The Mayor's Mixtape-Episode 52

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Mayor's Mixtape. Episode 52 gives a recap of the Work Session presentation from City Council on Monday, March 16. Mayor Graham discusses the IGA for the Citizens' Services Advisory Commission (CSAC). Additionally, she gives a breakdown of the next steps with The Pueblo Shelter, highlighting 32 clients who have found permanent, stable housing and other milestones that have been accomplished. 

 Mayor Graham, Chief of Staff McCain and Haley Sue Robinson also all share why they are #LuckyToLiveInPueblo. Join in and tell us why you feel lucky to call Pueblo home. Thanks for listening!

Transcript

Welcome And Where To Listen

Haley Sue Robinson 0:08

Welcome to the 52nd episode of the Mayor's Mixtape. I am Haley Sue Robinson, Director of Public Affairs for the City of Pueblo.

Mayor, Heather Graham 0:15

I'm Heather Graham, City of Pueblo Mayor.

Brian McCain 0:18

Brian McCain, Chief of Staff.

Haley Sue Robinson 0:20

We finally got it right. We have no green.

Brian McCain 0:23

My last name is McCain, so I feel that green is built into my DNA.

Mayor, Heather Graham 0:28

Your blood?

Haley Sue Robinson 0:28

He said that that was his past today.

Mayor, Heather Graham 0:31

Great. I'll give you a pin.

City Council Updates And CSAC

Haley Sue Robinson 0:34

Yeah, we need we need something with some green. I told him to carry a box of Girl Scout cookies around and just like tape it to his arm or something. We'll just eat them all. Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's very Irish. I want to remind the listener that you can find us on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, BuzzSprout, wherever you get your podcasts. You can also watch this on local channel 17. And if you have questions or topic suggestions, you can email us mayor @pueblo.us. Mayor, uh last night we had a city council work session. We had a legislative update from our lobbyist. We heard from our partners at United Way about the Lead Center. Um and then one thing that we talked about last week on the podcast and uh was discussed last night, there was a work session on uh CSAC and the IGA from our director of housing, Melissa Cook. Um so CSAC is the Citizens Service Advisory Commission, and uh there was a conversation about what the IGA looks like moving forward, and it sounds like there might be a path to CSAC not being dead.

Mayor, Heather Graham 1:45

Yeah, so it sounds like council is just gonna put it back on the agenda and sure vote to pass it.

Haley Sue Robinson 1:50

Yeah. Um I think there was just some confusion about um the recommendations being combined with the IGA and um not understanding that process. Also think uh President Aliff gave some good background as to like how CSAC came to be. Um and you know, uh a lot of folks put a lot of time and effort into CSAC listening to presentations, um, doing site visits, speaking with each of the organizations, and so um he kind of asked counsel, is that what you want to do?

unknown 2:30

Right.

Haley Sue Robinson 2:30

Do you want to take back CSAC and have us listen to hours and hours of presentations? And the consensus was no. So um I think that was good. Uh the county has already approved their half of the IGA. Um, so then we'll see what it looks like uh to move forward with us. That will be on first reading on the 23rd.

Mayor, Heather Graham 2:53

Yep.

Haley Sue Robinson 2:53

Okay. And then the recommendations will be done separately.

Mayor, Heather Graham 2:57

Yep.

Public Shelter Results And Real Outcomes

Haley Sue Robinson 2:58

Great. Uh another presentation we had last night was actually by you uh regarding the public shelter. Um I thought you had some really impressive numbers um regarding the shelter. So there's 90% more outreach meals, um, an increase in emergency shelter, and 205% increase in more nightly clients. Um but there was one number in particular that I thought was extremely impressive, and that was that uh 32 clients in total have moved on from the public shelter to permanent housing and have left the shelter. So that means 32 individuals, um, and this is since December of 2024, uh no longer uh live on the streets in Pueblo or no longer reside in the public shelter and and have a home of their own. Um so they're no longer unhoused. Uh and I just I I find that number really impressive.

Mayor, Heather Graham 3:55

Yeah, tangible outcomes.

Haley Sue Robinson 3:57

Yeah.

Mayor, Heather Graham 3:58

Um and then you got to see the breakdown of the other individuals who are in different phases of the different programs, whether they're getting a GED or um they're at PCC or Job Core. Um, so they thought that was pretty cool too.

Haley Sue Robinson 4:13

Well, and then you had some numbers uh regarding folks that uh are involved in peer support or receiving um mental health treatment, um, what their diagnosis is. Yeah. I think uh that's another thing that a lot of times when we talk about outreach or the unhoused population, there's really broad um statements made about folks, like everybody's addicted to drugs or everybody has mental illness, and um and you shared some of those numbers as well, and so it was actually tangible, and and rather than making these broad sweeping statements of everybody's just in this one group, uh there was a good breakdown of that.

Mayor, Heather Graham 4:56

Yeah, um and the the Pueblo Community Health Center numbers were pretty impressive too. Really impressive. 295 clients since July of 2025, so that's really you know, seven, eight months. Yeah, and they're just one day a week, so that's that's really good to see that people are going there for services.

