Pueblo | Geographical Perspectives

Technology Jobs in Pueblo

Earlier this week I attended a Pueblo City Council working session where I urged City Council to do more for technology companies. My presentation was covered by the Pueblo Chieftain in an article by Ryan Severance. I read it online yesterday and was surprised to see the article on the front page of today’s paper, above the fold no less!

Pretty cool. Thank you Ryan Severance for covering the City Council meeting!

I do want to clarify what I meant in a couple of the quotes. And I’m not suggesting I was misquoted. I think Ryan Severance did a great job summarizing. I just know what I intended to say, even though I probably wasn’t as articulate as I’d like to have been. The first quote states, “An industry could take root here and it could be historically beneficial economically for the city,”. I would change just one word here from “historically” to “extraordinarily”, meaning if we establish a local software/technology ecosystem it could be extraordinarily beneficial to the local economy. The next quote I want to clarify reads, “If you want a deal with PEDCO, the money has to be used for capital expenditure, building a factory,” I meant to say, “like building a factory”. The CapEx emphasis makes sense for manufacturing and some other industries but doesn’t help a software company much at all. Finally, my last quote states, “If we can get some help, one good, successful software company cold be enough to see additional companies.” I intended to say that one successful software company “could be enough to seed additional companies.”

I know, these are very minor differences, I just feel better explaining what I meant to say.

I will indeed keep working on this for Aftermarket Analytics and for Pueblo. Hopefully we can find a way to attract technology businesses and help them thrive in Pueblo.

Update: The Pueblo Chieftain editorial board wrote an opinion piece about my presentation to City Council. Also, I’ve heard from a few who cannot access the article on the Chieftain website so I’m posting PDF versions here (see download links below).

Tech-pro_-Pueblo-needs-to-change-approach-to-attract-tech-jobs-News-The-Pueblo-Chieftain-Pueblo-CO Download

Boot-up-recruitment-efforts-Opinion-The-Pueblo-Chieftain-Pueblo-CO Download

Pueblo 5-year Report Card

In 2012, I wrote a post about my reasons for moving to Pueblo, Colorado. After approximately 5 years, 120,000 page views and 500 comments, it’s time for a report card to see how things have worked out.

Real Estate: A

One of the primary reasons for returning to my home town was to invest in Pueblo real estate. In 2010 you could drive around most parts of Pueblo and see obviously distressed properties on nearly every block. Foreclosures were almost the entirety of the market and buyers were few and far between. Now we have a seller’s market with insufficient inventory driving prices higher. Although Pueblo real estate is still very affordable compared to anywhere north along the Front Range, it’s no longer easy to find bargains, at least in residential property. And, due to the lengthy post-2008 construction slump, the supply-demand imbalance seems likely to persist and support steady or higher housing prices near term. Pretty solid turn-around, not unlike many parts of the country, but I think Pueblo’s prospects remain very strong thanks to population growth trends we’re seeing throughout Colorado.

If you’re a lifelong Pueblo native it may be difficult to imagine but a population wave is coming to Southern Colorado. It’s already hit Denver Metro expanding north and south, mostly along I-25, leaving high housing costs and traffic in its wake. The same wave that has filled in open spaces from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs will continue to move south, albeit at a slower pace. Pueblo is already seeing population growth and a lot more will come as high-flying housing prices and crushing traffic in Denver continue to push some residents to relocate. This wave of people seeking the good life in Colorado will generate demand for housing and Pueblo’s economy stands to benefit substantially. This also makes the next decade an important time for Pueblo to get its ducks in a row.

Climate: A

I love Pueblo’s mild, sunny, four-season climate. Think Albuquerque rather than Denver. Summers definitely feel hotter than they were in the 80s but winters are milder too. In the past year, I played golf on Thanksgiving and New Years Day. My style of golf involves no gear except for an 8-iron and a golf ball and I usually only play 3-4 holes, but still, we’re talking year round access to the great Colorado outdoors. The sunshine is particularly valuable as solar becomes a more viable and inexpensive source of energy. We installed rooftop solar in 2015 and it’s been a terrific investment, despite our fox-guarding-the-hen-house situation with Black Hills Energy. Thanks to bountiful solar radiation in Pueblo we produce more than enough electricity for our own needs plus we’re paid for net production. Life is good when Black Hills pays you and not the other way around.

Crime: B

The top concern I hear from prospective Pueblo residents is crime. If you read the comments on my original Why Pueblo post you’ll see many are wary of finding themselves in a dangerous neighborhood. I did a deep dive on crime data this past fall to counter dishonest claims made by the Pueblo Chieftain Editorial Board and a band of like-minded partisans who called themselves Citizens for a Healthy Pueblo (now they call themselves ProPueblo but they should consider renaming themselves Pro-Status-Quo-Pueblo because their primary objective is to keep Pueblo the way it is, complete with vision-free community leadership and a stagnant economy). Despite their efforts to use scare tactics and anecdote to tie marijuana legalization to increased criminal activity, it just ain’t so. They also blame marijuana on the increase in homeless population but they don’t have a shred of proof, nor any meaningful understanding of statistical correlation.

