The Mayor's Mixtape

The Mayor's Mixtape-Episode 32

• City of Pueblo

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This week Mayor Graham answers questions about the role of the Deputy Mayor, what do they do and why? Mayor Graham also breaks down the City Council Work Session meeting from October 6. What does the future of a City owned employee health clinic look like?

 Have questions or what to suggest a topic? Email mayor@pueblo.us. Get this podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Buzzsprout or watch it on local Channel 17. Thanks for listening!

Haley Sue Robinson:

Okay. Welcome to the 32nd episode of The Mayor's Mixtape. I'm Haley Sue Robinson, Director of Public Affairs.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

And I'm Heather Graham, City of Pueblo Mayor.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Great. You can get this podcast on Apple, Spotify, Buzzsprout, YouTube, whether wherever you get your podcasts. We also have a replay on local channel 17. And you can email us your questions or topic suggestions, mayor@ pueblo.us. Speaking of questions, this one was not emailed to us, but this was left on your um Facebook page last week after we did the podcast. Um you received a question about the deputy mayor. And I thought maybe this would be a good opportunity to explain what that role is and how it functions in the city.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Yeah, so the deputy mayor is more of a ceremonial uh position. Well, it's not even a position, it's a

Haley Sue Robinson:

It's a title.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

It's a title, yeah. That's the best way to say it. So um per the charter, uh the mayor selects their deputy mayor uh and then it's confirmed by city council. So the previous mayor's deputy mayor was Chief Huber. Mm-hmm. I think for all five. I don't know if it was for five years or not. I know I know she was like I don't know if it was his whole term or if there was somebody else. Um and then I've selected uh the police chief, uh Chief Noeller, the last two years to be the deputy mayor. So, you know, essentially what happens if if there's a a conflict and there's two places that I'm supposed to be at the same time, uh, the chief will go and speak on behalf of the city, but not in the chief's capacity, um, or as the deputy mayor. So this just happened last Monday for the seat belt.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Yeah, with CDOT.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Yeah, with CDOT. So I was um in Cañon City with Regional Building, and so he he went and um gave the speech that I would give um and was there representing the mayor's office um but as the chief of police. So um the charter states that the deputy mayor has to be a city employee.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Okay.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Um and so there's no additional pay or um no additional things that you have to do, um other than if I need you to be somewhere in a ceremonial capacity, um or if you know I'm traveling out of country and uh city can which I'll never do, right, because I don't have a passport. Um yes.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Okay

Mayor, Heather Graham:

to go in planes like that far. Um but you know, if for instance, if there was a city council meeting, um and I I have to, you know, sign into law all the ordinances um in the next day or you know, within five days of them being passed by city council. So um if I was not able to be here to sign, the deputy mayor could could sign on my behalf and it would it would be the same as the mayor signing. So those are just a couple instances that I could think of that um you know the deputy mayor has even had to do something.

Haley Sue Robinson:

So the deputy mayor doesn't oversee additional departments or have oversight of staff other than

Mayor, Heather Graham:

It's all ceremonial.

Haley Sue Robinson:

In Chief Huber's uh capacity, she oversaw the fire department, and in Chief Noeller's capacity he oversees the police department. But when either of them have been deputy mayor, they haven't they're not involved in HR personnel, disciplinary, um

Mayor, Heather Graham:

nothing

Haley Sue Robinson:

purchasing decisions for the city. It's go give speeches and

Mayor, Heather Graham:

shake hands.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Okay. And if you're not here to sign something physically, they would sign on your behalf.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Yeah, if need be.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Okay. Okay. There was a lot of confusion about it. And so um we had a comment that felt like it was a conflict of interest, and then another person just said, Hey, Mayor Graham, will you answer this question? And so I felt like what a great opportunity to just explain. Um it is a pretty ceremonial title. Um but you actually can change who the deputy mayor is every year if you want to.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

The city council has to approve um just an ordinance or a resolution on city council agenda who the deputy mayor is and ratify the decision. We do it the first regular meeting of the year.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Like uh when the board seats are um confirmed for each of the city councilors, same sort of thing for the deputy mayor.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Yes.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Okay, so anything uh else secret about the deputy mayor that we need to know.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

I don't think any secrets about the deputy mayor. I mean maybe, but I don't know.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Maybe we'll just ask you.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Well, there'll be secrets for him to share, I guess.