Haley Sue Robinson 5:19

And then we just signed the MOU to expand those services um because there is a need. And so um, you know, we've talked that that started as a as a pop-up clinic, kind of as a trial run, and um to see how many folks have utilized it. Now we know it needs to be more permanent.

Mayor, Heather Graham 5:36

Yeah, absolutely.

Haley Sue Robinson 5:37

More days, more hours. Um and I know we've we've uh hosted the folks from the public shelter and we've talked a lot about the partnerships, but I think that's another piece is just, you know, um Catholic charities of Southern Colorado, PCHC, there's uh legal support, um uh peer support with um with folks there and and so all those partnerships.

Mayor, Heather Graham 6:04

Yeah, one one thing I didn't mention last night either is they have uh they have two nurses that come to the facility every single day and distribute meds and uh do blood uh blood pressure monitoring uh for individuals uh every single day too. So that's that's amazing.

Funding Plan For The Shelter

Haley Sue Robinson 6:21

Yeah. Great. People are coming to them. Good. Good. Um so part of the reason for this presentation is because uh it's March. We're coming up on the the end of the first uh term of the contract um with SafeSide Recovery, and so you kind of talked about what the path forward looks like as far as um funding, and that the remaining seven months of the year uh we need to allocate four hundred and forty-six thousand dollars. Um so can you talk a little bit about that funding breakdown?

Mayor, Heather Graham 6:57

Sure. So uh in the twenty so originally in twenty twenty five they were granted twelve months. So that was in May, so they received seven months in 2025. Sure. But we can't pre-obligate funding in our budget process. So this year we had to obligate the five months that was left in the remainder of their 12 month contract. So now we're looking at another 12 months, so we'll we have to fund seven months, the remaining seven months um for 2026. And so the city received uh during COVID home art funds that are only to be used for sheltering services, um, people who are going to become homeless, so a preventative measure and homeless veteran services. So it's very or rent rent assistance, um it's very has a very special uh clientele that is. Very specific. That's also what we're gonna be paying for the um eight new units that are coming, and the fence it's all gonna be paid with these home ARP dollars that the city never used um from COVID. And so half of that money is gonna come from Home ARP. Great. Um 145,000. My proposal is to take it out of the ARP interest. We gain money on that account every month. So these GAT funding projects, I I propose that a lot to city council to use that interest to pay for things, and then $100,000 out of the general fund.

Haley Sue Robinson 8:25

Okay. So um of the $446, um only $100 would come from the general fund. Okay. Um and I know uh you also mentioned the Pueblo 1000, which is uh a fundraising effort that um Safeside Recovery has proposed. Um it does sound like there's been other mechanisms to receive funding.

Mayor, Heather Graham 8:50

Yeah, they received so they've received a couple of grants, um, but the grants are have to be they're they can't be used for operating. So they have to be uh for making changes. They uh bought new bunks, new camera system, new card readers. Uh so they're doing improvements to the facility with those dollars they received. And then their Pueblo 1000, I think they were close to raising $70,000 over the last year. So that's pretty incredible for um you know, uh people supporting it after what had happened previously. Yeah. Um so you're starting to see that rapport be rebuilt within the community and uh people wanting to donate their time and money uh to help the shelter.

Haley Sue Robinson 9:33

Yeah, that public trust piece is really important. Um I do think though that you touched on something important as well. You know, a lot of folks um when when we see grants, you want to see it to to go to benefit the folks that are um receiving the services. And so you also mentioned last night things like um spraying for bed bugs, and and that's something that um previously the shelter really struggled with and um and was something that the the city was subsidizing and they've taken that over. Yep, yep.

Mayor, Heather Graham 10:04

The city had been paying for that.

Haley Sue Robinson 10:06

Yeah, so I think those are um important uh measurements as well to see uh the progress at the Pueblo shelter. Yep.

Mayor, Heather Graham 10:16

So then um next steps. So next steps will draft an ordinance uh to secure the funding and hopefully city council will approve it um and we'll extend the contract for another year.

Haley Sue Robinson 10:28

Okay. Awesome. That sounds great. Um Okay, well, anything else you want to talk about from last night's council meeting?

Mayor, Heather Graham 10:40

I don't think so. I think we covered it.

Haley Sue Robinson 10:42

I mean, there were there were quite a few several presentations. Open meetings, sunshine law, President A.

Mayor, Heather Graham 10:50

Lis, Cataly, yeah, catererie that goes kind of hand with hand with the shelter. Um legislative update, yeah. I think we covered it.

