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TO DELAY THE CHARTER "TWO YEARS OF WEST." That, according to West's own organ, is the purpose of himself and those with him on the Democratic ticket. And there can be two years of West only at the expense of the commission system of government. The Star Journal probably "slipped up" in giving publicity to the intention of West and his followers to do everything possible to delay the adoption of the charter for two years. West had been giving it out among the friends of commission government that he now favors that system, in spite of the previous opposition he displayed to it. He had been trying to make it appear that he is now friendly to that system which before he so bitterly fought; that he would even join in urging its adoption. But the Star Journal has inadvertently given this scheme away: has exposed the real purpose of the West supporters, - which is to delay the adoption of the charter for two years more, at least. Those who were on the inside knew that

John T. West, Pueblo City's last Mayor, lived at 1129 Spruce Street xxx ...Seventh street, will be a paying proposition. The Messrs. Oaks are not in business for their health. They are simply after the money. They are acquainted with conditions all over the country. That they should have chosen Pueblo as the place for an investment of the magnitude of the one they have just made, in addition to all the money they have put to the Congress, is the best testimony that has yet been given to Pueblo's present prosperity and future prospects." xxx THEY "FORGOT" JOHN T. WEST and his brother Democrats have been so busy assuring the people of their sympathy with the commission system of government, it would appear, that they forgot altogether to place the proposition upon the official ballot until reminded of it by a Republican, Mr. C.A. Ballreich, of the committee of forty. The incident aptly illustrates the deep and undying devotion the Democrats have for commissio

ELIMINATE PARTISAN POLITICS NOT THE LEAST of the benefits that are conferred upon the cities that adopt the commission form of city government is the elimination of partisan politics in municipal affairs. The business of Pueblo should not be complicated by politics. There is no reason why it should be. The injection of political questions tends to hurt the city, by making necessary the rewarding of political workers and the building up of political machines at the expense of the city. If the commission form of government is carried in Pueblo there will be no more partisan politics here. Machines will be eliminated. Questions purely municipal will be decided on their merits, uncomplicated by national issues. In commission cities any person may become a candidate for any office by securing a certain number of signers to his petition. Then the voters choose their officers from these candidates, through a primary and election, as in the original Des Moines plan, as adopted also in Colorado

LESS TAXES, HIGHER WAGES A FEATURE OF THE commission system of government that should appeal to all laboring men is the fact that, though in practically every city were the system has been put into operation taxes have been reduced, wages paid labor have not only been lowered, but have actually been raised. In Des Moines, for instance, the saving of $224,000 the first year of the system's operation was accomplished despite the fact that the tax rate was lowered three mills and the wages of day labor raised to $2.25 per day, - a considerably larger wage in Des Moines, of course, than the same sum would be here. The same thing was true in Grand Junction. The charter itself raised wages there from $2.00 to $2.50, - and yet the commissioners of Grand Junction, paying these higher wages, greatly reduced the running expenses of the city and increased the efficiency of the government. The commission system should receive the support of every laboring man in Pueblo. It lowers taxes, and it

RECALL NOT ABUSED IT HAS BEEN ARGUED against the recall that, if the people are given the power to recall officials, they will be recalling them constantly. To say nothing of the fact that the directors of corporations exercise the recall without abusing it, it may be pointed out that though the recall is in existence in over a hundred cities in the United States, it has, so far as The Chieftain has been informed, been used only three times, twice in Los Angeles and once in Seattle. In all three cases the officials recalled had been accused of trafficking in vice. In all cases conditions were vastly improved as a result of the recall of the officials. Has there been any abuse of the recall here? Has it not, rather, abundantly justified its purpose? xxx MAY CHANGE POLICY THE HOUSE HAS VOTED in favor of the fortification of the Panama canal, despite Representative Tawney's warning of the immense expenditures that the adoption of his policy will entail in... ~RM M'Clintock, Pueblo

...If he can the nation as well as the state will credit him with being smoothest political article ever put on the public job market. PEOPLE NEED NO CHECKS THERE WILL BE plenty of time after the people of Pueblo vote favor of the charter to decide whether the city shall adopt the pure commission form of government, or the mixed commission and council form proposed by J. Knox Burton. The Chieftain intends to devote its main energies for the present to the task of persuading the people to vote for the charter government, confident that after that step has been taken they will decide that the commission system is the best and most effective form of municipal government. In answer to Mr. Burton's letter, printed in yesterday's Chieftain, it is perhaps sufficient to say that, apparently, his fear of the pure commission system arises from his belief that the people will soon neglect the city's business, will make no use of the popular government features of the carter, - the ini

ABSOLUTE POWER IN THE PEOPLE J. KNOX BURTON, in his speech before the Unity club criticizing the pure commission form of government, says: - "The so-called commission plan vests in five men absolute power to run the city; they make the appropriations and then spend the money appropriated; they pass ordinances and then enforce those ordinances; prescribe the terms and conditions on which licenses shall be issued and then issue those licenses, fix the salaries of officers and employes and then appoint those officers and employes." Like many other critics, Mr. Burton is mistaken when he says the commission has absolute power. It does not. The final & absolute power under the commission system resides in the people. The commissioners can make no appropriations that the people oppose, they can pass no ordinance not acceptable to the people, and if the officials appointed by the commissioners are no satisfactory to the people, then the commissioners may be recalled. The five co