Haley Sue Robinson:

We'll ask Chief Huber and Chief Noeller if they have any secrets. Okay. I know there were um there were a couple times when uh Mayor Gradisar was unable to go to like a school event because he was at another event, and so we would send Chief Huber and um she would ask, you know, what would the mayor like me to say on his behalf? And I know Chief Noeller has done the same for you.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Yeah.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Um but I think that's probably as far as it ever really went.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Well, remember when I had my wisdom teeth out and I couldn't talk.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Oh, yes.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

So Chief Noeller had to go.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Oh yeah, we sent him to a

Mayor, Heather Graham:

to go to an event for me because I literally couldn't speak as the deputy mayor.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Yeah, and we had to call them be well, we thought we were gonna have to cancel the event. And so we said, Oh wait, no, no, no. We'll send the deputy mayor. We'll sit we'll send the deputy mayor. Yeah. I think that was the first time we really said, Hey, you're going as the deputy mayor. And that was like

Mayor, Heather Graham:

it's only happened a couple of times last year. Yeah.

Haley Sue Robinson:

That's pretty funny. I did forget about that. Great. Um, okay, well, let's get into city council from last night.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Mm-hmm. I'm still traumatized. Yeah, it was a long, long night. So we had three presentations, right? We talked about the employee health clinic, which um it's gonna be great for our employees, great for the community, um, great for the city's budget. You saw uh what the reduction over five years um would be to the self-insurance fund, about $2.3 million.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Yeah, that's significant.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

It is significant. Um, and our employees will have uh a place to go where they can get primary health care um instead of essentially going to the ER uh because they can't find a a provider or can't get into their doctor um quick. So we have a building. Um we're looking at putting it in the Dittmer building that we purchased for other departments, but one entire floor is gonna work perfect. I think that the renovations are gonna cost the city fifteen thousand dollars.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Fifteen thousand?

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Yeah, paint and new doors. So I mean I think uh the um Mrs. Pacheco, the director of HR, stated that it was plug and play. I liked how she used that word, um, that you know, lock-in ready for this clinic to be able. So um

Haley Sue Robinson:

Well, and folks who maybe aren't familiar with the Dittmer building, that's the building as you're driving into City Park that was formerly

Mayor, Heather Graham:

surgery center.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Yeah, it was a medical clinic. Um and so I guess it does make sense that it would only be fifteen thousand dollars for renovations because it's set up the way we would need it to be.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Sure. Yeah, so that's gonna be on the first floor if this you know passes city council. And then the second and the third floor are gonna be the parks department employees who have been working in that building um because of the annex building.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Sure.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Um, having the mold and um essentially the city having to condemn that building because it's unsafe for city employees. So I think that this is gonna be a a great use of space. Um the more employees and their families, right? Because we're talking not just the city's employees, but their families that are part of the plan. So it's about 1,800 individuals that are on the city's um health insurance benefits. Um, so if those all of those individuals, or even you know, 50% of the individuals are able to go to the clinic for primary health care, you're gonna see many openings free up in the community for other community members to see doctors. Um so I think it's a win-win uh for everybody. It's not going to cost the city any money from the city's general fund account. Um, the self-insurance account is going to be able um to pay it. So we will, you know, we will bring the contractors on, uh pay the doctors, and then instead of you going to see a doctor and then billing our our our self-insurance plan, now you'll go to the clinic.

Haley Sue Robinson:

And it's just all billed there in-house.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Yep.

Haley Sue Robinson:

So um talk to me a little bit about the funding for this. I think that's you know a piece that most folks are interested in. Not only us as city employees, how does this work for us, but for the taxpayers? They uh they want to know, hey, how how can we afford this or why why would the numbers work?

