Pueblo County Commissioner Griego could face more consequences for alleged anti-gay remark
Pueblo County Commissioner Epimenio “Eppie” Griego is facing more blowback after allegedly calling a Pueblo city councilor an anti-gay slur.
A coalition of local groups led by the Southern Colorado Equality Alliance, a local LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, penned a letter Thursday calling for Griego’s apology and for other commissioners to censure him.
The executive committee of the Pueblo County Democratic Party was one of the groups that signed onto the letter, but Griego’s political future in Pueblo — at least as a Democrat — is unclear.
Local party chair Bri Buentello told the Chieftain that Griego should expect a primary challenge when he’s up for re-election next year and that other action could be taken to bar him from participating in the party.
Griego is up for re-election in 2024
Griego ran as the District 1 representative for the Pueblo Board of County Commissioners in 2020. He raised less money than his primary opponent Tisha Mauro, who is now a representative at the state House. He received the vast majority of votes in November 2020 as Pueblo Republicans did not run a candidate on the ballot.
“As a Democrat and a Latina, I was happy to see another Latino raise their hand and serve our community. But in the years since then, this man has betrayed our trust as Democrats and demonstrated that he does not share our values, whether that's investing in public health measures to treat the opioid addiction crisis (or) his conduct at a dinner on a Saturday night in a friendly crowd,” Buentello said.
Griego will have to run for re-election next year to serve an additional term. Buentello said that another Democrat from District 1 will be running in the 2024 primary.
“It is my goal that we find a Democrat who believes in our values, who will put words into action, and fight for our community, every single day, every single time, even when the cameras are off,” Buentello said. “I don't know who that person is, but we'll find him or her.”
Griego did not respond to multiple requests for comment. He said that “as reported I did not utter the word” in a statement sent to the Chieftain after initially declining comment when the story was first reported Thursday.
Buentello said she directly witnessed Griego call councilor Vicente Martinez Ortega a "j---", a Spanish-language word that can translate to "f-----" in English, at the Southern Colorado Labor Council dinner on Sept. 16.
Griego has been censured by the local party since summer 2022 after he and former commissioner Garrison Ortiz endorsed Zach Swearingen, the Republican candidate, in the race for an open commissioner seat.
Griego and Ortiz’s actions were condemned and they were removed from their positions on the Pueblo County Democrats’ central committee.
Could Griego face additional consequences?
The state party’s definition of “unacceptable behavior,” according to its code of conduct, includes “sexist, racist, or otherwise discriminatory jokes or escalating language.”
Violations of the code of conduct, if submitted in a formal complaint, can result in the formation of a controversy committee. Buentello said that she has submitted a complaint about Griego’s behavior to the state party.
“This is the latest in a very long list of bad behavior, and, frankly, bad faith to our Democratic values,” Buentello said — that includes Griego opposing Democratic legislative priorities.
Controversy committees are quasi-judicial proceedings defined by state party bylaws. Oral and written evidence can be submitted and complainants and respondents can make arguments for their case.
The process of a controversy committee could result in consequences such as Griego losing access to voter databases, being banned from Democratic events and losing party credentials, according to Colorado Democratic Party bylaws.
“My role is to make sure the process is as fair as possible to the folks filing the complaint and also to the folks receiving the complaint — and that's regardless of the issue,” Shad Murib, the chair of the Colorado Democratic Party, told the Chieftain. “It is important to me that everyone walks away from the process when it's completed feeling like they've been treated fairly and that justice has been served in the appropriate way.”
Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics for the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com. Please support local news at subscribe.chieftian.com.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo Dems seek more consequences for Griego over alleged anti-gay remark
