporting Facts

Haley Sue Robinson 5:04

and it was frustrating. I think that's another thing that's interesting too, and you talk about it a lot. So does Chief Noeller about CompStat. Can you talk a little bit about what that looks like and how we do report?

Mayor, Heather Graham 5:16

Yep. So CompStat is really the analytic that we use for all of our calls for service, all of our reporting, all of our incident reports. It's how we track crime. It's how we know where the hot spots in the community are. It's how we know where to deploy cameras, shot spotters, license plate readers. It's how we know where to tell the officers that they should be during the day is because of these calls for service that they're getting and the parameter that they're getting it in. So that really directs how we police in the City of Pueblo.

Mayor, Heather Graham 5:47

So every week they put a very thorough report together.

Mayor, Heather Graham 5:50

They send it to me, the chief, and we've been putting the numbers that we can now out into the public so that they can see how many homicides we have, how many calls for service we have, what part one crimes look like, what property thefts look like, what our impact team is doing, what our DICE team is doing. And so I think that the more information that we can get out in the community to share the actual narrative of what's happening in the police department, the better. So we've been working on that, making sure we get the information out and it's our fault if we don't get the information out. We don't tell people what a good job our police department is doing. This time last year we had 15 homicides, as of today we have nine. So the year before we had, I think, 30, because we've been at like a 50% decrease, another 50% decrease. So our crime is coming down comparatively speaking to what it was in previous years, and I just think that we need to make sure the community knows that.

Haley Sue Robinson 6:50

I know one thing that folks say a lot is well crime's down because it's not being reported. But that's why we have CompStat.

Mayor, Heather Graham 6:58

And that's how we know about calls for service.

Haley Sue Robinson 7:00

Sure.

Mayor, Heather Graham 7:02

So, calls for service are still coming in.

Haley Sue Robinson 7:03

Calls for service are actually up.

Mayor, Heather Graham 7:03

They are up

Haley Sue Robinson 7:04

and they've been on a steady increase. I think if you asked our dispatchers they would definitely agree that it's up, but it's been on a steady increase.

Haley Sue Robinson 7:13

I think since 2019.

Mayor, Heather Graham 7:15

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Haley Sue Robinson 7:16

Every year our calls for service go up and even folks like in our fire department would tell you that calls for service are up.

City Council Update and Ballot Measures

Haley Sue Robinson 7:24

So, regardless of whether it's crime-related or emergency related um for other types of emergency, a lot of folks have this other conception that the reason crime is down is because folks aren't calling. We also have the numbers on folks who are calling, so that's simply not true either. Yeah, okay, I thought that was important that we address that. Okay, let's get into the city council update. It was another late night on Monday, yep, and there was a lot discussed. One thing in particular that came back was the half cent sales tax ballot measure, and that was brought back by Counselor Flores, so we will see that on the ballot in November.

Haley Sue Robinson 8:14

That's correct

Mayor, Heather Graham 8:15

Yep, and it reads the same way. It's always red okay, it's an extension for five additional years

Haley Sue Robinson 8:22

Okay, so I know a few folks have reached out and asked a little bit about that. So right now the half-cent sales tax is renewed through 2026. This ballot measure would renew it beginning in 2027. And another thing that Councilor Flores brought up was that he's looking to bring back another proposal somewhat similar to what you had with the expanded criteria. What exactly will that look like?

Mayor, Heather Graham 8:58

From what I gather from Councilor Flores' comments, it is going to be 10%. What I propose is 15%.

Haley Sue Robinson 9:05

Okay.

Mayor, Heather Graham 9:06

and it's not going to be 10% overall every year. It's going to be an aggregated amount, but allowing 10% of the funds to be available immediately would give about $7 million right now to be used in other ways.

Haley Sue Robinson 9:29

And those are in the three criteria of the economic leakage, economic catalyst and the placemaking correct

Mayor, Heather Graham 9:35

Yep,

Haley Sue Robinson 9:35

Okay, so we'll see that coming forward. Okay great. Another topic that we saw, or an emergency ordinance that we saw, rather, um, that passed six to one on Monday night, was for the HVAC system for, uh, the Pueblo Municipal Justice Center, or or PMJC. Um, and council gave direction to staff for a 15 year lease agreement, rather than taking from a fund balance or from council reserves. So what are the next steps in this process?

Mayor, Heather Graham 10:12

Right, so we will secure the financing and start the project. So we know that it's going to take a while to get the units here and it won't be ready until 2026, but at least we can start the process.

