Here's why Mark Aliff wants back on Pueblo City Council
Former city councilor Mark Aliff is running for another term on Pueblo's city council.
Aliff recently confirmed with the Chieftain his plans to run for the at-large seat currently held by Lori Winner, who may or may not run for a second term depending on the outcome of a local initiative seeking to get rid of the mayor's office in Pueblo.
Several other candidates have already announced their bid for the at-large city council seat, including Brandon Martin, Elvis Martinez and Jacquelyn Bernal-Montanez.
Here's why Aliff says he's running again
Aliff works as a manager at the Vidmar Honda car dealership in Pueblo. He was previously elected to serve on council in 2017 and did not win another term in 2021.
Aliff said he wants to tackle issues that are “keeping us down as a community,” adding that government should focus on its key functions of keeping people safe. If elected, his priorities as city councilor would be safety, homelessness and cleaning up the city.
Aliff criticized a $1 million initiative from the city that employs some people experiencing homelessness to clean up trash. He said the city needs a more focused approach to cleaning up the city’s trash: garbage service should be required for Pueblo residents, Aliff suggested.
On homelessness, Aliff said the community can do more for people who want help through measures such as “bolstering transitional housing” and building a bigger shelter if necessary. But law enforcement should enforce ordinances on the people who refuse services and prefer to live on the streets, he said.
“If a person is willing to accept the services of housing, going into a shelter, accepting the services that are available to them, then by all means we are to get those people off the street, into those services,” Aliff said. “If they do not want to be a part of that group that wants help and to get off the street, then they can't stay here.”
Aliff was not involved with organizing a new charter amendment seeking to reverse Pueblo's 2017 vote to adopt a mayoral system of government, but Aliff said he continues to prefer the city manager form of government as he did in 2017.
Anti-mayor petitioners learned last week they did not collect enough signatures to put the question abolishing the mayor's office on a special election ballot, but organizers were misinformed about the number of signatures they needed to collect.
Aliff said both systems of city government have their strengths and weaknesses, but he prefers the city manager form.
City council isn’t as involved as it should be in the city's budgeting process, Aliff said. He said the city spends money on projects and services that are outside the realm of basic governmental function, citing requests from area organizations and nonprofits.
Aliff identifies as “very conservative” and is involved with Forging Pueblo, a local group that organizes on faith-based, conservative politics.
He criticized how city council tabled an anti-abortion ordinance on final reading because citizens had a right to share their opinions. Aliff said he would have supported that ordinance because “full-term abortions” are not something that “Pueblo needs to be recognized for.”
An abortion clinic opened in Bessemer in December. According to its website, the clinic provides abortions up to 17 weeks into pregnancy and will soon offer surgical abortion up to 24 weeks, which is the end of the second trimester.
Late last year, opponents of the clinic opening noted that Dr. Leroy Carhart is one of the only abortion providers to openly offer third-trimester abortions. The CEO of the Colorado clinic, who is the doctor's grandson, has previously told the Chieftain that Dr. Carhart is not medically involved with the Pueblo clinic.
Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics for the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com or on Twitter, @annalynnfrey.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Former councilor Mark Aliff wants back on city council. Here's why