Perhaps because many among them have ties to local hospitals they remain unwilling to acknowledge their own role in creating the real drug problem infecting our community: the Opioid Epidemic. I think a serious effort to understand the true cause of criminal behavior in Pueblo would show a strong connection to opioid and heroin traffic and abuse. Prove me wrong ProPueblo!

K-12 Education: D

The biggest disappointment to me in Pueblo is the sorry state of primary education. The problem is partly driven by national politicized anti-education forces but Pueblo seems to be doing a particularly poor job of defending and nourishing its public schools. There are certainly bright spots in District 60 and District 70 (see my analysis for 3rd Grade, 7th Grade and 10th Grade math performance) and I know families whose children are thriving in Pueblo schools but, overall, Pueblo is failing to provide an adequate primary education system. There are several reasons Pueblo schools are struggling.

Failure of Local Leadership – a few years ago District 60 hired Constance Jones as Superintendent and, from my vantage point, she was doing the right things to improve Pueblo schools. But the D60 school board inexplicably forced her out. I don’t really know the reasoning and it doesn’t seem anyone else in the community really knows either. Check the Pueblo Pulp for an excellent series of articles on the fiasco. I think it comes down to a systemic problem in just about every facet of business in Pueblo. There is a circle-the-wagons mentality. We desperately need outside expertise for Pueblo to grow and prosper but the powers that be in Pueblo prefer to repel the same experts who are in the best position to help the community. I’ve seen this through the lens of a few personal friends who came to Pueblo to run an organization or a department or a business and were essentially forced out because they were too aggressive about pursuing best practices and doing what’s right for their organization. Sadly, small-mindedness runs rampant in Pueblo and holds the community back from reaching its full potential.

Inadequate Private School Options – Pueblo doesn’t have a single private high school. This is really a major problem. Families need options. I suspect both Parkview and St. Mary Corwin have a very difficult time convincing top medical talent to move to Pueblo and I am willing to wager that a top concern is inadequate educational opportunities for children. Private schools in Colorado Springs, including Fountain Valley School, the Colorado Springs School and St. Mary’s Academy, are all enrolling Pueblo students to fill the gap. I’ve heard St. Therese (in Pueblo) has some sort of high school option but my impression is that you can count the number of students enrolled on one hand. It’s also obvious to me that Pueblo needs at least one private school on the north side of the city. All current private school options I’m aware of are south of the Arkansas river while the vast majority of recent residential growth is on the north side of the city. Here’s an idea – use some of the Pedco money to provide a grant for a non-profit to start a private school in the vacant Somerlid Elementary campus on West Street between 27th and 28th. Personally, I favor Montessori methods but any non-sectarian approach will do. I’m willing to bet the 5-year ROI (if it could be accurately measured) would outshine Pewag, Vesta, and any other Pedco-sponsored employer in terms of net positive economic impact.

Political Collateral Damage – just like everywhere in the US, public schools and teacher unions are under attack. In the current anti-civilization political climate championed by the GOP, public schools and public educators are systematically denigrated. In a country where Betsy DeVos is Education Secretary it’s difficult to see how public schools will recover near term. If anything this situation is worse in Pueblo thanks to biased reporting by the Pueblo Chieftain. As if being a teacher answering to demanding parents, administrators and students wasn’t difficult enough they must also deal with the politics of education policy. No wonder so few talented people are pursuing teaching careers.

Sprawl – as people continue to move from within Pueblo city limits to Pueblo West, Blende/Avondale, Beulah, Rye and elsewhere, the tax base for D60 continues to decline. This is a self-reinforcing downward spiral. I’ve written about the problem with sprawl in Pueblo West elsewhere and it’s part of the reason I advocate a toll booth between Pueblo and Pueblo West to counteract the sprawl-induced economic damage. I’m not the only one with this point of view. Joe Minicozzi, an urban planning expert who spoke at a recent Colorado Downtown Inc conference in Pueblo, had this quote published in the Chieftain:

On a per-acre basis, Pueblo West’s high infrastructure costs and relatively low property valuations and tax contributions hurt the economic health of the entire Pueblo area, particularly the city of Pueblo, he said. “It’s just going to drag the whole county down in the process,” said Minicozzi, known nationally for his work on analyzing the economic impact of land use.