Lucky To Live In Pueblo

Haley Sue Robinson 11:01

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Uh it was a it was a good meeting. Um so this week the city is celebrating uh Lucky to Live in Pueblo. Today is St. Patrick's Day. We had the memo. We did. Uh Chief of Staff McCain did not. Um but um so we're featuring folks on social media, um uh elected officials, city employees, businesses, and we've invited um partners around the the community, nonprofits, community partners, um, to also share why they feel lucky to live in Pueblo. And we're doing that um March 15th through the 22nd. Everybody wants to know why the 22nd, because it's Pueblo flag day. Um cut down, sir. Yeah. So it it just it just makes sense. At least that's what I tell myself, okay? Um so, Mayor, I would like to know why you feel lucky to live in Pueblo.

Mayor, Heather Graham 11:59

Well, there's so many reasons.

Haley Sue Robinson 12:01

There really are, yeah.

Mayor, Heather Graham 12:02

I mean, you could talk about the weather. It's gonna be what, 70 degrees today? Yesterday it was winter, today it's 70, and we're gonna get in the high eighties over the weekend this week. So I'm lucky to live in Pueblo because of great weather, great food, great people, um great close-knit community. Yeah. Um and I'm lucky to be the mayor of this city. And I'm lucky to have fantastic employees who work for the city and fantastic supporters who support all the good work that we're doing with this administration. Yeah. That sounds great. There's a lot of uh I'm lucky as I know you just want it once.

Haley Sue Robinson 12:43

No, I like it. It's good. Uh how about how about you?

Brian McCain 12:48

So the generic answer people will say that I totally agree with is that you could drive five to ten minutes in any direction, go fishing, go water skiing, go to the mountains. A little bit further to go snow skiing, but um, you know, it it's just centrally low uh centrally. Centrally located. In a spot that you can get anything that makes Colorado great by just less than an hour away. Um I feel I'm lucky to live in Pueblo because I think that the people at Pueblo have a sense of service. And I've always said this um throughout my career. It's like, you know, we have a lot of veterans in Pueblo, right? And our veterans are people that did four to six years, they didn't retire. You look at Colorado Springs, other areas, you get veterans that are retired. That was their career. But people in Pueblo really want to support the community, give back, and serve. And whether that's nonprofits, whether that's working for the city government, the county government, running for office, or just doing, you know, going into the military because you have that sense of service. And I think that Pueblo is very unique and that people want to give back to the community in their own way and serve.

Haley Sue Robinson 13:57

Yeah.

Brian McCain 13:58

That's my answer.

Mayor, Heather Graham 13:59

It does make us lucky. Haley Sue.

Haley Sue Robinson 14:01

Um, I feel lucky to live in Pueblo. I feel like Pueblo is very unique because of our people and because of our culture. Uh the reason we love our food is because uh, you know, at Christmas time I eat petiza and I also have tamales. Um and neither of those food items are are from my own heritage, um, but it's from my Pueblo heritage. And I I think that's one thing that's super unique is just uh, you know, a lot of people talk about it being like a melting pot, and I just culturally I think it's really diverse and I love it. Um like you, also the weather as a as a golfer. I I think Pueblo um has amazing golf courses.

Brian McCain 14:50

And how many do we have? Because I know it's I don't golf at all. I know nothing about golf, but I know that I have family that comes to Pueblo every year just to golf for like two weeks.

Haley Sue Robinson 14:58

Yeah, I mean we have three within city limits and um five or six within Pueblo County, um at which is which is amazing. Um but yeah, so our our weather's fantastic, and then as someone who grew up loving the outdoors, like whether I'm hiking or skiing, it was so close. I you know I didn't have to drive three hours, I could drive an hour and a half, I could drive 30 minutes. Um I the list is really long of why I feel lucky to live in Pueblo. I don't have a short answer, I'm like you, I can't pick one. Um but mostly I I would say the people of Pueblo is is why I feel lucky to live here. Yeah. Those are good reasons. Um and the reason you were uh missing your your words, Brian, is because you weren't wearing green. You don't have the luck on your side today.

Brian McCain 15:54

Usually my wife approves my outfit before I leave, and she left early today, so she would have caught it.

oin The Community Campaign

Haley Sue Robinson 16:00

I'm gonna have to text your wife. We need to lay the clothes out the night before. Um well, I do want to invite our our listener, though, um, to join us in Lucky to Live in Pueblo. You can comment on our Facebook page, on our Instagram page why you feel lucky to live in Pueblo. You can post something of your own. Uh, like I mentioned, we are featuring our city employees, our elected officials, um, and businesses around Pueblo. We've invited a lot of our partners, um, and we're using the hashtag lucky to live in Pueblo. Um, I think it's a really good reminder. We've talked about it quite a few times on this podcast that um, you know, sometimes we forget to speak well of ourselves in Pueblo, and so that was a big reason why we started this campaign was um to remind us why we love living in our city and why it's a great community to be a part of. Cool. Anything else that we need to know?

Mayor, Heather Graham 17:01

I don't think so.

Haley Sue Robinson 17:02

I don't think so either. Okay. Well, short and sweet, to the point, I'll remind the listener you can find us on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, BuzzSprout, wherever you get your podcasts. Um, you can also email us for topic suggestions or questions, mayor@pueblo.us, and we will see you next week.