Haley Sue Robinson 10:33

And from what I hear from our folks in public works, part of the reason why it was an emergency to do so now. I mean, we're at the end of the summer so some folks are saying like well, we made it through the hottest part of the year.

Haley Sue Robinson 10:49

This is to help us prepare, because we don't believe that the system will last

Mayor, Heather Graham 10:53

one more year, yeah, so uh parts now if you know, now the contract is ready to go will start arriving late February, early March, and it's an extensive process to get it, the duct work in and get the air handlers put together in here, so

Haley Sue Robinson 11:14

That's why we had to do it now.

Mayor, Heather Graham 11:15

Yeah, it'll be ready right before the summer starts, if everything is on track.

Haley Sue Robinson 11:19

From what I heard from a couple of the work sessions and even the questions that council asked, the timeline we're looking for roughly is about April, so that's when it starts to get hot and when it starts to get uncomfortable.

Mayor, Heather Graham 11:35

Yeah, and there'll be a period of time where we'll have to close the building altogether, so court will be closed. We'll have officers working in other areas of the city, depending on what the temperature is, okay, so it's a pretty long process.

Haley Sue Robinson 11:49

Okay, well, I know that that feels like a relief to a lot of folks. You know our dispatchers, folks in municipal court, our IT staff, police officers. There's a lot of folks affected by PMJC and then. And then you know the general public that goes into that building each and every day.

Haley Sue Robinson 12:07

I know if I lost uh air conditioning in my own home or in this building I'd I'd be pretty uncomfortable and

Mayor, Heather Graham 12:14

Yeah, when it goes out it's like 9500 degrees and there's no air moving because there's no open windows, so it's it's pretty warm.

Strong Mayor vs City Manager Debate

Haley Sue Robinson 12:22

Great, well, we're excited that that project uh is going to be moving. So, uh, another ballot measure. Last time we were on the podcast, Mayor, we talked about your uh veto for the vote for the city manager. Uh ballot measure. On Monday night that came back uh, a six to one. So that means it will go on the ballot in November. What does this look like and what can folks expect.

Mayor, Heather Graham 12:51

Yeah, it looks like I'm going to be campaigning again, so this will be my fourth time in two years. It's going to be ballot measure 2C, so the community will have a chance to come out and vote whether they want to keep a strong form of government or they want to return back to a city manager, city council form of government.

Haley Sue Robinson 13:12

Okay, and one thing in particular that I think a lot of folks are asking questions about is what would it look like if we were to go back to a city manager?

Mayor, Heather Graham 13:21

Yeah, I, don't know because city council hasn't shared that plan with me of what that looks like. So the ordinance they submitted to the voters says that I will be removed immediately, which would be November 5th. It says that they have to select an already city employee to be the city manager

Haley Sue Robinson 13:37

A current city employee.

Mayor, Heather Graham 13:38

City employee yes, I'm not sure who that person is that lucky person is Okay, and I'm not sure what the budget is for that. I'm not sure how they're going to do any kind of a budget for 2026. So I have not seen any of those plans. What it would look like is I would be gone the next day, they would select somebody and that person would be under the control of the city council at least four members of the city council, moving forward.

Haley Sue Robinson 14:04

Okay, you know I found it interesting because my former boss, your former opponent, former mayor Nick Gradisar he was also there to speak against it. He was one of the proponents, prior to becoming the mayor, that brought this ballot issue forward eight years ago. So I find it interesting that folks are interested in going back this way and seeing what it could look like. I know there's a lot of folks who believe this is the way forward. So, you know, what would you you say? What would you say to those folks?

Mayor, Heather Graham 14:46

I would say that the city government is gonna come to a halt. Okay, um, it's gonna. You know, one of the reasons why Nick pushed this forward is because any kind of complex issue that ever needed to be decided on by four city councilors, um, it was just taking too long. We were moving at the speed of snails, sure, um, you didn't have one act, one elected official essentially making decisions, um, bringing ideas forward to try to make the community better. Now you're going to have four who, just like, uh, the former mayor said, if they have policy, they need to get four votes together to get it passed um, at a city council meeting, and that's not happening now. So I don't know what that will look like. Uh, moving forward, I think that there is a lot of unknowns. Um, I think that, just like the previous mayor said, we're going to go back in time. I'm one of three strong mayors in the community. I know that we've heard city councils say well, cities are going back to city council, city manager form of government.

Mayor, Heather Graham 16:01

That's just simply not true. The other two strong mayors I don't think that their communities are trying to take their jobs and go back to a city manager form of government. Those other two communities are Colorado Springs, Mary Yemi and Mary Johnson from Denver.

