Bessemer residents tell council they want neighborhoods back as city leaders discuss enforcement and services

Bessemer residents presented detailed complaints about public-safety problems they say are concentrated in the Bessemer neighborhood and other parts of Pueblo, telling the City Council on June 23 about drug use, fires, stolen property and large encampments.

Two presenters who identified themselves as representing a Bessemer safety group described neighborhood damage, property loss, and fears about needles and crime. Betty Finley told councilors, “We want our neighborhoods back because the homelessness are taking over their neighborhoods,” and showed photographs she said documented trash, open fires and damage to private property.

Other residents added testimony about repeated break‑ins, an increase in new people arriving on buses, and specific disturbances near commercial strips. Joel Latina, a commenter, thanked PURA for recent work on the East Side and said neighborhood security provided by PURA staff had helped in one fire incident.

Council members and the mayor responded with remarks about the city’s enforcement tools and the limits of legislative action. One council member — who identified themselves in the meeting as the author of recent ordinances — told attendees, “We put out the ordinances. We put out the laws, the codes, and things that gives the mayor the authority to exercise all of the enforcement through her police department.” The speaker summarized two measures they had sponsored: an ordinance allowing cleanup of public lands and an ordinance addressing off‑route busing.

Councilor Flores urged any resident who believes a child is at risk to contact Pueblo County Department of Human Services. “If you have knowledge or aware of of a child... I would hope that you would call them,” Flores said.

Presenters and several council members described competing priorities and limited enforcement capacity. Councilors noted the police department is short‑staffed and that much of the city’s response is reactive rather than proactive. Council members and the mayor repeatedly emphasized the distinction between the council’s legislative role (adopting ordinances) and the administrative role (enforcement by the mayor and police department).

Several speakers asked the council to consider neighborhood patrol or other community safety programs to supplement police response. A council member mentioned having previously proposed measures such as a neighborhood-watch framework that works with the police so volunteers operate within legal guidelines.

Speakers pressed for intergovernmental cooperation regarding buses and the origin of people arriving in Pueblo, and several residents said they had photographic evidence of buses. Council members said they could forward complaints to Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) or pursue enforcement where a bus lacked proper routing or licensure.

The presentation and public comments drew a mix of policy suggestions — stricter enforcement of loitering and public‑land ordinances, expanded outreach through county social services, neighborhood patrols — and requests for immediate cleanup and enforcement in affected blocks. Council members urged residents to document incidents, report child‑safety concerns to county human-services, and to work through established police or code‑enforcement channels while the city explores further options.