Since The Denver Post and the American Civil Liberties Union have decided to try these Municipal Court cases in the court of public opinion, rather than adhering to the actual legal proceedings of the judicial process, it seems like the right time for me as the mayor of Pueblo to finally make a comment.

While the City of Pueblo has continually held to “no comment” due to pending litigation, The Denver Post has decided to try case after case in their paper without the due diligence or discretion independent of the ACLU’s insight.

I find it interesting that the same Denver Post whose editorial board accused me of being the mouthpiece of EVRAZ during legislation, is now the mouthpiece of the ACLU.

The City of Pueblo received notice about the first lawsuit filed by the ACLU (one of three so far) via a call to the mayor’s office for comment on an article The Denver Post had already written and published. How did The Denver Post know about the habeas corpus from the ACLU prior to the City of Pueblo receiving notification? Because The Denver Post is the mouthpiece to the ACLU.

Where is the independent, unbiased journalism for the ACLU that they call for at the City of Pueblo? Should The Denver Post not be held to the same standards of unbiased, independent, and transparent communication that the editorial board accused me of lacking?

The current city attorney and a former municipal judge Carla Sikes presented a work session before City Council explaining the court process because The Denver Post reported incorrect information about the process. Contempt is not codified in the City of Pueblo’s code as a crime, and everyone has a right to a trial in contempt cases, including a right to a jury trial for longer possible sentences.

What The Denver Post and the ACLU fail to realize or report are the plaguing statistics of crime the city works to address each and every day. Crimes like loitering, trespass, theft, and more are not victimless. They adversely affect local businesses, residents, and visitors to the city daily. This problem is compounded when the perpetrators of these crimes continually refuse to go to court or abide by court orders, for years in some cases.

So far, this year through Oct. 9, the Pueblo Police Department has received 179 calls for service for loitering. Last year in 2023, the calls for service totaled 194. The call volume for loitering has steadily increased over the past five years, with only a slight dip in 2021. Loitering calls have increased 288% from 2019 to 2024.

Additional calls taxing Pueblo Police Department include trespass, which year to date through Oct. 9 total 264. This call volume has also increased by 4.7% from 2020 to 2024.

Unwanted party is another call for service which many times includes individuals at a business, a vacant building or at an individual’s home. Through Oct. 9 unwanted party calls have totaled 3,104. Unwanted Party calls have increased 38% from 2019 to 2024.

These three calls for service have continually taxed the Pueblo Police Department, which then fills up the Municipal Court docket. These are the types of calls citizens refer to when they call the mayor’s office to complain about the increasing crime and feeling fearful in their city. While we have been able to address and see a decrease in crimes like aggravated assault, arson, auto theft, burglary, homicide, robbery, sexual assault and theft/larceny, these other issues of loitering, trespass, and unwanted party continually increase the frustration for citizens.

The petitioners in these lawsuits repeatedly refused to appear for mandatory court appearances. Time and time again these individuals had police contact for trespass, loitering and theft. The ACLU wants society to excuse them because they are homeless. While we should have compassion for those less fortunate, homeless is not helpless. Being homeless should not mean you can act without consequences.

At what point are consequences not applicable for individuals continuing to break the law and refusing to appear in court for doing so? At what point are adults going to be held to the same level of civic accountability we are all held to? As we continue down this road of lawlessness there will be consequences to our community. Businesses will continue to call and see no solutions because a slap on the hand means nothing when you have no consequence to bear. Breaking the law becomes more of a norm than it already is.

This is not the road any of us want to travel down. You break the law you pay your dues, that used to be the intent in society, and through our Municipal Court that needs to remain the intent.

Mayor Heather Graham is the second mayor in Pueblo’s recent strong-mayor history. She was sworn in to office on February 1, 2024, and is the first female mayor in Pueblo. She previously served on Pueblo City Council as the president for two years and is a small business owner.