Overall: B

Overall, I’ve loved living in Pueblo. I wish I could issue an A grade. It’s my home town and I feel very comfortable investing in Pueblo despite all these challenges. And, I’ll continue to be in Pueblo as I run a technology business with an office in downtown Pueblo, I teach Statistics in the Hasan School of Business at CSU-Pueblo and I own rental properties in Pueblo. But, primarily due to personal struggles with the education system in Pueblo (and we bear as much responsibility for mistakes as any school or district – it’s no picnic advocating for the educational needs of individual children these days), our kids are attending school in Colorado Springs and have been for the past 3 years. As a result my wife and kids’ social circle is in Colorado Springs. And, to make life more convenient for my wife and kids, we have recently relocated to Colorado Springs.

I suppose this will be good fodder for those who want to poke fun at my original blog post and subsequent comments promoting Pueblo. Ha ha, Mr. Pueblo moved to Springs! Have fun with that. But, at the end of the day, I’m not married to Pueblo, I’m married to my beautiful, amazing wife and committed to doing what’s best for our family. So, I’ll be commuting from southwest Colorado Springs for the foreseeable future. And I’m willing to pay a toll for the privilege of doing business in the great city of Pueblo … so long as Pueblo West residents are paying the same toll.

By the way, our house in Pueblo is for sale. Make me an offer and you too can get paid by Black Hills. 🙂

8 years ago
Pueblo
Justin

Marijuana and Homelessness in Pueblo: Show me the Data

An editorial printed Thursday, March 9th by the Pueblo Chieftain states,

No, marijuana is not the only cause of homelessness, but there’s an inescapable statistical connection between the lure of legal pot and other reasons people are drawn to Pueblo.

The Chieftain’s Editorial Board states this as if a statistically significant relationship has been established between marijuana legalization and homelessness; but, no meaningful data are presented to substantiate such a claim. What they do present is a series of numbers tied to a 2010 start date in a feeble attempt to establish a correlation.

Pueblo County’s jailing of the homeless has nearly tripled since 2010, many of them for committing violent crimes. The increase – to 565 arrests, including 63 involving violence, in 2016, from 204, including 30 for violence, in 2010 – has grown apace since Colorado legalized recreational marijuana in 2012.

Huh? Using 2010 as a start date makes no sense. Marijuana legalization didn’t go into effect until 2014. They even acknowledge the legislation itself wasn’t passed until November 2012. So, this does nothing to establish a meaningful correlation and even if it did the axiom, “correlation does not imply causation” is an important concept to understand before throwing around the phrase “inescapable statistical connection” as if the Editorial Board was an authority on such matters.

This reminds me of the dishonest assertions made by “Citizens for a Healthy Pueblo” who claimed crime in Pueblo had increased due to marijuana legalization. I examined crime data reported by the Pueblo Police Department and the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office and found no evidence whatsoever to support such a claim. Quite the contrary as the vast majority of crime categories have seen a decrease since marijuana legalization went into effect in 2014.

The Pueblo Chieftain has been making the same ridiculous claims for years without ever providing data or anything other than seemingly biased anecdotes from leaders of local non-profit groups who serve the homeless. Time and again politically conservative community leaders and groups, including the Chieftain, have tried to blame marijuana legalization for a perceived rise in homelessness, violent crime and general lawlessness. But at no time have they provided credible evidence or legitimate data to substantiate these claims.

It seems entirely plausible to me that the rise in homelessness and the rise in violent behavior among the homeless is driven by the opioid epidemic plaguing the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cites studies indicating sales of prescription opioids and overdose deaths involving opioids (including prescription opioids and heroin) have both quadrupled in the past 15 years. Unlike the Chieftain, the CDC actually analyzes data to arrive at these conclusions.

Here’s a suggestion for the Chieftain’s Editorial Board: either provide data to substantiate your claims or stop using big words, like “statistical”, that you clearly don’t understand.

8 years ago
Pueblo
Justin

Eight Reasons Pueblo Should Vote No on 200 and 300

I received my ballot yesterday. I can’t wait to move beyond this bizarre election. November 9th can’t come soon enough. In the meantime, I feel compelled to speak out against a pair of misguided local ballot measures.

Ballot Question 200
Shall the Pueblo County Code be amended by Ordinance to prohibit all licensed Retail (recreational) Marijuana Establishments in all areas under the licensing jurisdiction of Pueblo County, by requiring all existing Retail Marijuana Testing Facilities, Retail Marijuana Cultivation Facilities, Retail Marijuana Product Manufacturing Facilities, and Retail Marijuana Stores to close by October 31, 2017 and by immediately prohibiting Pueblo County from approving all new licenses for these Facilities? ______YES/FOR __X__NO/AGAINST

Question 300 (Prohibition of Marijuana Establishments)
Shall Chapter 11 of Title XI of the Pueblo Municipal Code be amended by the addition of a new Section and the adoption of Ordinance No. 9009 prohibiting new Retail Marijuana Establishments and ceasing the operation of all currently licensed Retail Marijuana Establishments by October 31, 2017?_______YES/FOR __X__NO/AGAINST

Here are eight reasons to Vote NO on Ballot Initiative 200 and 300.

