Residents and union leaders urge Pueblo BOCC to stop funding sheriff's private attorney amid union dispute

Dozens of residents, union representatives and county employees used public comment time Feb. 11 to urge the Pueblo County Board of County Commissioners to stop or limit taxpayer funding for a private attorney retained by Sheriff Dave Lucero as deputies pursue unionization.

"The funding for the sheriff's third party private attorney is coming from the taxpayers," said Brad Russillo, president of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, Local 837. Russillo said he and others were concerned that the county's legal bill is being used to defend actions related to the sheriff's office and urged commissioners to reconsider continued spending.

Speakers representing labor and county workers echoed that view. Josette Jaramillo, council representative for AFSCME Colorado, said CDLE (Colorado Department of Labor and Employment) has issued rulings on similar cases and counseled restraint: "CDLE has ruled several times on this issue ... at what point do we start to accept the decisions ... and say, $25,000 is a lot of money," she said, referencing the fund cap discussed at prior meetings. Hillary Glasgow, executive director of Colorado Winds and a labor-council member, told the board the county was effectively financing what she described as an anti-union legal campaign at the expense of services and employee pay.

Multiple speakers alleged personnel issues and retaliation inside the sheriff's office and asked commissioners to take the deputies' concerns seriously. Joey Musso, a former employee and ex-candidate for sheriff, said staffing turnover and fear among deputies motivated the push to unionize and urged commissioners to seek confidential conversations with front-line deputies.

Commissioners responded but took no formal action during the meeting. Commissioners said the sheriff is an independently elected official and that the board has limited direct oversight of the sheriff's office budget. Commissioners nevertheless said they wanted a prompt resolution. One commissioner said the board had received roughly 55 Workday-related payroll tickets countywide and provided status counts as examples of ongoing administrative work, and another commissioner encouraged both sides in the labor dispute to meet in good faith to reach a contract so deputies could receive a $900,000 pay adjustment the county has identified for pay increases.

No formal vote to change the funding decision for the sheriff's attorney occurred during the meeting. Public commenters and union leaders urged the BOCC to stop further spending; commissioners urged negotiations and faster resolution but noted legal and structural limits on their authority.