By LA CUCARACHA
The recent Mayoral recall effort fell short of the 6,200 signatures needed to qualify for a recall election, according to the Pueblo City Clerk’s Office..
Petitioners Jason Ford, Rain Zink and Steven Cordova were the named proponents of the mayoral recall. Zink and Ford are students at CSU Pueblo. They say their efforts will continue in some form.
The petition listed 11 grounds for the recall. The mayor’s proposal to place a 3.5% city sales tax on food was the issue that most signers of the petition cited as their reasons for calling for the mayor’s recall.
Other issues that have petition signers upset are the City’s funding cuts for many nonprofit organizations; destruction of the camps where families without homes have been living in recent years; the aborted plan to raze a historic building to enlarge the tennis facilities at City Park; and the lack of transparency in the sale and purchase of the Professional Bull Ridrs Association’s building on the Riverwalk.
Ford said, “He and fellow petitioners are interested in either making another attempt to recall Graham, having the city limit the mayor’s power, or reverting Pueblo back to a city government led by a city manager instead of a mayor.”
In April, Ford said the United People of Pueblo Committee has been officially recognized as a political action committee and are able to accept donations. The United People of Pueblo Committee may be reached at 719-299-1351.
Despite failing to garner enough signatures to put a recall before the voters, the campaign stirred a lively debate on FaceBook and other social media.
Ford created the FB page called “Recall Mayor Heather Graham.” By mid-March, the FB page had over 63,000 views. If one has the time, the page, which is still up, is filled with everything from analysis of the city’s budget to comments from former Mayor Nick Gradisar to supporters from both camps firing accusations and allegations back and forth.