Marijuana legalization has NOT caused an increase in crime. Despite the propaganda from Citizens for a Healthy Pueblo to the contrary there is no credible evidence, none whatsoever, that legalization of marijuana has caused any increase in crime in Pueblo County.
Addiction to prescription pain killers and heroin is the real drug problem and hospitals are complicit in its rise. Ironically, if there has been an increase in criminal activity, it is far more closely linked to the dramatic rise in heroin use. I say this is ironic because our 2 hospitals, Parkview and St. Mary Corwin are responsible for putting Initiative 200 and 300 on the ballot. They are also at least partially responsible for the growing heroin addiction problem in our community due to their dangerous habit of over prescribing opiate-based pain killers like Oxycodone.
Marijuana prohibition is a form of institutional racism. Marijuana and hemp were important crops in the US until racist Americans opposed to immigration from south of the border began to use anti-marijuana propaganda as an excuse to prosecute Mexican immigrants in the early 20th Century. I’m not suggesting local proponents of 200 and 300 are racists. But, they’re deploying the same tactics and propaganda used in the early 1900s to criminalize marijuana, providing a convenient tool for incarcerating people of color. One of Pueblo’s greatest strengths is our Hispanic population and our community’s many links to Mexican culture. Why then would Pueblo choose to re-enact a racially motivated prohibition, originally designed to criminalize Mexican immigrants?
Alcohol, tobacco… heck, even fructose all pose greater public health risks than marijuana. No one dies of an overdose from smoking marijuana. If we’re going to restrict freedoms based on risks to public health we need to be consistent. Check out the CDC’s website and read about the public health impacts of legal substances like alcohol and tobacco versus marijuana. It’s not even close.
Pueblo’s economy is finally showing signs of life thanks in part to investments in the marijuana industry. The positive impact of increased tax revenue is just a small piece of the puzzle. Ask local realtors how the real estate market would be impacted by a return to prohibition. Ask the Chieftain and the Pulp how they’ll do without ad revenue from retail marijuana businesses. Ask commercial property owners if they prefer higher vacancy rates. Ask employees working in one of the many new marijuana businesses how they feel about looking for a different source of income.
Prohibition of retail marijuana will not reduce consumption or improve public health. People will continue to use marijuana either way. This ballot measure won’t change that a bit. If you want to have a meaningful impact on public health, maybe consider making marijuana “edibles” illegal because of the risk to children and others who might unknowingly consume marijuana. Now that might make sense. Our medical community knows how to use a scalpel; why are they deploying a chainsaw?
Even if the Ballot measure passes it will be challenged in court. The people who have invested large amounts of money to become licensed marijuana business owners will have a legitimate claim to financial restitution. Do you think they’ll just close shop and walk away? Who’s going to compensate them for the bait and switch? Will the hospitals pick up the tab? Of course not, taxpayers will be stuck with the bill. And local government services will suffer deficits in the meantime. Furthermore, a long and drawn out court battle will keep a cloud of uncertainty over Pueblo County’s economy. Investors are already in a holding pattern waiting to see if we have enough sense to take their money.
Prohibition will advertise that Pueblo suffers from a bad case of economic illiteracy. The rest of the State and everyone in the U.S. laying the groundwork for the new multi-billion dollar cannabis industry will understand clearly that, despite 30+ years of economic stagnation in Pueblo, we don’t want prosperity. Not here. We’re too provincial for innovation. We’re too ignorant to recognize the potential benefits of making Pueblo a hub for cannabis research and industry. We’re too afraid of taking risks. We’re too stupid to grab an economic life-jacket even when it’s already securely fastened around our chest.

I know many people in Pueblo who are on the other side of this issue. I respect them. And I think I understand their point of view. They’ve been told their whole life marijuana is bad and wrong.

But clearly Marijuana is no more harmful than many legal substances. Scientists and physicians know this is true. The public has figured it out too. It’s game over for the prohibitionists. Legalized cannabis in the U.S is now inevitable. We can either prosper thanks to the head start we’ve been given in Colorado or we can let other communities reap the economic rewards.

If you’re on the fence on this issue, at the very least give it more time before succumbing to baseless fear mongering from the political conservatives fighting a culture war. Don’t chop down Pueblo’s first shoots of economic growth in a generation before we even see what sort of flower might bloom.

Vote NO on 200 and 300.

Thanks for reading.

8 years ago
Pueblo
Justin

“Citizens for a Healthy Pueblo” Making False Claims About Crime

One of the most contentious issues for voters in Pueblo this election season involves the future of retail marijuana.

