What Pueblo County commissioners think about sheriff's deputies unionizing

Hundreds of Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office deputies have formed a labor union, but don’t yet have a contract with their employer.

Union leaders with the International Brotherhood of Police Officers say that Sheriff David Lucero, the elected Democrat at the helm of the office, isn’t coming to the table to bargain in good faith. They filed an unfair labor practice complaint about Lucero with the state, which is still pending.

A law passed in 2022 expanded the rights of county employees to collectively bargain. Lucero has said that the law could interfere with his authority as the county sheriff and that he is awaiting legal advice.

County commissioners don’t have jurisdiction over the sheriff’s office in the same way that Pueblo’s mayor oversees the city police department, since the county’s law enforcement office is largely run by a separate elected official. But commissioners will need to give final approval to any agreement reached between the new union and the sheriff.

Here’s what Pueblo's county commissioners think about the ongoing stalemate.

Daneya Esgar was a co-sponsor of the new law

Commissioner Daneya Esgar isn’t the first county commissioner in Colorado to serve in county government after working at the state legislature, but most commissioners don’t have the experience of crafting state laws.

Esgar was a prime sponsor of the 2022 bill that enabled county employees to unionize during her last full session at the legislature.

Lucero has said he’s awaiting legal advice on how this bill affects county sheriffs before committing to bargaining. However, Esgar and other bill sponsors held years of meetings with stakeholders that influenced legislators and the text of the legislation, she said.

“I don’t believe this law affects sheriffs’ rights,” Esgar said in an interview with the Chieftain.

Nonpartisan attorneys help draft bill language for lawmakers and ensure that proposed statutes don’t conflict with the laws on the books, she said.

“I have full faith in the work that they did,” Esgar said.

Esgar is the only Democrat on the BOCC. The local Democratic Party recently sent a letter urging Lucero to bargain with the union, but Esgar said she is not on the party’s executive committee at the moment and was not involved with sending the letter.

She said that she hopes the ongoing standoff can be resolved soon since the “vast majority” of deputies support unionizing.

“We talk about law enforcement retention, we talk about supporting law enforcement,” Esgar said. “This is a great way to be able to stand by our law enforcement officers and say, ‘You voted to do this. We stand by you and we want to help you make your work environment be as safe and transparent as possible.”

Gov. Jared Polis signed the bill into law in Pueblo.

Eppie Griego is ‘staying out of their squabbles’

Commissioner Epimenio “Eppie” Griego has been a longtime union member, he said in an interview with the Chieftain. Even though Griego is now a full-time county commissioner, he said he still pays dues to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

A representative from IBEW Local 12 was one of the 34 signatories on a letter sent by the Southern Colorado Labor Council to Lucero in April urging him to come to the bargaining table.

Griego said that he is “pro-union 100%” and supports what the sheriff's deputies are doing — but emphasized that it’s not his role as a county commissioner to interfere with another elected official’s office.

He said that the sheriff and the new union need to work together collaboratively.

“If this is going to work out, you have to collaborate and communicate, not just go after each other. You know what I'm saying?” Griego said.

He said that he declined a request from the unionizing deputies for a meeting with him because it’s not in his purview as a county commissioner.

Griego also declined to comment on Lucero’s logic about the new law potentially interfering with his duties.

“I'm staying out of their squabbles that aren’t mine,” Griego said. “If another elected official stepped in and told me what to do with my employees — with our union — then I'd say something, but other than that, I shouldn't get involved.”

Zach Swearingen says he understands both sides

Commissioner Zach Swearingen told the Chieftain that he understands “both sides” of the dispute.

“Our sheriff's deputies are some of the bravest and best people out there and they're obviously an integral part of our community — we need to take care of them,” Swearingen said.

He said that he supports unionizing “as long as it's keeping within state statutes and regulations and not affecting the sheriff from doing his job,” a similar sentiment to what Lucero has said publicly.

Since county commissioners have limited oversight over other departments, Swearingen said that their role in the current situation is to facilitate conversations.

“The sheriff knows how to run his department and office much better than I do — and the sheriff's deputies know what they need and they're the ones out there doing the work every day; the dangerous, much-needed work,” Swearingen said.

He said in a follow-up text message that he appreciates how the law gives county employees an option to organize and does not “force unionization,” but said that a change “this impactful to local government” should have been decided by voters in Colorado.

Swearingen did not respond to additional requests for comment inquiring how he would have voted if the measure had gone to a popular vote.

Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics at the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com. Please support local news at subscribe.chieftian.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo sheriff deputies are unionizing. Here's what commissioners think