Mayor, Heather Graham:

As the employee and you know, when you your health insurance comes out of your paycheck, yep. Um, every month, if we don't use um all of that premium and our self-insurance fund, um it goes into a reserve.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Okay.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

So you don't get the money back, sorry. It just goes into savings account.

Haley Sue Robinson:

We pay it so that when we need it, it's there. But if we don't need it, mm-hmm, it's just gone.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Yeah.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Yeah.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Um and so uh over six years we've been able to um save about six point five million dollars in our reserves for for self-insurance fund.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Okay. And so that's that's like separate from general fund dollars.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

That's that's city employees' money.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Yep.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Over over here in this pot.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Yes.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

And then general fund dollars over here in this pot. So we're not gonna be touching general fund dollars. Everything will come out of the city employees' money that you pay.

Haley Sue Robinson:

So money that money like that I pay.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Yeah, that you pay.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Okay. And money you pay.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Yeah.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Okay. Great. So not um not taxpayer money. It's not uh something that folks are worried that their money's being spent, I guess maybe frivolously or unfairly, or things like that, because i it it's it's our healthcare. Um I think another thing that was really interesting was also that um, you know, our our HR team has worked on this for quite a long time. This wasn't something even that was necessarily developed since you've been the mayor. This has been a long term.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

All part of the savings for the self-insurance fund. So in the city this is like the last step um to having the full gamut of being a self-insured with this clinic. So um in January of this year, of this year, I went to visit a clinic in Gwinnett County.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Okay.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Um close to Atlanta. Um, and it's a city county health clinic.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Okay.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Um, and so we went and talked to their employees, we got to meet with this team, um, and then maybe in March I went we put a RFP out and we had several providers respond to the RFP, and then I kind of went and did site site visits to see what these clinics were about, uh, to see what they provided, uh, see what the cost was gonna be, um, and and truly try to find a partner who's gonna work best with the city. So cost over was who we selected. Um in August. I went out to their headquarters to visit with them again, and then um some of their um employees were here last night presenting in the work session.

Haley Sue Robinson:

So then uh talk to us about what do next steps look like.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Yeah, so there's gonna be the um contract the city to enter into a contract with Crossover is gonna be um via resolution on the 10th city council will have the opportunity to vote on it. We've already taken it to the benefits committee, um, which that that is made up of the the four different unions in the city, so Transit, PD, Fire, and PAGE, where they have um their union leader representation come and speak on behalf of their union, so they're in favor of it. Okay. Um it's their money, so you know they they they're gonna say how the money is spent. Um and so we'll find out on November 10th um if we're gonna be entering into this contract, and then we'll start getting the building ready um and hopefully get the clinic open second quarter of 2026.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Wow. Okay, so this could happen pretty quickly.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Yeah, we've been working on it for a while. So

Haley Sue Robinson:

Okay, great. And I obviously I know this is important to our colleagues in HR who have worked on this really um for quite some time, but why is it important to you?

Mayor, Heather Graham:

It's a huge benefit for uh the employees and the employees' families. I think we can use this as a retention and recruiting tool when it comes to police officers, um, general service employees, being able to have a health clinic that's on site pretty much that you can visit any, you know, nine to five. Um you have a sore throat, you need um ear protection, that's one of the things that can be offered. Um really any of those primary care services, you're gonna be able to go in and be seen. I think their waiting room time is four minutes, so it's a quick turnaround. Um you'll be able to see blood work there. Um ours will have a small pharmacy where you'll be able to pick up the most commonly used um pharmaceuticals, whatever that is. Um, so it's I think it's it's gonna be a benefit um for our employees, and our employees deserve that.

Haley Sue Robinson:

I think um, you know, as as a city employee, we have great benefits right now. And I know, like for example, uh really recently our HR department has been offering the B12 and the acupuncture, and they offer that pretty regularly. Um we also have great mental health care for um folks when something happens in their life or they just need to access therapy. But this essentially just takes all of that to the next level and makes it a lot easier to access. And I guess to your point too, you know, healthcare is a concern for everyone, whether you're a city employee or a resident of Pueblo, um, I would say like just the greater population, that's something they worry about all the time. And so um to have maybe 1800 people or even half of that free up space within the community, it could be really exciting for for Pueblo to then have more access to healthcare.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Yeah, it's a win-win for everybody.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Great. Okay. Well, we're excited to see those uh those next steps and and see what what decisions might be made and how that can affect our employees.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Yeah, I'm excited.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Great.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

I hope city council approves it.