A group associated with the 2 major hospitals in Pueblo, calling themselves Citizens for a Healthy Pueblo, have stated adamantly, as if it were proven fact, that crime has increased substantially since marijuana legalization.

Well, despite superior scientific training in medicine, these citizens seem to know nothing at all about data analysis.

Let’s look at crime statistics published by the State of Colorado to explore whether claims of dramatically increased criminal activity are valid. I downloaded all data presented below from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation on the State of Colorado’s official web portal. You’ll see reports from both the Pueblo Police Department and the Pueblo County Sheriff’s office are included in each chart.

There are eight major crime categories reported by law enforcement agencies: arson, assault, burglary, larceny/theft, motor vehicle theft, murder/manslaughter, rape and robbery (in alphabetical order). I’ve compiled data for the time period 2009-2015 illustrating 7 years of reported crimes with 2009-2013 data reflecting crime rates prior to marijuana legalization and 2014-2015 showing crime rates after legalization went into effect.

There are two anomalies worth noting in these data.

First, reports of rape by the Pueblo Police Department skyrocketed in 2013 (before marijuana legalization). My best guess is there was some sort of change in reporting criteria or some other irregularity since I don’t recall hearing about an explosion of rape incidents. Perhaps someone from the Pueblo PD can explain the eight-fold increase between 2012 and 2013?

Second, 2012 appears to have been an extraordinarily quiet year for the Pueblo County Sheriff’s office. To me, it looks like only a portion of crime data was reported for 2012. Perhaps the County Sheriff’s office could clarify?

I have no expertise in criminal justice so maybe I’m missing something here. That said, I do have expertise in data analysis and in my opinion there’s absolutely no justification whatsoever for claims of an increase in crime since marijuana was legalized in January 2014.

In fact, you might more convincingly argue crime is down looking at the assault, larceny/theft, and robbery categories. If you look at data reported by the Pueblo County Sheriff’s office you can see crime rates trending down in nearly every category since 2013. Good job Sheriff Taylor!

So, since all retail marijuana outlets are currently located outside Pueblo city limits, should we conclude retail marijuana has reduced crime? Well, no. I don’t see that either. Concluding crime is down due to marijuana legalization would be a dishonest interpretation of the data….sort of like violating the Hippocratic Oath.

Now who would stoop so low to deceive the good citizens of Pueblo?

Why do you hate Pueblo West?

I’m teaching a real estate class this term at CSU-Pueblo and a couple weeks ago one of my students asked, “Why do you hate Pueblo West?”

I answered, “I don’t hate Pueblo West. What makes you think I do?”

He replied, “You say so on your blog.”

Well, I don’t think I’ve come right out and said explicitly “I hate Pueblo West” anywhere on my blog. But I acknowledge I’ve written a few blog posts that aren’t terribly flattering. One post in particular (Funding the City of Pueblo) in which I suggest setting up a toll booth for inbound traffic on Highway 50, later published by the Pueblo Chieftain, even generated some hate mail from PW residents. So, I guess my student has a point.

The truth is I don’t feel any hatred toward Pueblo West. And I understand the appeal of living there for people who want a more quiet, serene version of Pueblo. Thanks to the ridiculous costs involved in building within city limits (courtesy of the difficult-to-work-with Pueblo Regional Building Department) Pueblo West is also the only place where you can find a reasonable supply of newer housing with modern amenities. I get it.

The problem is Pueblo West has become too densely populated. I don’t know who was in charge of zoning decisions during the housing boom but at some point developers were given the green light to build on relatively small parcels. If we could go back in time and enact an urban growth boundary, forcing residential developers to build on a minimum lot size, say 2-5 acres, things would be completely different. And much better.

The result of loads of people relocating to Pueblo West is a smaller tax base in the City of Pueblo combined with an expansive and more expensive infrastructure. This is why we don’t have enough money to hire sufficient numbers of police officers. This is one of the reasons District 60 is struggling. This is why my idea to set up toll collection for inbound vehicle traffic from Pueblo West makes sense to me.

It probably also makes sense to Joe Minicozzi, the architect and urban planning expert from Asheville, North Carolina who addressed the Colorado Downtown Inc conference at the Pueblo Convention Center this week. He analyzed land use data in Pueblo County and pointed out the negative economic impact of the sprawl in Pueblo West.

Please read the story by Dennis Darrow published in today’s Pueblo Chieftain. The Chieftain buried it on page 5A but it should be above the fold on page 1, instead of the Von Miller story, for all Pueblo residents to read.

We must become more intelligent and data-driven when it comes to financing government in Pueblo. Our only solution to budget challenges seems to be a never-ending parade of sales tax initiatives. Sales tax increases are the wrong approach because they unfairly burden low income city residents and create incentive for many businesses to locate outside the city limits. We must be smart enough to reward businesses and residents for using existing infrastructure rather than stretching our already tapped public budgets.