Haley Sue Robinson 16:15

Okay, Anything else you want to add to that discussion?

Mayor, Heather Graham 16:21

No, just stay tuned. We'll be putting information out. I'm sure the proponents of this ordinance will also be putting information out, and let's take it to the people.

Upcoming Town Halls and Fair Events

Haley Sue Robinson 16:31

Okay, another thing that we have upcoming that I think is important is you've scheduled some town halls in each of the four districts. So District 2 is going to be Wednesday September 3rd at 530 at El Centro. District 4, Thursday September 11th at 530 at Rawlings Library. District 3, Tuesday September 16th at 530 at Lamb Library and then, finally, District 1, Wednesday September 24th at 530 at the Barkman Library. We posted that on your page yesterday and some folks had some questions like what are we going to talk about at the town halls or what can folks expect?

Mayor, Heather Graham 17:14

Yeah, so I plan to just give a real brief update on things going on in the city. Yesterday, when we spoke to the news we do town halls for our quad meetings with the police department, that we go out and speak, sure, uh, you know, so we we do do these, uh, but this one will be more general to all city departments. Um, I'll take any questions, so get kind of give a brief overview of what's going on in the city and then have community members ask questions.

Haley Sue Robinson 17:43

Okay, so you want folks to bring their questions or maybe give input of what they'd like to see or

Mayor, Heather Graham 17:50

Concerns they have within their respective districts, or just the city in general so

Haley Sue Robinson 17:55

Okay, great, and these are completely open. I know they're in each of the four districts, but let's say I can't make the one in my district. Can I attend a different?

Mayor, Heather Graham 18:05

one.

Haley Sue Robinson 18:06

Okay, great. Well, that will be exciting. I think. Anytime we can go out into the community and talk to folks and find out what they want to see or what they're concerned about, or give an update to them, they feel more connected to city leadership. Yep, great. Anything else you'd like to add before we wrap it up Mayor?

Mayor, Heather Graham 18:28

Last weekend of the fair. So,

Haley Sue Robinson 18:30

it is

Mayor, Heather Graham 18:31

Get out there and get your corn dogs and.

Haley Sue Robinson 18:35

I haven't had a corn dog yet.

Mayor, Heather Graham 18:37

I had some fried pickles and nachos.

Haley Sue Robinson 18:39

I did see that

Mayor, Heather Graham 18:40

and it was delicious.

Haley Sue Robinson 18:42

I think Saturday I'll be going to the Monster Trucks, so I think I'll probably check out some food and go a few places at the fair yeah fair food is one of my favorites.

Mayor, Heather Graham 18:54

Yeah, I love it um we have the fiesta day parade.

Haley Sue Robinson 18:58

I'm very excited about the fiesta day parade

Mayor, Heather Graham 19:00

Sunday city is number 22, so it'll be great come out and see your city council members and city staff and Mayor we have a fantastic float we won first place and we did state fair day parade

Haley Sue Robinson 19:15

I I think, um, at least in my time here at the city, we've won every year. Uh, I, I kind of laughed. We talked to some folks from the county and they said, man, we really got to step up our game.

Mayor, Heather Graham 19:26

They tried a little bit. I saw they had like a chili.

Haley Sue Robinson 19:29

They had some chilies. They had some chilies,

Mayor, Heather Graham 19:31

but you know our bj and our public works team just does a fantastic job and nobody can beat them.

Haley Sue Robinson 19:38

Yeah, we had really cool woodworking and very detailed. You know, there was a cannon, there was a bell,

Mayor, Heather Graham 19:47

Ferris wheel

Haley Sue Robinson 19:47

a ferris wheel, all kinds of things.

Mayor, Heather Graham 19:50

A little sun yeah.

Haley Sue Robinson 19:51

That spun and also the big tower with each of the military branches. It was just the theme was growing the tradition, and I felt like you could really see Pueblo tradition in there. It was really cool.

Mayor, Heather Graham 20:06

Yeah, it was great Good job everybody,

Haley Sue Robinson 20:08

I'm excited for Fiesta Day.

Haley Sue Robinson 20:09

I think it'll be fun that's one of my favorite traditions that we have in Pueblo during the state fair and get out there and see everybody. Just reminding you that you can find us on Youtube, Apple, Spotify, Buzzsprout, channel 17, wherever you get your podcasts. Make sure you like, share, subscribe and you can send in your questions or topic suggestions mayor@ pueblo. us. And we'll see you next week.