Haley Sue Robinson:

I hope so too. Selfishly for myself, right?

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Yeah, yeah.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Uh anything else about the city council meeting that you want to talk about last night.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

I mean, it uh it was pretty lively, right? We had um the uh previous city manager and previous executive director of the Urban Renewal Authority. We learned um that he has his own company now, so he came um to teach City Council last night about tactical governance. Um so there was questions about the budget. Um, there was questions about um employees and and talent and um how to attract talent and and what that looks like. Um so it it seemed like it was um really an opportunity uh to bring forward somebody who was the previous city manager to talk about why the city should have a city manager, which I thought was interesting because I'm pretty sure that's like a big no-no campaign violation when you have um you know, when you're using city time to to bring somebody forward essentially saying why one form of government is better than the other when it's a current ballot issue. So that was um that was just interesting all in itself. So I, you know, I think City Council um is maybe going to be having more conversations um with this tactical governance group about questions that they want answered, maybe about the budget. I'm not really sure. So we had that. So fun. And then um the second

Haley Sue Robinson:

Interesting how you didn't take the opportunity to campaign yourself while we're on city time.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Yeah, and I think that would be inappropriate.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Okay. All right, so we'll move on to the next.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

The next was um President Aliff wanted to present on the PEDCO contract. Sure. But there really wasn't a presentation. Um, it was I think his specific words where we we like to share our feelings um about the PEDCO contract. So we heard from, you know, several city councilors about how they were upset, um, that I issued a letter canceling PEDCO's contract, and then that we then put a press release out um about PEDCO's contract being canceled. And I think, you know, really what we want to say to that is these are taxpayer dollars. Um this is you know that 0.5% that you pay on every dollar that you spend in the community that goes to economic development. And I think that um city council should want transparency, should want accountability. Clearly, they don't want that um after last night because I I volunteered well volun-told them to waive their executive session privileges and I would share, you know, why why I did what I did. They didn't want to take me up on that one in a public meeting, but that's okay. Um, but then there was just you know lots of conversation about how um how how could I cancel the contract? Um and really what it comes down to is the city council passed a resolution a month ago saying that they wanted a I'm not sure if it's an RFI or an RFQ that was confusing last night too. For more information for other opportunities for somebody to come in and also um talk about economic development, um have multiple partners. Maybe PEDCO could still be a partner, you can have other partners, you know, doing economic development, um and putting that out to see who is going to respond to us. So, right, so President Aliff and Councilwoman Maestri are working on this RFQ, this proposal that's going to be going out, and hopefully they get responses. Um, in doing so, after reviewing PEDCO's contract, our current economic development, that contract has not been adjusted since 2008. Um and if you know me, we've been going through contract after contract after contract since I became the mayor, making sure that there's a there's an ROI, there's a benefit for our community and what those city dollars are being spent on and what we're getting in return, right? So um we've done it with the nonprofits, we've done it with all the city's non-departmentals, we're revamping all the contracts the city has. And so after reviewing this contract, I thought it was time, you know, that we um update it, take a take a look at it, making sure that the city is getting um what they want and and making sure the information is there for the taxpayers. So in their contract, it there is a 90-day termination uh 90 days from December 31st is October 1st. So the notice had to be given 90 days before the end of the year. Um in order for us to redo the contract if that's the way you know that the city decides to go with with PEDCO. So PEDCO has every opportunity to apply, as do any other

Haley Sue Robinson:

