The Mayor's Mixtape-Episode 48

Episode 48 of the Mayor's Mixtape podcast features District 1 City Councilor Dianne Danti. She shares why she wanted to get involved with local politics, what her goals are for 2026 and for her four year term, and what she loves about Pueblo. 

Don't forget about the upcoming Building Back Bessemer Town Hall on Thursday, February 19 from 6-8pm at the Steelworks Center of the West, plus the town hall for the Transit Open House on Wednesday, February 25 at Barkman Library from 5:30-7pm. Stay involved with the City of Pueblo. 

Transcript

Meet The Hosts And Guest

Haley Sue Robinson 0:07

Okay, welcome to the 48th episode of the Mayor's Mixtape. I'm Haley Sue Robinson, Director of Public Affairs for the City of Pueblo.

Mayor, Heather Graham 0:16

I'm Heather Graham, City of Pueblo Mayor.

Dianne Danti 0:18

I'm Dianne Danti, councilor for District One.

Where To Listen And Contact Info

Diane’s Path To Public Service

Haley Sue Robinson 0:21

Awesome. It's great to have a guest today. I'd like to remind you that we're available on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, BuzzSprout, and we also have this podcast available on local channel 17. So there are lots of ways to listen to this podcast. Don't forget, if you have questions or want to suggest a topic for Mayor Graham to cover, you can email us at mayor@pueblo.us. So uh Councilor Danti, thanks for being here this morning and joining us.

Dianne Danti 0:51

Glad to be here.

Haley Sue Robinson 0:52

Yeah, we're happy to have you. Uh let's help the listener get to know you a little bit. Uh tell us a little bit about yourself and also how you decided to get involved with politics and run for city council.

Dianne Danti 1:04

Okay. Um

Haley Sue Robinson 1:05

loaded question, I know.

Dianne Danti 1:08

I grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, known for the 500 mile race. And um I'm the second child of nine.

Haley Sue Robinson 1:18

Oh my goodness.

Dianne Danti 1:19

The oldest daughter. So when it comes to collaboration and and working as a team,

Haley Sue Robinson 1:26

you got a no choice.

Dianne Danti 1:27

Yes.

Haley Sue Robinson 1:27

That was your family life.

Dianne Danti 1:30

Very busy family life. Um, and that's why I wanted to get into politics. I didn't really want to get into politics per se. I wanted to run for city council.

Haley Sue Robinson 1:40

Okay.

Dianne Danti 1:41

Um mainly I have been going to city council for years, watching everything that's going on, learning, learning a lot as I'm there. And um as I'm watching the councilors, uh, I'm seeing a lot of uh no c collaboration, um, no teamwork, no compromising, um arguing, sure. And not really listening to their constituents. And then also as for district one, I didn't feel like for the last probably three years I actually had a person for my representative because they moved to district two. So all of that together made me think maybe I should run. It wasn't so much that I can do better, which you know, I probably thought that a little bit, but it's just that I just thought I should step up.

Haley Sue Robinson 2:46

Wow.

Mayor, Heather Graham 2:47

I love that.

Haley Sue Robinson 2:47

That's awesome. Okay. Um, well, Mayor, one thing that we have done with uh Councilor Hernandez and with Councilor Boston, um, and now with Councilor Danti is uh asked you if you have any advice for an incoming council member. Um so is there anything you feel like you could share with Dianne?

Mayor, Heather Graham 3:10

I mean, since I was on City Council, I Dianne was a um a frequent flyer of the city council meeting. So um like Dianne, I I got involved because I didn't like what was going on when I was coming to the city council meeting. So I can appreciate the fact um that that's why she decided to throw her hat in the ring. I mean, because really who wants to do this job? People are

Haley Sue Robinson 3:35

it's so glamorous.

Mayor, Heather Graham 3:37

And some people are nice, but you know, sometimes it's hard. And so uh I can appreciate anybody who just wants to come in to to make the community better. Um but I think uh Councilor Danti holds her own up there.

Haley Sue Robinson 3:51

Sure.

Mayor, Heather Graham 3:51

Um I I appreciate her her willingness to work together and um willingness to do the research. Um that's one thing that I know Dianne always does is when I send the stuff, she She reads it.

