Republican candidate announces bid for 2024 Pueblo County commissioner's race
Paula McPheeters announced her intent to run for Pueblo County Commissioner to rows of supporters at Watertower Place on Oct. 26.
McPheeters is running as a Republican in the 2024 race for the District 2 seat currently occupied by Commissioner Daneya Esgar. McPheeters is the director of grant compliance at Pueblo Community College.
"I think I've always been interested in government and just knowing that our money we pay as taxpayers gets spent in the way that we hope it does... I really believe I can be a good steward of taxpayer dollars and an effective decision maker," McPheeters told the Chieftain. "That's why I am running."
McPheeters' education and background
McPheeters grew up in Pueblo, graduated from South High School and studied political science at the University of Southern Colorado, which is now Colorado State University Pueblo. She also has a master's degree in public administration from the University of Colorado in Denver.
She has worked at Pueblo Community College for over two decades in positions related to grant compliance and budgeting. Prior to working at PCC, she interned at former U.S. Sen. Hank Brown's Pueblo office and was on the campaign staff of former U.S. Rep. Scott McGinnis.
From 2019 to 2022, McPheeters served on Pueblo County's Retail Marijuana Sales and Excise Taxes Oversight Committee. She told the Chieftain that she personally does not support marijuana, but said she is not "standing in opposition" to it's legality.
"After years of having it legal, there are still issues concerning the safety of it, the impact on our young people and I do feel we still need to do a better job about talking about the harms of marijuana in our community," McPheeters said.
McPheeters was a founding member of Christian nonprofit Forging Pueblo in 2020 and said the organization has been a useful resource for people of faith interested in local politics. She resigned from the Forging Pueblo board of directors in summer 2023 to focus on her campaign.
She said her resignation was not related to disagreements with Forging Pueblo's vision. However, she also noted that members Forging Pueblo's board, as with members of any organization, don't always agree on everything.
"We don't always have the same viewpoint," she said. "I think that needs to be said. I think all of us in any groups we're involved in — there's no rubber stamp of our belief. I think I've articulated certain beliefs that maybe others didn't agree with."
What McPheeters' priorities would be as a commissioner
McPheeters lists public safety, infrastructure and economic development among her priorities, according to her campaign website, paulaforpueblo.com.
She supports construction of the new Pueblo County jail, calling it a public safety improvement that has been "needed for many years," according to her website. McPheeters hopes to ensure the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office is adequately staffed and funded.
She also hopes to find solutions to homelessness in Pueblo by collaborating with city government, nonprofits and faith-based organizations.
"We have to be able to get people into treatment," McPheeters said. "We have to be able to get people into mental health care. Really, the most compassionate thing we can do is find ways to get people off the street and into the places they need to be to get the help they need."
McPheeters told the Chieftain that extremes on both sides of the political spectrum have left many in the center feeling underrepresented. She also said she supports "working from the middle" to find solutions ensuring "freedom, safety and economic opportunity" for all constituents, regardless of party affiliation.
"I think we have a community that really wants to solve problems... Homelessness, that's not a Republican or Democrat issue," she said. "That's a citizens issue and I think we have to approach it from 'How do we solve the problem.'"
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Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached at JBartolo@gannett.com. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Challenger emerges for Esgar's county commissioner seat in 2024