It sounds like that is an opportunity. I think um City Attorney Sikes even said that she'd be willing to draft a new contract for counsel to approve with PEDCO if that's the direction they wanted to go or renew the contract.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Yeah, then you know the 90 days thing, I think it's what I think is interesting is you know, we're we're all up in arms about 90 days, 90 days till the end of the year until what this contract and who's gonna do economic development and what are we gonna do, right? But um it you could potentially be 27 days and not have a mayor, and I haven't really heard anybody talk about what that plan is. So I think that there's you know a little bit two sides to every story, right? So um when we talk about planning, we are not just um on the economic development sides of it, as you know. We've started Advanced Pueblo, um, just right here in this room, right out of my office, right? And where we're having these uh collaborative meetings with our two partners and the county, um, PEDCO and PURA, talking about you know what bridging those gaps on what needs to be done when it comes to economic development, the permitting process. Um, Andrew Hayes has been working on that for um, I don't know, a couple months now, on making sure that we are closing those gaps and that development isn't um, you know, just going by the wayside. And so we have made these relationships with these businesses coming into town. Um these businesses are not just going to abruptly leave because the city has decided to rework the half-cent sales tax contract with PEDCO. Um, we've made these relationships, we know who these people are, we've been working with them for months, so I can rest assured to the community. Um, you know, that the ball has not been dropped. We are very involved. That is what we work on every single day. Um and so we're gonna continue moving that forward because it's it's super important.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Sure. I think another thing that is important for folks to understand is what exactly that contract entails, because some folks believe that um the half cent sales tax will now just go away because you've canceled the contract. Um so what what happens to those dollars or how how does that all work?

Mayor, Heather Graham:

So those dollars always remain in the city's account, right? The city's city's bank account. PEDCO or nobody else can come in and use those dollars without um an approval from city council. So we use those dollars for a couple different things. We use those dollars to pay PEDCO for their contract. Pedco receives $350,000 a year in which they're only supposed to be using the money for marketing and advertising. Okay. That's what's stated in their contract, right? We use that money for the Pope Block Building. You're gonna see a um resolution come forward on the 14th agenda to transfer $750,000 to an account for the Pope Block Building that helps with maintenance, the elevator systems, the badging systems, X, Y, and Z. So if it is a piece of property that is held by the city that was an incentive project that failed, like the Pope Block Building, I think that that was QualMed that was previously in there. Um, and also additional iCorps in there. There's some additional other businesses in that building, or um anything that half cent sales tax dollars have touched to incentivize. The city can then use half-cent sales tax dollars to perform the maintenance, keep the building in good standing, um, those types of things. So that money can only be approved by city council. So PEDCO can't dip into it. I can't dip into it. That's just not the way that it works. Um so the only money that PEDCO can use is the money that's allocated via the budget every year of the 350k.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Got it. And and the other piece too, um, that a lot of folks have spoken about as well, even PEDCO themselves, is that uh they have other money based on their membership. Yeah. So um your canceling of the contract hasn't dissolved the organization, it hasn't all of a sudden uh ripped people's jobs away or things like that. Uh they have other sources of revenue for them to function. That's accurate. Okay. And then the half cent sales tax fund um is here with the city, and how much is in that fund right now?

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Shoot, I bet today it's close to 80 million dollars. Okay. The city just got done. Um, so another um, you know, another use of the funds is when I became the mayor last year through my budget process, I hired an accountant um that's paid from the half-cent sales tax, David. He works at City Hall in the finance department, but he only works on half-cent sales tax accounts. So he works on all the contracts, he goes and does site site visits on um anybody who's receives incentives to make sure that these employees are actually working in the community of Pueblo. Um, and he he really, you know, does their books. So what we've been doing recently is any of these outstanding um accounts projects, right, that were like passed by city council five or six years ago or even farther back, um, if they pass a dollar amount, like um if you take a sh one of the shell buildings, for example, right? So city council goes in and they say, we're gonna give you $10 million to build the shell building, right? So $10 million if approved sits in this account, they go, they bid build the shell building. Well, the shell building's only eight million dollars. So now that the project's done, the two million dollars is still just chilling in this account, right? So I've now given direction to the finance department to go through every single one of these accounts in the half-cent sales tax that their contractual obligations have been met, close that out and send the money back to the half-cent sales tax. So I bet we're about eighty million dollars now because that's something we've been working on over the last month, is just closing out these projects, returning the money so we have uh more dollars to incentivize.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Great. Okay. Sorry, that was a lot. No, that's really good. I I think a lot of folks are confused by what ending this contract means or what the termination letter meant and how that affects