Volume LXIX Number 123 All Editorials, Unless Otherwise Signed, by R.M. M'Clintock, Editor Pueblo Surely Needs It "IF ANY CITY in the United States need the commission form of city government that city would certainly seem to be Pueblo. For several years the city's finances have been growing constantly worse. All administrations of both parties have seemed unable to stop the leak. In fact, no one seems to have a very definite idea of what the trouble is, - why Pueblo's expenditures should constantly run ahead of her income or why such a high tax should be necessary. Certainly the city's improvements do not justify the big expenditures." "There is a growing conviction that the trouble is not so much in the character of the officials as it is in the form of the government which breeds laxity and carelessness in administration, and which makes it impossible to locate responsibility. The mayor, of course, is usually blamed, but the mayor, under the present

"Not one solid substantial objection has been urged against the commission form of city government that will stand the light of investigation. The only objection that can possibly be made is that it give the people too much power over their own government. Men who make money out of exploiting the people don't like the commission form of government. They don't like to give the people too close supervision because they have schemes for their own selfish advantage that they don't want the people to interfere with." "Nine times out of ten the men who object to the commission form of city government are men who stand to make something from the people through the continuation of the present system. When you hear a man or a newspaper or an organization preaching against the commission system, or say other feature of popular government, just make a quiet search of that man's connections and you will almost invariable find that he has acute corporation affiliation

"So far there has been not the slightest sign of open opposition raised to the coming election on the adoption of a charter form of government for Pueblo. This does not mean, of course, that the charter will be adopted without opposition. It probably does mean that those interests which in January, 1910, opposed the charter have concluded that the sentiment for a charter is so strong this year that it cannot be successfully defeated in the open." "It may be taken for granted, however, that there will be opposition. If it is not open opposition, it will be subterranean opposition, and perhaps all the more effective for that reason." "It behooves the advocates of the charter form of government, therefore, to occupy themselves busily in spreading information relative to the proposed new form of government. In spite of all the campaign of education carried on in past years, there is still in many quarters a great dearth of information on the subject, while many mis

The Colorado Municipal League says that the Colorado Springs transition phase into a Mayor was an absolute mess, for the first few years. The Democratic Party of Pueblo City's wagon is hitched to this criminal Mayor, a house made of straw, sitting on wooden stilts, sinking in sand. This criminal Mayor iceberg bullshit will sink Pueblo City's local Democratic Party. xxx TJ Miller, a popular comedian born & raised in Denver, Colorado, used to star on the wildly popular "Silicon Valley", until he quit, to pursue other things. Jimmy Kimmel begged him to stay on the show, but TJ was resolute in his decision. In fact, TJ claimed that he made the show better by leaving. "It's only going to get better with me not on it," TJ declared. "Why do you say that?" asked Kimmel. "Because it has to change. It has to grow. There's something dynamic that has to happen." ~TJ Miller   xxx Entrenched politics prevents new blood from entering

District Court, Pueblo County, Colorado Court Address: 501 N. Elizabeth St., Pueblo CO 81003 JOHNATHAN MASTERS, CITIZEN v. GOVERNMENT OF PUEBLO CITY Case Number: 2017 CV 93 Division 502 PLAINTIFF'S VERIFIED REPLY TO RESPONSE OF COMPLAINT FOR PERMANENT INJUNCTION RELIEF AND MOTION Defendant Offers Fictitious Statute As Defense     1.  Per the response of the legal counsel for the Colorado municipal corporation, The City of Pueblo, the government of the City of Pueblo, herein "Defendant", has no case.     2.  Plaintiff's entire case is based upon Section 1-2 of the City of Pueblo's City Charter.     3.  Section 1-2 is the 3rd sentence on page 1 in Pueblo City's central governing document.     4.  Plaintiff alleges that the government of Pueblo City put a ballot measure on the general election ballot which is blatantly unconstitutional.     5.  Section 1-2 gives Pueblo City the clearly expressed constitutional power to change her governme

8:44pm Dan Kogovsek Lawyer for the Government of Pueblo City Steve Nawrocki: "Alright, Madam Clerk. I believe we're on Ordinances. 2nd reading, R-1." Gina Dutcher: "Yes, that's correct. Public hearing for an ordinance submitting to the eligible electors to the City of Pueblo, Colorado at the General Municipal Election to be held on November 7, 2017, a proposed amendment to the Charter of the City of Pueblo, and fixing the ballot title therefor. Introduced June 12, 2017 by Councilman Ed Brown." Nawrocki: "Thank you Madam Clerk. This is a hearing. Is there a staff report?" Mr. Daniel C. Kogovsek: "Mr. President, members of Council, this ordinance refers to the registered voters of Pueblo for the November 7th election, a proposed charter revision, which would change the form of government, from "council manager" to "strong mayor council". Similar measure was referred to the voters in 2009. Under this proposal, if th