Pueblo City Council Meeting - March 11, 2024: Appointments, Marijuana Tax, Urban Renewal, and Mariposa Funding
Pueblo City Council Meeting - March 11, 2024
The Pueblo City Council met on Monday, March 11, 2024, at 7:00 PM in City Council Chambers. The meeting included special recognitions, public forum, council commentary, approval of consent agenda, and action on several resolutions and ordinances. Key outcomes included confirmation of Carla L. Sikes as City Attorney, amendment and passage of an ordinance raising the retail marijuana excise tax to 5% (later amended to 10%), approval of two urban renewal plans (The Bluffs Phase 1 and North Elizabeth Hotel), and a contested $71,500 appropriation to the Mariposa Center for Safety. An ethics complaint against Councilor Regina Maestri was dismissed.
Consent Calendar
- Approved all resolutions (M1–M14, M16–M21) and ordinances (N1–N8) on consent, setting public hearings for March 25, 2024, and ordering publication by title. All passed 7-0.
- Resolution M15 (supporting HB24-1027) was pulled from the consent agenda indefinitely.
- Item R6 (Southern Colorado Small Business Development Center funding) was postponed to March 25, 2024.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Jesse Garcia (District 1 resident, soccer coach) reported on his follow-up to suggestions from a prior meeting regarding soccer field availability. He detailed that of six parks suggested, only three were viable, none had soccer goals. He highlighted safety concerns at Pride Park, where gunshots occurred during a practice. A parent, Juan Sanchez, corroborated the incident.
- Ted Freeman expressed support for Mayor Heather Graham's administration and called for operational controls in financial areas.
- Elvis Martinez requested a work session on campaign finance limits and ranked-choice voting for mayor and council, and raised concerns about term limits and the city charter.
- Augustine Garcia opposed the needle exchange program and supported reinstating the marijuana excise tax to offset societal harms.
- Frank Cerullo demanded repayment of restitution by a former councilman for damage to a Columbus statue.
- Diane Dante requested public comment on resolutions affecting the whole city, particularly those on state legislation.
Discussion Items
- Appointment of City Attorney (Q1): Mayor Graham introduced Carla L. Sikes, who served as interim since Feb 1, 2024. Council confirmed her appointment, 7-0.
- Council Contingency Sponsorships (Q2–Q7): Q2 (Pueblo Children's Chorale, $3,000) passed 7-0. Q3 (Latino Chamber Foundation, $1,500) passed 7-0. Q4 (Mariposa Center Mother's Day Auction, $1,000) passed 6-1. Q5 (Mad Fresh Productions Hip Hop Festival, $2,000) passed 4-3 after discussion about vetting nonprofits. Q6 (St. Baldrick's Event, $1,000) passed 7-0. Q7 (Pueblo Has Talent, $3,800) passed 5-2 after clarification that the funds pay Memorial Hall for venue use.
- Ordinance R3 – Marijuana Excise Tax: Council considered repealing a moratorium and setting the tax at 5%. Public testimony supported the tax (Michael Sellard, Augustine Garcia) and opposed (Elvis Martinez, citing job losses). Councilor Gomez moved to amend to 10%, which passed after public comment reopened. The amended ordinance passed 7-0. The tax matches the county's rate.
- Ordinance R5 – Police Hiring Flexibility: An ordinance allowing the mayor to temporarily modify civil service hiring rules for police officers, creating three separate hiring lists (new hires, laterals, academy recruits) until vacancies drop to 5-10%. Chief Noa explained the need due to 23% vacancy rate. Passed 7-0.
- Ordinances R8 & R9 – Urban Renewal Plans:
- R8 (The Bluffs Phase 1): A 31-story market-rate apartment project on the Arkansas River bluff, using tax increment financing (TIF) to cover site preparation costs. Developer John Warke noted $400,000–$500,000 in upfront public improvements. After extensive discussion about process delays and document alterations, the ordinance passed 6-1.
- R9 (North Elizabeth Hotel): A 122-room extended-stay hotel near the convention center, with $15 million investment. Supporters cited the need for hotel rooms for conventions. A speaker opposed, arguing competition with existing motels. Passed 6-1.