Haley Sue Robinson 4:04

She reads the stuff.

Mayor, Heather Graham 4:05

She reads the stuff. Uh and I think that that's that's important when you're a city councilor because you're gonna be making really big decisions. Um and I think that you have to be knowledgeable on things that you're voting on or deciding. Um and if she doesn't know, then she asks the questions. So that's another thing that I appreciate uh because there's so much to this job, especially as being a new councilor. You've been a councilor for two months now and you've already had some significant uh projects and issues uh come before you, and so I think your ability to to pick up on those issues and your the willingness that you had to come to city council before, um I think that that's been very helpful in the process of being able to know what's going on in the community, and I think you have an advantage um over some of the other council people who who didn't do who didn't do that for the last few years.

Dianne Danti 5:01

Well, thank you.

Mayor, Heather Graham 5:02

Yeah.

Haley Sue Robinson 5:03

Well, you've been you've been coming to council for quite a while, but um Diane, what made you move to Pueblo then since you're since you're not from here? We gotta ask the question.

Dianne Danti 5:13

My husband was born and raised here.

Haley Sue Robinson 5:16

Okay.

Dianne Danti 5:17

And so after several years of living uh in different cities, okay, which were Austin, Texas, Dallas, Texas, uh, near all um Saratoga Springs. Okay. Um traveling around and joining the United States basically. Um we de he decided that um his mon mother was like ninety-seven by the time we decided to move back here.

Haley Sue Robinson 5:46

Okay.

Dianne Danti 5:47

And he wanted to spend some time with her because he hadn't been spending much time because he had been gone since he graduated from uh college.

Haley Sue Robinson 5:54

Sure.

Dianne Danti 5:55

And so uh we moved back and spent time with her and she lived to be a hundred years old.

Haley Sue Robinson 6:02

Oh my goodness. That's fantastic.

Dianne Danti 6:05

Yeah.

Haley Sue Robinson 6:05

Wow. Okay. Uh because you know, that is like the question if you're not from here, how did you end up here?

Dianne Danti 6:12

Right.

Haley Sue Robinson 6:12

Uh everybody everybody wants to know.

Dianne Danti 6:15

Well, we travel we traveled up here constantly every single year. So I got to see

Haley Sue Robinson 6:22

You got to know Pueblo.

Dianne Danti 6:23

Yes, I got to know Pueblo very well, and and I started falling in love with it, you know. Um it took a while because his parents were such homebodies.

Haley Sue Robinson 6:34

Oh, sure.

Dianne Danti 6:35

And um we'd been coming up here for several years, and by the time our children were like around probably ten or eleven I was finally introduced to the City Rides.

Haley Sue Robinson 6:49

Oh, at City Park Oh wow.

Dianne Danti 6:52

Yeah.

Haley Sue Robinson 6:53

Okay. So you had no idea we had all of that.

Dianne Danti 6:57

And didn't really know much about the riverwalk at that time either.

Mayor, Heather Graham 7:02

Okay.

Dianne Danti 7:02

We got taken there once by his sister that lived in here in Pueblo. And it's just like, oh wow, this is really neat. And I started falling in love with the city.

Favorite Places And Arts In Pueblo

Haley Sue Robinson 7:16

So since we're on that track, uh could you tell us what is your favorite thing or what are your favorite things about Pueblo? Because I know it's hard to pick one thing.

Dianne Danti 7:27

Oh, I can prove up pick one thing, it's the riverwalk.

Haley Sue Robinson 7:30

Really?

Dianne Danti 7:31

Yes, I love the riverwalk.

Haley Sue Robinson 7:32

Okay.

Dianne Danti 7:33

Um there's there's so many, the Tata Books, the um all the museums. You know, they're great. Sangra de Cristo, I go there and I I uh take some of their classes. Uh they've got a glass fusion class that I've taken.

Haley Sue Robinson 7:49

Oh, cool.

Dianne Danti 7:50

So um uh I really enjoy taking classes, learning new things. Um there's just so many things to mention, you know. Uh the slab, that that was that was beautiful after it got repainted.