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Fund stays with the city. It's on the ballot in November to extend uh for another five years. It has to be voted on every five years. This is only year four, so if it fails, um they'll be able, we'll be able to bring it back to a vote next November to try to get it passed again. If it fails again, the charter states that that money will then revert to the City of Pueblo and be only used for capital expenses.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Okay. So it would come back to the general fund, but it's specifically earmarked for capital expenses. Interesting. Okay. But right now the half cent sales tax um that ballot measure is through 2026. It's on the ballot in November, uh, on November 4th, and that would extend it um for another five years past. 2031. Got it. Okay. Okay. Thanks for taking a deep dive into that one. That was informative. That's a lot.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Yeah, it's it's a lot. I've seen comments too, you know, no more economic development. No, that's that's not true. The that money is the cities, it stays with the cities, it's managed by the city. We have an accountant that's just specific to that fund. Sure. Right? $80 million, that's more than half of the city's budget every year. So it's a lot of money, it's a lot of work, and we just want to make sure things are transparent and people are accountable.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Great. Okay. Okay, uh, mayor, we have a couple upcoming events. Um tonight you have a town hall at CSU Pueblo.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Yes.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Uh 5 30, Occhiato Student Center in the ballroom. And that's actually open to the public. Uh the general community can come. Um, so you'll be given some city updates, answering some questions, similar to what you've done with your other town halls. Great. Um, and then we also have our twice-annual team up to cleanup that's coming soon. Yeah. So uh October 18th, Saturday, October 18th, we'll have three locations CSU Pueblo, Colorado State Fairgrounds, and then we'll have Recycle Works open for green waste.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Yes.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Um I saw we had some folks that are already signing up to volunteer, which is great. We this last cleanup, the one we did in May, we had more volunteers than we'd ever had before. So that was really exciting. Um so we're looking forward to that. And then we'll have uh haunted rides at City Park, uh, which is also next weekend. That's the Trunk or Treat is on Friday the 17th and Haunted Rides. And then Haunted Rides like all day from 2 to 8 on the 18th. So kids can come in their costumes and ride the kiddy rides one last time before we close them down.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Yep.

Haley Sue Robinson:

And then we're also gonna have Halloween at City Hall.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Uh-huh. And then on the 25th, I think, 26th, the Riverwalk.

Haley Sue Robinson:

I think it's the 25th.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Riverwalk, trick-or-treating event. We'll have a booth out there too. Lucy's gonna be a parrot. I'm gonna be a pirate.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Cute. That'll be fun. Does she like crackers?

Mayor, Heather Graham:

No.

Haley Sue Robinson:

No? Okay. That's like a parrot thing, you know? We'll just give her dog cookies instead.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

She'll like that.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Okay.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Um and then yeah, trick-or-treating at City Hall.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Yeah, we have a lot of exciting things coming up. It'll be a lot of fun.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Yeah.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Great. Um, well, we are out of the office next Monday um for the holiday. And so we'll have city council um actually on Tuesday, October 14th. Um and that will be our that's when you'll present the um budget.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

That's when they just uh get it physically.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Just so I mean like present here. Present as in hand, not actually present. Then you'll present on the 20th.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Yep.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Um but you'll give, I guess I should say you'll give the budget to city council to see for the first time, and then you'll present it on the 20th.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Correct.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Great. Okay. Lots of exciting things happening, really busy time um here at the city, so looking forward to a lot of it.

Mayor, Heather Graham:

Yes, great.

Haley Sue Robinson:

Well, um, you can find this podcast on Apple, Spotify, BuzzSprout, YouTube, and on Local Channel 17. Don't forget you can email us, mayor@ pueblo.us, for your questions or your topic suggestions. And we will see you next week.