Gradisar reflects on time as Pueblo Mayor
(PUEBLO, Colo.) — The City of Pueblo will soon welcome its next mayor. Mayor Nick Gradisar is preparing to leave office as Mayor-Elect Heather Graham is sworn in on Thursday, Feb. 1.
Gradisar conceded the runoff election to Graham on Tuesday, Jan. 23 after she received 62.38% of votes. Gradisar is spending the remainder of his time in office highlighting his accomplishments.
Pueblo Mayoral Runoff Election Results
Pueblo voters chose Gradisar as its first elected mayor in over 80 years in 2019 under the new strong mayor system. After Colorado Springs and Denver, Pueblo is only the third city in the state to use the strong mayor model. Before then, Pueblo had followed the city manager form of government where a hired manager executes the political wishes of the city council. Gradisar helped organize the campaign to bring the strong mayor system to Pueblo.
“I think it was a wise choice,” Gradisar said. “I worked on that for probably 20 years because I did not think that the city manager, city council form of government served the city well. I think you can see the progress that’s been made over the last five years, and I just don’t think it makes much sense to go back to the city manager.”
Gradisar believes the advantage of this form of government is that the voters get to decide who is going to lead the city.
“I think one of the tremendous benefits of the strong mayor system of government that when the voters decide or when a mayor is limited in terms it’s over and the city has no financial obligation or responsibility to them for that at all,” Gradisar explained.
Previously when city managers left and leadership changed, there were hundreds of thousands of dollars that were paid out in severance packages.
Gradisar was a lawyer for 40 years before stepping into his role as mayor. He was born and raised in Pueblo and has many accomplishments.
Under Mayor Gradisar’s leadership, CS Wind celebrated the largest job announcement in the history of Pueblo with 850 new jobs. EVRAZ also pulled the trigger on their expansion in the city. Gradisar also helped fund the Street Repair Utility Enterprise, paving 102 lane miles of road in the last three years.
“I think we’ve made some big economic development progress in the city of Pueblo,” Gradisar said.
Gradisar also organized the ‘Protect our Neighborhoods‘ task force and coordinated weekly meetings for 15 months to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The mayor told FOX21 that one of the things he is most proud of is the ‘Reading is Fundamental‘ initiative, offering one million dollars for children to read in the summer.
As Gradisar prepares to pass the torch to the city’s second strong and first female mayor, he’s wishing Graham good luck.
“I know that she loves this community as much as I do, and I wish her every success moving forward,” Gradisar said.
FOX21 reached out to Mayor-Elect Graham for comment on the strong mayor system. She provided the following statement.
“The strong mayor form of government was voted in by the citizens because they were seeking change from the city manager-city council form of government. We’ve had the initial start in the last five years under Mayor Gradisar’s term and now I’ll continue it forward, during my term as mayor. I look to improve the working relationship with City Council and the Mayor’s Office and believe this form of government helps put more ownership in citizens hands as I answer directly to the voters who put me in office.”
Mayor-Elect Heather Graham
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