The city of Pueblo has a new mayor. Heather Graham was sworn in Thursday on the steps of city hall in front of a crowd of around 200 people.
Graham is the second person to be elected mayor of Pueblo since the city moved away from a city manager-run government. She soundly defeated incumbent Nick Gradisar in a runoff election in January. Before becoming a candidate in the mayor's race, Graham served as the president of Pueblo's city council.
In prepared remarks, Graham said she's already been meeting with department heads and named addressing crime her top priority. As such, she named Pueblo Police Chief Chris Noeller as her deputy mayor, pending council confirmation.
"I look forward to putting into action our continued work to making [sic] Pueblo safer," she said.
Graham also said she's looking forward to working for the city's residents, regardless of whether or not they supported her. She announced a new initiative called "100 Days, 100 People," and invited residents to schedule a time to meet with her.
"I know how important it is to hear from Puebloans each day and every day about their concerns, struggles, and new ideas about how to make our community safer, more beautiful and cleaner," she said.
Prior to being elected, Graham said the biggest reason she got into city politics was because she disagreed with the way Pueblo–under Gradisar's leadership–handled the local response to COVID-19.
