Pueblo voters will decide on six ballot questions and four of the Pueblo City Council seats during the November 4 municipal elections.

The standout ballot question asks voters to overturn the 2017 ballot measure that established the “strong mayor” form of council-mayor government in Pueblo. The 2C ballot question would eliminate the office of city mayor and replace the role with a city manager, a position which would be hired and overseen by the City Council.

Pueblo, Colorado Springs and Denver are the only three Colorado cities with the strong mayor government, where the mayor is a separately elected office that enacts the city council’s legislation and manages city staff.

Pueblo has been debating how the city’s leadership should be set up for nearly 20 years. A previous ballot question to enact the current council-mayor format failed by a wide margin in 2009 before narrowly passing in the 2017 election.

In 2023, voters fell short in an attempt to gather signatures to force a vote reverting to the city manager style of government. The ballot question this year was enacted by the City Council on a 6-1 vote overruling an attempted veto by Mayor Heather Graham.

Councilmembers and supporters of the change say the mayoral system has not helped Pueblo succeed over the last eight years and that the manager would be more of a professional contact for the city than a politician.

Opponents of 2C, including Graham and former mayor Nick Gradisar, have said the move was rushed to the ballot by the City Council in an attempt to grab power after years of feuding with mayors over legislation.

“It’s only been a short period of time that we have seen this form of government. I think most of the community is not ready to throw it out just because we have some disgruntled members on the City Council,” Graham said.

As of October 15, the Positive Pueblo campaign group funding the campaign to keep the mayoral government received $46,850 in contributions. More than half of the donations came from Graham and three major unions representing city staff.

The campaign committee in favor of the ballot measure is Taxpayers for 2C, which has received $22,360. Contributions have come from many small, local donations as well as $5,000 from former state House Rep. Keith Swerdfeger and his wife Sharon Swerdfeger.

Elsewhere on the November ballot, seven candidates are running for two of the at-large seats on the Pueblo City Council. Votes can be cast for two candidates on the same ballot.

• Regina Maestri (currently District 1 councilmember)
• Colleen Grahek-Clark
• Brett Boston (incumbent)
• Evans Auden Gonzalez Garcia
• Tom Croshal
• Nathan Harper
• Selena Ruiz Gomez

There are four candidates running for the District 1 council seat currently held by Maestri: Tiffany Estrada, Kassidy Hall, Dianne Danti and Elvis Martinez.

Joseph Penko and Ted Hernandez are running for the District 3 council seat currently held by Sarah Martinez.

These are the other ballot questions that voters will be deciding on in November, in the municipal election run through the Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder’s Office:

Ballot Question 2A

Should Pueblo increase its sales and use tax rate from 3.7% to 4.7%, which would bring in an estimated $26 million in additional tax revenue for the general fund?

Ballot Question 2B

Should Pueblo extend the current 0.5% sales and use tax for economic development at the same rate from the end of 2026 until the end of 2031?

Ballot Question 2C

Should Pueblo change from a Council-Mayor government to a Council-Manager government, effective immediately after the election results are certified in November? The question would also give the City Council power to choose the City Manager, City Clerk and Municipal Court Judges; make the City Council President the ceremonial head of city government; and prevent any other changes to the Council-Manager government except by Charter Convention.

Ballot Question 2D

Should the unresolved collective bargaining issues for Pueblo’s classified employees be decided by arbitration instead of a vote of the Pueblo electors?

Ballot Question 2E

Should Pueblo amend the City Charter to allow a salary increase for Municipal Officers (mayor and councilmembers) to take effect immediately?

Ballot Question 2F

Should Pueblo remove the City Charter requirement that classified city employees must take a leave of absence to run for public office?