Haley Sue Robinson 8:05

And that's in your district, so that's exciting.

Dianne Danti 8:07

That's in my district, yeah. And I I've just uh been introduced to the Big Hill um open space park.

Haley Sue Robinson 8:16

Oh, okay, yeah.

Dianne Danti 8:18

So and that's in my district, so

Haley Sue Robinson 8:20

very cool.

Dianne Danti 8:21

Yeah.

Haley Sue Robinson 8:22

Okay, so you did mention a couple things, even though you said the riverwalks number one, there's a few things you really like about Pueblo.

Dianne Danti 8:28

Yeah.

Goals: Ethics, Homelessness, Energy

Haley Sue Robinson 8:28

Wonderful. Uh well, councilor, um can you tell or can you share with us some of your goals for 2026 or even what you maybe want to accomplish over the next four years during your term?

Dianne Danti 8:41

There are several things.

Haley Sue Robinson 8:43

Okay.

Dianne Danti 8:44

Um one thing is I want to collaborate with my uh co-councilor to create an ethics guide. Um I believe that you know when when ethics complaints come come to the the uh city council, it's looked at by the lawyer and and it's all this is all legal. And it may be illegal, but that doesn't mean it's ethical.

Haley Sue Robinson 9:11

Okay.

Dianne Danti 9:12

So I would really like to see an ethics guide created and uh put into place.

Haley Sue Robinson 9:20

Okay.

Dianne Danti 9:20

That's one of my first goals. My second I got a lot of them. I'm not even gonna number them.

Haley Sue Robinson 9:25

Okay. Um one of your other goals.

Dianne Danti 9:28

One of my other goals is uh to uh look at uh the homeless and see if we can find a space for them to be when they're not able to access the public shelter.

Haley Sue Robinson 9:40

Okay.

Dianne Danti 9:40

As well as maybe get more space for them because there's when it gets really, really cold, they run out of beds.

Haley Sue Robinson 9:50

Sure.

Dianne Danti 9:50

So we need another space that we can house them during the really cold weather.

Haley Sue Robinson 9:56

Sure.

Dianne Danti 9:57

Um another one is um Black Hills. Our franchise agreement's ending in 2030, and I think we need to look now, start looking now on what we're going to do because we don't want to wait until the last minute.

Haley Sue Robinson 10:15

Sure.

Dianne Danti 10:16

Say, oh, it's ending now, let's uh think about this, you know. We need to think about it now. So I was thinking that maybe getting our energy commission to start working on this would be a good idea. Um my mind's gone blank.

Haley Sue Robinson 10:35

I think I think the mayor probably could agree with you on a couple of those things. Uh those are definitely at the forefront of your mind, Mayor Graham, as far as uh things that we're addressing or things that we need to think about. I know um as far as Black Hills goes, that was obviously a really hot topic last year. Um but as far as I know, it's not like it just isn't a topic of discussion anymore as we're looking towards uh 2030.

Mayor, Heather Graham 11:05

Yeah. It's it's gonna be a continued topic for the city.

Haley Sue Robinson 11:09

Sure

Mayor, Heather Graham 11:09

moving forward. So the councilman said we need to start figuring out what we're gonna do now. So it it's not like it was last year when we had that shortened time frame to try to put something together. Um so that's something the city will start looking at pretty soon.

Big Hill Park Vision And Education

Dianne Danti 11:27

Good, good. Um another thing that I was looking at doing is uh uh looking at the Big Hill Open Space Park that was donated to us years and years ago. I didn't look up the date, but it's been a while. And um I got all the paperwork on it from one of my constituents and uh the paperwork has it designated to be a to have a jogging and walking trail all the way up the hill.

Haley Sue Robinson 11:59

Okay.

Dianne Danti 12:00

And supposedly the the top of that hill is the highest point in Pueblo.

Haley Sue Robinson 12:05

Oh wow. I don't think I knew that either.

Dianne Danti 12:07

Supposedly.

Haley Sue Robinson 12:08

Okay.

Dianne Danti 12:09

And um uh so you know there's some uh endangered plants there and some endangered species there.

Haley Sue Robinson 12:17

Okay.

