Pueblo City Council punts employee same-sex couple benefits

Supporters of a proposed ordinance that would have established benefits and protections for city employees in a same-sex relationship were stunned tonight when Pueblo’s City Council tabled a vote on the matter indefinitely.

Multiple sources and news organizations reported Councilman Chris Nicoll motioned to table the ordinance after receiving new information he wanted to discuss with the council.

Among those who punted was one of the ordinance’s co-sponsors, Sandy Daff, and the grand marshal of the Pueblo Pride Parade, Leroy Garcia. Garcia is also a Democratic candidate for the state House of Representatives.

Out Front confirmed with Daff she voted with the majority hoping to bring back the ordinance.

“I really don’t know what happened,” she said during a telephone interview. “I hope we can rectify this.”

Daff said the council was presented with a lower estimate of cost to the city than the originally quoted two weeks ago before the meeting started.

The ordinance would have provided all the rights and benefits currently extended to city employees and their heterosexual partners such as maternity leave and sick time to take care of a family member. Health insurance for partners would have also been extended to same gender couples.

Pueblo = Equality, the grass roots organization behind the ordinance, told Out Front earlier today it been working with city staff and council members for nearly a year. According to the group, two city administrators testified before the council Aug. 27 that the city would see little — if any — strain on the municipalities coffers.

The item was removed from tonight’s agenda at the start of the council meeting, according to Daneya Esgar of the Colorado Progressive Coalition and Pueblo = Equality organizer. The vote to remove the ordinance and halt public testimony was 5-1, with only the council’s newest member, Ami Nawrocki, voting to keep the ordinance on the agenda.

Despite firmly believing the ordinance was going to pass, organizers said they had more than a dozen people ready to testify.

“We walked into the room with confidence,” Esgar said.”But now we’re going to demand accountability.”

Only the council president, Chris Kaufman, had publicly opposed the ordinance before tonight. He had nevertheless voted on Aug. 27 to allow the bill to move forward to this point, Esgar said.

The standing room only city council chamber and surprise vote reminded one volunteer of the fight for civil unions in Colorado.

“We thought tonight we’d be celebrating a great step forward,” said Pueblo = Equality volunteer Dawn DiPrince, a married mother of three who attends mass every week. “But we’re dealing with wounds and betrayal.”

DiPrince said she believes the council acted out of privilege and said the men on the council don’t understand how much of a disadvantage same-sex couples have.

“When I speak to people, I try to convey to them this is about supporting families — all families,” DiPrince said. “This isn’t about picking and choosing who gets maternity leave and who gets to go to a funeral. This is about enabling everyone to be there for these important life moments.”

The State of Colorado and the cities of Denver and Boulder currently offer equal benefits to same-sex couples.

Voicemails to multiple city council members were not immediately returned.

The ordinance’s orginal sponsor, Steve Nawrocki, was out of the country tonight.