There must be more incentive to invest in Downtown Pueblo. And, there should also be disincentives for increasing the footprint of our infrastructure.

I still like my idea for a toll booth.

Pueblo Police Officers Call Out Chief and City Manager for Incompetence and Cronyism

Earlier this month the Pueblo Chieftain published a story indicating 95% of Pueblo Police Officers have No Confidence in Pueblo Police Chief, Luis Velez. Of the 99 Pueblo Police Officers who completed the survey 94 indicated they have “No Confidence” in Chief Velez.

Wow. Velez is about as popular as a root canal….without sedation. If he were an Animal House character he’d be Douglas C. Neidermeyer, killed by his own troops.

In addition to their lack of confidence in Chief Velez’s leadership they launch very serious accusations of cronyism, aimed primarily at Pueblo City Manager, Sam Azad. The following letter was released by IPBO Local 537, the local union of Police Officers. Our community’s Police Officers have spoken clearly. They need new leadership. I hope City Council is paying attention.

January 8, 2016

The recent release of the response by Chief Velez and City Manager Sam Azad in reference to the survey conducted by IBPO Local 537 has solicited a rebuttal by the Union E-Board.

Based on Chief Velez’s response, it is clear that he believes the frustration of his officers is a new problem. He states that 2015 had problems not seen before, such as gang violence, not enough manpower, forced overtime and the condition of police equipment.

We would like to point out that the gang problem in Pueblo has been here since the early 1990’s. However, we agree that recently the problem has become worse. The decision by Chief Velez to reduce the four man gang unit to a single Detective in the Pueblo Police Department Gang Unit has certainly not been in the best interest of public safety.

Nor has it been in the public safety interest to eliminate the ten beats that patrol officers used to be responsible for and essentially turn the ten beats into basically two beats referred to as North and South Sectors. When the Police Department had beats, there was a higher potential of the same officer responding to the same address for the same type of calls. The officer immediately knew the history of problems in the neighborhood and would have a better idea as to how to correct the issue.

By enlarging the area of responsibility to half a city, the chances of the same officer responding to the same address for the same type of call has decreased substantially. That puts the responding officer in the poor position of trying to be brought up to speed on what the history of the problems are. The officer is not aware of what tactics were used before and therefore is at a loss as to which tactic might work better.

As far as the manpower shortage, this is also not new. For the past several years, the department has been limited to 193 officers after City Manager Sam Azad froze fourteen positions. That brought the Department down to 193 total officers. That number includes 1 Chief, 3 Deputy Chiefs and 7 Captains. This actually leaves 182 officers on paper, but in reality there are only 164 officers. The 13 newly graduated officers, will not hit the streets on their own until the summer of 2016. The addition of 7 more officers, which were only hired due to an outcry by the public, is merely a drop in the bucket to where we should be.

The Union does agree that the forced overtime issue was a larger problem this year than in years past. However, it should also be noted that the Patrol Captains initiated a minimum staffing requirement that is the same for every day of the week, disregarding the days where fewer officers may not be needed and adding to days where they are needed. Again, the Union pointed out during contract negotiations that we were then at 1.7 officers per 1000 citizens when the state average was 2.4. So instead of having 264 officers, we only had 164. So even with the influx of 20 officers over the next ten months, we will still be 80 officers short.

Chief Velez mentions problems with police equipment, primarily the vehicles. This has been a problem for years, and a problem he said would be addressed during his first year as Chief. He has been able to purchase several new patrol SUV’s which have helped incredibly. We will give him that one.

Regarding the Departments ongoing partnership with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s SAFE Streets Program, this partnership includes a single FBI agent working with the Pueblo Police Department. It isn’t as huge as the citizens have been led to believe.

Chief Velez also states that the Department is going to undergo an overtime audit completed by an outside agency. It is our understanding that this was ordered by the City Council and was to be conducted by an independent organization. We have since been told that KRW will be the independent organization to conduct this investigation.

The “K” in “KRW” stands for Loren Kramer, the former Chief of Police in Colorado Springs. Chief Kramer was instrumental in turning the reins of Chief of Police over to his long time friend, Luis Velez, in Colorado Springs. Chief Velez received a vote of no confidence by the officers in Colorado Springs and resigned.

Approximately five and one half years ago, KRW was hired by Pueblo City Council to conduct an internal investigation into the Pueblo Police Department. KRW’s recommendation was to bring in former Colorado Springs Chief Luis Velez to run this department. It is not very comforting now to see that KRW is once again going to be the independent organization to determine whether or not the overtime issues within the department are based on management’s mismanagement of staff or rather to deflect the blame to the Police Union instead.