Dianne Danti 12:17

And I I'm thinking this would be great for for the s you know, students, whether they be high school students or elementary students or even college students, to go and actually physically see these uh plants and species.

Haley Sue Robinson 12:34

Sure. So an educational opportunity as far as developing the space.

Dianne Danti 12:40

Right. Okay. So I was thinking, you know, I I'm thinking that it the paperwork said that there might need to be some restaurants create restaurants, restrooms created.

Haley Sue Robinson 12:51

Okay.

Dianne Danti 12:51

And maybe some parking space.

Riverwalk Amenities And Activation

Haley Sue Robinson 12:53

So some amenities to add to it.

Dianne Danti 12:55

Right.

Haley Sue Robinson 12:56

Great.

Dianne Danti 12:56

That was another one. And then I had a thought on the Riverwalk getting a food court on the Riverwalk.

Haley Sue Robinson 13:03

Oh, cool.

Dianne Danti 13:04

Um not necessarily one that serves full meals,

Haley Sue Robinson 13:09

sure

Dianne Danti 13:09

like the restaurants, because those can bring in some sales tax money, but people don't go to them quite as often as they go to like the coffee shops. And I'm thinking coffee shops, donut shops, uh uh

Haley Sue Robinson 13:24

little more grab and go type of convenient food.

Dianne Danti 13:27

Right. Something that somebody can grab, maybe sit down and drink it, or and then get up and just walk the river walk while they're eating or drinking something, you know.

Haley Sue Robinson 13:39

That sounds fantastic. They're all they're all sit down.

Mayor, Heather Graham 13:46

If you want to grab a cup of coffee and walk the river walk, it's not.

Haley Sue Robinson 13:51

If I if I understand correctly, though, I do think the uh Leonardo da Vinci Museum is going to have some outdoor cafe space. Um and I think they're gonna have gelato. Like realto. Real gelato, I hope. Or maybe I'm just willing this into existence. You know, it it's if it's a true Italian museum, then we need true Italian gelato.

Mayor, Heather Graham 14:15

True story.

Haley Sue Robinson 14:16

Uh and then they they have talked about coffee, but I think uh from a convenience factor, just for you know, those of us who love to walk the river walk or uh when we're attracting visitors, those are great ideas for how we can um encourage folks to enjoy the river walk.

Boards, Energy Advocacy, Homeless Work

Dianne Danti 14:35

Right.

Haley Sue Robinson 14:36

Great, awesome. Okay, thank you for sharing your goals. I'm sure we'll uh learn more about them as you continue on council and as folks get to know you better, they might bring some ideas forward that then um you can champion forward for your district as well.

Dianne Danti 14:51

Yes.

Haley Sue Robinson 14:52

That's fantastic. Um also you serve on quite a few different boards and commissions. Can you tell us why those positions are important to you as a councilor and if you have any plans on on those while you're serving in your capacity as a as a city councilor? Um I know you're just now um starting to attend those those boards and commissions.

Mayor, Heather Graham 15:15

So boards and commissions though before you were a councilwoman, right?

Dianne Danti 15:19

Nonprofits.

Mayor, Heather Graham 15:20

Nonprofits?

Dianne Danti 15:21

Nonprofits.

Haley Sue Robinson 15:22

Okay.

Dianne Danti 15:22

I I uh when we got here we looked at how expensive electricity was and decided to put solar on our house.

Haley Sue Robinson 15:30

Okay.

Dianne Danti 15:30

That guy is involved in the renewable energy, and there were several nonprofits out there to do with renewable energy, and um one was um uh REOCA, which is I have to think of these letters, Renewable Energy Owners Coalition of America.

Haley Sue Robinson 15:51

Okay, okay

Dianne Danti 15:52

very long name, but basically it got created because um I think it was twenty nineteen that the Black Hills was trying to make uh the uh solar net metering uh a separate class and raised the rates really high. And it's just like, well, that's why we put solar on so we wouldn't have high rates.

Haley Sue Robinson 16:17

Right.

Dianne Danti 16:17

And and it would be detrimental to the whole solar industry if they raised it. So that's how I got involved with that one, of course.