- Ordinance R10 – Mariposa Center for Safety Funding: Appropriation of $71,500 from the general fund for operational costs through June 2024. Multiple speakers testified in support, including the executive director, board members, and partner organizations. Council debate centered on fiscal responsibility versus critical need. Passed 4-3 (Councilors Flores, Martinez, Latino, and President Aliff in favor; Councilors Gomez, Maestri, and Hernandez opposed).
- Ethics Complaint (Item S1): A citizen filed an ethics complaint against Councilor Regina Maestri regarding a previous procedural violation. City Attorney Sykes explained the prior complaint was dismissed, and the current matter involved a failure to recuse in 2022. Council voted to dismiss the complaint, 6-0 (Councilor Maestri recused).
Key Outcomes
- Confirmed Carla L. Sikes as City Attorney (7-0).
- Approved all consent agenda resolutions and ordinances (7-0), except M15 pulled.
- Postponed R6 to March 25, 2024.
- Amended and passed Ordinance R3 setting marijuana excise tax at 10% (7-0).
- Passed Ordinance R5 allowing temporary flexibility in police hiring (7-0).
- Approved urban renewal plans for The Bluffs (R8) and North Elizabeth Hotel (R9), both 6-1.
- Appropriated $71,500 to Mariposa Center for Safety (R10) (4-3).
- Dismissed ethics complaint against Councilor Maestri (6-0).
Meeting Transcript
Well, it's another beautiful evening in Pueblo. Thank you guys for sticking with us. Uh sorry for the delay. Today is Monday, March 11th, 2024, and I call to order this regular city council meeting. If you'd please stand with me, we're going to have the invocation by Pastor Ken Wood of the Avenue Church, and then we'll do the Pledge of Allegiance right after. Oh, Pastor. Thank you. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity to come tonight as citizens and participate in our own governance. And God, we just want to thank you for those that are protecting our city tonight, for our police force, uh, for the sheriff's office, for fire department, EMS, God, we just pray for your hand of protection on them as they serve and protect. And God, we uh we thank you for all of the the people who serve our city, Lord, all the way from the mayor to maintenance and everyone in between, and God, we just pray that you would um help them work together for the good of our city. We thank you for this council, the men and women who are serving on it to um guide and to direct. Uh we pray that you would give them wisdom tonight. And God, we uh thank you also for the citizens that are coming tonight to share uh thoughts and concerns. We pray that you would give them um the words that are on their hearts, and I pray that we'd all have ears to listen. So, God, we thank you for this opportunity. We pray for your blessings on this evening. In the name of Christ, I pray. Amen. Amen. I played an allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and we're just one nation under God with liberty and justice for all. Madam Clerk, roll call. Mark Ayleth? Here, Dennis Flores. Here, Roger Gomez. Charles Hernandez, Joe Latino, Regina Meistry. Here, Sarah Martinez. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Uh, we now go to special recognitions. First up, we have a certificate of recognition for the United States Senate Youth Program, Raya Singh. Come on down. Man, am I excited to be giving Rhea Singh this um certificate? Rhea is a district one resident. She's a local high school student, and she was one of two Coloradoans in the whole state of Colorado to represent not only her city, her county, but her state in Washington, D.C. through participating in the U.S. uh Senate youth program. It's a really uh competitive. Yeah. It was a tremendously competitive process, and I'm just so proud that Rhea um represented our our city, and I'm I'm even more humbled that this is the future of politics. So Rhea Singh, with great admiration, the City Council of the City of Pueblo hereby officially acknowledge and acknowledges and commends your representation of Colorado at the 2024 United States Senate Youth Program Conference in Washington, D.C. We acknowledge your impact on the Pueblo Human Relations Commission, Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment's Youth Action Board, and the Youth and Government Education Program and Southern Colorado Youth Go. Your personal contributions of talent, time, and energy are an invaluable resource to our entire community. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors. Congratulations, Rhea. Thank you. You'll have to excuse my raspy voice. I spent a whole week screaming and chanting, um, doing a lot of fun stuff. But I just wanted to say thank you, of course, to the Pueblo community. It was such an honor to represent, you know, our state in talking with Senator Hickenlooper and Senator Bennett, and just being able to tell them that I'm a Pueblo native. It was just a huge honor to represent such an underrepresented part of our state.
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