The citizens of Pueblo need to be aware that the City Attorney’s Office has had numerous qualified attorneys working for them for over half a century. During that time period, countless numbers of contracts were ratified between the employees and management. Coincidentally, upon the heels of the KRW report five years ago, the City of Pueblo hired one of the largest national law firms, Fisher & Phillips, to annually negotiate bargaining agreements with the City’s three Unions.

Fisher & Phillips not only specialize in contract negotiations, but also in decertification of Unions. We would be surprised if the City of Pueblo admitted that was their reasoning for hiring extremely expensive additional legal counsel during a time period when the city is also saying they have no money. If that isn’t the reason, why then do they still have a City Attorney sitting next to a Fisher & Phillips attorney making $450 an hour telling us the city has no money. It seems to us that the City Attorney could tell us the same information at a substantially cheaper cost.

Chief Velez has been here now for nearly five years. We admit he has done some positive things, but crime is up, morale is down and we have fewer officers now than when he started. Was that the 5-year plan or is there a new one because the first 5-year plan didn’t work? Or did it?

Chief Velez recently told us that he is thinking of placing a public safety initiative on the November ballot. Interesting since the Union supported an initiative 2 years ago that he publicly was against because he didn’t feel the fire department deserved half the money. He informed us that the “fire department deals with property, but we deal with people” therefore he deserves more of the pie.

Sam Azad is the former finance officer of the Colorado Springs Police Department and worked directly under Chief Velez in that capacity. Again, it is probably only coincidental that Sam Azad is now the Pueblo City Manager and Chief Velez works directly under Sam.

For the past three and one half years the Police Union has pointed out to Sam Azad that our manpower is substantially under manned and the crime problems are increasing. Nothing we have told Sam or Chief Velez again recently is anything new. It is the same issue that we have been bringing up for several years now and it has been falling on deaf ears.

We can appreciate the fact that both Sam Azad and Chief Velez have been looking forward to their not too distant retirements but assure you that the employees of the City of Pueblo, specifically the Police Union, can only say, “Godspeed, and the sooner the better.”

City Posted Assessment Notices on Veteran’s Day

Check this out.

I’ve posted an image of the papers served by the City of Pueblo. And I mean tacked on the door, not mailed (according to my tenant). The official date on the paperwork signed by Gina Dutcher at the City Clerk’s Office is November 11th, Veteran’s Day. I would love to hear from any Veterans who were indeed notified in the same manner on Veteran’s Day.

[highlight color=”options: yellow, black”]I can’t think of anything more ironic than the Home of Heroes using the Homes of Heroes to make up for their own incompetence.[/highlight]

And when I say “make up for the City’s own incompetence” I mean the City of Pueblo’s Finance Department did almost nothing to collect on these liens from the owner of record at the time of the code violation. I didn’t even own the property when this occurred. But that didn’t really seem to bother City officials I spoke to. I was told the “liens follow the property” so I’m financially responsible.

Home of Heroes or Land Where Homes of Heroes are used for Public Extortion?

Last week, on Veteran’s Day, I received notification from the City of Pueblo ordering payment of $1,588 for trash and weed abatement at a rental property I own on Polk Street in the Mesa Junction neighborhood. Apparently I’m one of the lucky winners thanks to City Council’s recent decision to seek payment for old liens.

At first I thought my current tenants might be at fault but then I looked at the notification again and realized I was being billed for a City Code Violation that occurred in August/September 2011 before I bought the property out of foreclosure. The owner of record at the time of violation was the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, better known as Freddie Mac. Remember them? One of the Government Sponsored Entities (GSE) that helped facilitate the mortgage/housing bubble and ensuing financial crisis.

As I investigated the assessment I was being asked to pay it became clear that no one in the City’s Finance Department made any serious effort to collect the assessment from Freddie Mac. They mailed a few invoices and then gave up when a check didn’t magically appear. What a shame. As I recall the City really could have used that money in 2011 when the economy hit bottom. Maybe City employees were too busy drinking vodka and driving around town topless at the time.

In any case, what really bothers me is the thought that some of our military veterans who reside in Pueblo probably also received an assessment on Veteran’s Day. Sort of like having someone spit on your face as a birthday present.

It makes me wonder if Pueblo is really the Home of Heroes or if it’s actually a place where the Homes of Heroes are used in a public extortion scheme.

“We have to hold people accountable,” said Councilman Chris Nicoll.

Where were you and your tough talk when it was time to hold the big banks and mortgage lenders responsible?

Shame on you City Council.

I closed my eyes and she slipped away. – Boston (1976)

What a game.

The 115th Bell Game was a great contest with momentum shifting back and forth throughout. Michael Ranson was the best player on the field and led Central to a thrilling victory. It was a Wildcat win that will go down as one for the ages if you were wearing blue last night. But for me, and for others wearing red who stayed to watch the game until the bitter end (and shame on you Bulldog fans who left early), it was the one that got away.