Haley Sue Robinson 16:27

Okay.

Dianne Danti 16:28

They they were not allowed to uh raise the solar rates, so that was a good thing.

Haley Sue Robinson 16:35

Okay.

Dianne Danti 16:35

Um and then from there, you know, being I was in energy working on energy that way, I got involved in Pueblo Energy Future.

Haley Sue Robinson 16:45

Okay.

Dianne Danti 16:46

Which uh was created by um somebody that was well known through REOCA. And then from there I got involved in Bring Power Home, which was the first time that we tried to terminate the franchise agreement. So those are basically all the ones on energy. So I'm like real energy advocate.

Haley Sue Robinson 17:11

Um this has been a a longstanding fight for you or or a mission for you.

Dianne Danti 17:17

Right. And uh, you know, climate change and everything going on, you know, it just makes sense. And then um, you know, I was seeing and seeing a lot of homeless people and I was hearing bans on the homeless and things like that, and I wanted to get more involved in something other than energy. So I got on the um homeless commission.

Haley Sue Robinson 17:43

Okay.

Dianne Danti 17:43

Original one. And I eventually resigned from it because it wasn't the way it was being run, I was not happy with.

Haley Sue Robinson 17:53

Okay.

Dianne Danti 17:53

And uh and the the mayor saw what was going on with that mission and decided to uh

Mayor, Heather Graham 18:02

rein it back in.

Dianne Danti 18:03

Yes, Thirty-six people.

Mayor, Heather Graham 18:07

It was

Watershed, Library, And Learning Curve

Haley Sue Robinson 18:08

well and and there wasn't a quorum at all times because there was thirty-six folks. Yeah. It it had it is good to have so many um folks who are interested and passionate about um helping our un-house community, but um, when it comes to boards and commissions, uh honestly, when you get over like ten, you can get to like twelve and it's okay, but you get more into those higher numbers and then it just kind of spirals out of control because we all have opinions, right? And if we're on the board of commission, then we want to share our opinion.

Dianne Danti 18:42

And then and then that was one uh the one choice that I made when I came on council that I wanted to be on the homeless commission.

Haley Sue Robinson 18:50

Great.

Dianne Danti 18:51

So working with the homeless commission, one of my goals being to help the homeless get a designated place to stay. We're working on all that and great and increasing the number of beds. So Okay. Um I'm also on the uh Fountain Creek watershed district.

Haley Sue Robinson 19:13

Yep.

Dianne Danti 19:14

That's a a different kind of uh item that I'm not used to working with.

Haley Sue Robinson 19:22

Sure.

Dianne Danti 19:23

I mean I like to save water at home, but you know to um to learn about the um Fountain Creek and and how it comes all the way from like Monument all the way down to Pueblo and to learn um about all the situations that that can come up with that creek. Um it's been a very learning experience.

Haley Sue Robinson 19:49

It's a it's a big learning curve. I I can say that uh I really didn't know as much as I do now until I started working for the city, so I I do understand that it's it's kind of a lot to wrap your head around.

Dianne Danti 20:00

Right. And the other one I'm on is on the the library board, which we haven't met yet. Um

Haley Sue Robinson 20:08

it's still early.

Dianne Danti 20:09

Well, I've been told that I will only meet once or twice when they do elect um board members, and then I I guess I I say, okay, I approve them or something.

Constituent Service And Responsiveness

Haley Sue Robinson 20:21

Sure. So or you ask the tough questions in case you don't. Okay. Well, that's fantastic. I I know that's um that's one thing that uh we tend to have more regular updates about uh you as councilors and and your attendance at these boards and commissions. So we'll we'll learn more about um your seat and your representation on those uh boards as you have a little more time under your belt. Uh but I I'm glad I'm glad to hear that you've been able to um be in some positions that are important to you and that reflect some of your goals that you have while you're on council as well.

Dianne Danti 20:59

Thank you.

Haley Sue Robinson 21:00

Uh okay. Well, anything else that you think that the listener needs to know about you, Councilor Danti? I'm sure there's lots that we need to know about you, but uh just kind of as a as a peek in, you know, you run a campaign and you want folks to get to know you, but then you're on council and it's a different type of get to know you now. It's right. The work is here, right?

