Incompetence Or Deliberate Fabrication?
How Roger Gomez Misrepresented Pueblo’s Ordinance Process - And Why It Matters
However, when the article is compared against Pueblo’s City Charter and official legislative procedures, multiple direct contradictions appear. City employees responsible for administering this process have since stated that the article is entirely fabricated, raising serious concerns about accuracy, competence, and public trust.
What Pueblo Law Actually Says About Introducing Ordinances
Under the Pueblo City Charter, ordinances are not controlled by the mayor, staff, or administrative gatekeepers. The law is explicit: any member of City Council may introduce an ordinance at any regular council meeting.
Once introduced, the ordinance must follow a legally defined process that includes multiple public readings, time delays between introduction and final passage, and public inspection through the City Clerk’s office. These requirements exist specifically to ensure transparency, public participation, and accountability.
In other words, legislative authority belongs to elected council members, not to city staff, department heads, or executive control. This separation is fundamental to Pueblo’s form of government.
Where Gomez’s Article Directly Contradicts Pueblo Law
Gomez’s article describes a system in which ordinances and resolutions are filtered through administrative channels, managed procedurally before reaching council, and effectively curated onto the agenda. That depiction fundamentally misrepresents Pueblo’s charter structure.
The Pueblo City Charter does not require:
-
Administrative approval before introduction
-
Staff screening to place items on the agenda
-
Executive control over legislative access
Instead, it explicitly grants individual council members the independent authority to introduce ordinances directly.
By portraying agenda access as an administrative process rather than a legislative right, Gomez’s article reverses the legal power structure and falsely implies that unelected staff and executive actors control legislative flow, which is a direct contradiction of Pueblo law.
Why This Misinformation Is Not a Small Mistake
This is not a technical detail. The ordinance process determines:
-
How laws are introduced
-
How public input is structured
-
How accountability functions
-
How elected officials exercise authority
Misrepresenting this system misleads citizens about how they can participate, who holds power, and how they can challenge bad decisions.
When citizens believe ordinances must pass through administrative filters, they are far less likely to:
-
Petition council members directly
-
Demand legislative sponsorship
-
Hold individual council members accountable
In short, procedural misinformation protects political insiders and weakens public oversight.
Competence and Duty of Office
Understanding legislative procedure is not advanced knowledge for a city council member. It is basic job competency.
Council members swear to uphold:
-
The City Charter
-
Municipal law
-
Public transparency
-
Faithful execution of duties
Publishing a demonstrably false explanation of how city law is created raises serious concerns about professional incompetence and ethical responsibility.
If Gomez did not understand the process, he had every opportunity to verify it through:
-
The City Clerk
-
The City Attorney
-
The Municipal Code
-
The City Charter
That none of these steps were taken prior to publication reflects a reckless disregard for factual accuracy.
The Real Consequence: Public Mistrust
Public confidence in government depends on honest explanation of power and process. When elected officials publish misinformation, that confidence erodes.
Citizens cannot meaningfully engage with their government if they are being misinformed about how it functions. When procedural falsehoods replace transparency, democracy weakens and cynicism grows.
This is not a failure of writing. It is a failure of public duty.
Incompetence Or Deliberate Fabrication?
The article published by Roger Gomez does not merely simplify Pueblo’s ordinance process - it fundamentally misrepresents it. In doing so, it:
-
Misleads citizens
-
Undermines transparency
-
Weakens accountability
-
Disgraces the responsibilities of public office
Elected officials are entrusted with authority, honesty, and competence. When they fail to meet those standards, public accountability is not only appropriate - it is necessary.