From where I sat at about the south 30 yard line on the Centennial side of Dutch Clark Stadium, I had a perfect view of the action (though not the play clock) in the final 18 seconds and I believe the Bulldogs were robbed of one, possibly two, plays. Not because the refs blew a call, but because they didn’t manage the game properly in the final seconds. Overall, the referees called a good game. They may have missed a pass interference penalty in the end zone during the first half but, generally, I thought the refs were pretty solid.

But, something went wrong in the last 10 seconds.

I remember without a doubt (and posted on my live Bell Game blog) the Bulldogs had the ball at the 32 yd line (in Cats territory) with 18 seconds on the clock. Centennial Quarterback, Jake Sanchez, spiked the ball and 16 seconds remained. What happened next turned out to be the last play of the game.

Sanchez dropped back to pass moving to the right and threw a completion near the Central sideline for a 12 yard gain to the 20. The receiver was tackled in bounds. But, there was a defensive penalty. The flag was thrown in the backfield for a personal foul on Central for hitting the QB after he threw the ball. If I remember correctly, Sanchez was shaken up on the play and slow to get back to his feet. I also remember the officials gathering to figure out the penalty and the proper spot. The refs didn’t look like they were in a hurry. Central coaches may have been arguing the call. It was chaotic on the field and the crowd was going crazy. It was clear the Bulldogs had a real chance to steal victory from the jaws of defeat. While the refs gathered to sort things out, Head Coach Mike Palumbo (and, for full disclosure, my friend and classmate at Centennial in the late 80s) and his staff were on the field talking to their players and planning for the next play. The Pueblo Chieftain and maybe other sources said the kicking team was on the field but, to me, it looked like Palumbo and the Dogs were going for one more shot at the end-zone. After that try a kick to send the game to OT.

Then, without any warning, the game was over.

I never heard a whistle. I don’t even remember hearing the referee call the penalty or say “1st down”, although that may have been because for every official announcement the head referee faced the Central (west) side of the field and it was difficult to hear. Even the PA announcer had consistently announced a stirring “First and Goal … BULLDOGS (or WILDCATS)!!!” for every other first and goal. Not this time. The Centennial coaches had no idea the ball was being spotted and the clock was starting. When they got back to the sideline and turned around the game was over. If the clock was ticking there should have been a penalty for too many players (and coaches) on the field. Central players weren’t lined up at the line of scrimmage. I think a handful of Central coaches and players were out on the edge of the field too.

Some of my Centennial friends on Facebook concluded it was a coaching error because the team wasn’t ready to spike the ball and stop the clock. I saw it differently. Centennial had 1st and goal from the 10 (the penalty from the 20 was half the distance). And they should have had a chance to line up before the referees started the clock because of the penalty, because of QB Sanchez being shaken up by the late hit and because of the ensuing chaos on the field. At the very least the Centennial coaches should have been made aware when the refs had figured things out and the ball was being spotted. It seemed like an official timeout. And game officials can’t covertly end their own official timeout to quietly spot the ball and wind the clock. They have to make an announcement and blow a whistle.

Ask some of the Central players who were on the field at the very end. They appeared to be as surprised as anyone when the ref called the game. Slowly they began to realize they wouldn’t need to defend another play and began to erupt into celebration. I think Central’s players and coaches, if they’re being honest, would probably say Centennial deserved another play.

But it wasn’t to be.

The Central players and coaches are to be congratulated for their victory. From my vantage point, the Wildcats played and coached a smart, clean game. I didn’t see any cheap shots or excessive trash talking. It got chippy here and there but the refs and players kept it in check. And I didn’t see any frustration during the game from the Centennial sideline. Certainly not like last year when the officiating was far worse.

It wasn’t until the very end when all the Centennial Assistant Coaches went ballistic. They threw their hats on the field and tossed their clipboards. They ran onto the field to confront the referees and one of the assistant coaches had to be restrained by someone who looked like a Centennial administrator. The Centennial coaches were seething because the referees failed to communicate what was happening on the field. The refs may have followed the “letter of the law” but they failed to observe proper game protocol. With 10 seconds left after a defensive personal foul, the refs needed to take control and let everyone in the stadium know what was going on. But they didn’t. And, as a result, we were all robbed of what could have been. Especially the Centennial student athletes, who played their hearts out and left it all on the field.

The final seconds could have resulted in an incomplete pass or a missed field goal and the same game outcome. But the same seconds might also have resulted in a touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone. It could have been a moment for Centennial fans like “The Catch” for San Francisco 49er fans, that classic play when Joe Montana threw a touchdown pass to Dwight Clark at the back of the end-zone to secure a victory in the 1982 NFC Championship Game.

But no….instead, she slipped away.