Dianne Danti 21:25

Yes, the work is here. Um I just want them to know that I'm listening. That I'm listening to my constituents.

Haley Sue Robinson 21:34

Sure.

Dianne Danti 21:34

I don't want them to think that I'm just got my own agenda.

Haley Sue Robinson 21:38

Sure.

Dianne Danti 21:38

I their agenda is my agenda. I'm here for them.

Haley Sue Robinson 21:42

You're here to represent your district.

Dianne Danti 21:44

Yes.

Haley Sue Robinson 21:45

I can also say that uh you're very um responsive. I've sent you a couple of emails and you respond pretty much right away, so I think that's very helpful uh when folks are trying to get a hold of their their representation. So uh Uh that's helpful. So thank you for that. Even if you're not my district councilor, I still appreciate it.

Dianne Danti 22:06

You're welcome.

Haley Sue Robinson 22:08

Anything else you want to add, Mayor?

Mayor, Heather Graham 22:11

Short week this week.

Haley Sue Robinson 22:13

It is a short week.

Mayor, Heather Graham 22:14

It's a busy week.

Haley Sue Robinson 22:15

It is it's always busy.

Mayor, Heather Graham 22:16

Yeah.

Haley Sue Robinson 22:17

Yeah, absolutely.

Mayor, Heather Graham 22:18

And it's windy today.

Haley Sue Robinson 22:19

I know gross.

Mayor, Heather Graham 22:20

I'm just watching it. Mm-hmm.

Haley Sue Robinson 22:23

Mm-hmm.

Community Updates And Town Halls

Mayor, Heather Graham 22:24

Yep. So everybody stay safe out there.

Haley Sue Robinson 22:26

Yeah, absolutely. Uh well, speaking of a short week, we do have a couple of upcoming events. Um Thursday, February 19th. This Thursday is the Building Back Bessemer Town Hall. Uh the City of Pueblo and Pueblo Urban Renewal Authority will be presenting the first of multiple town halls regarding the Building Back Bessemer initiative. And uh that is this Thursday from 6 to 8 at the Steelworks Center of the West, located at 215 Canal Street. Come learn about the renewal of Bessemer and give us your feedback about how to build back Bessemer. Um also uh Wednesday, February 25th, which is next Wednesday, is the Pueblo Transit open house at Barkman Library in the community room from 5 30 to 7 p.m. Come to the open house and ask your zero emissions questions. Those are good questions that I'm sure Councilor uh Danti would like to know about the new hybrid fleet upgrades and also find out about the plans for a new Pueblo Transit facility. Um so a couple of those things. Anything else I'm missing, Mayor, for upcoming events?

Mayor, Heather Graham 23:30

I don't think so.

Haley Sue Robinson 23:31

Seems really busy, but I only had those those two announcements.

Mayor, Heather Graham 23:34

Yeah, we have a pretty large work session agenda tonight with a lot of good uh information. We have the Good Night Barn, uh information on the Pope Block building, updates from our legislators. I'm giving um quick refresher on the half cent sales tax.

Haley Sue Robinson 23:52

Okay.

Mayor, Heather Graham 23:53

Criteria ordinance that's on second reading for the twenty-third.

Haley Sue Robinson 23:56

Next week.

Mayor, Heather Graham 23:57

Um then we have a couple executive sessions, so we're gonna be busy tonight.

Haley Sue Robinson 24:01

A couple executive sessions? Yeah, okay.

Mayor, Heather Graham 24:03

We're gonna be busy tonight.

Haley Sue Robinson 24:04

All right, very busy. Well, um, councilor, thank you so much for joining us this morning. We appreciate it.

Dianne Danti 24:11

Glad I was here.

Haley Sue Robinson 24:12

Yeah, absolutely. And uh I'd like to remind our listeners that if you have questions or topic suggestions, you can email us, mayor at pueblo.us, and you can find this podcast on BuzzSprout, YouTube, Spotify, Apple, wherever you you get your podcasts. Uh please like, subscribe, and share with your friends. And we will see you next week.