councilor.org
| Source | D. Ohmans |
| Date | 15/09/05/11:01 |
| www.chieftain.com
Wilson wants more done for the East Side She’s one of five candidates in District 2 council race BY PETER ROPER Janet Wilson came to Pueblo in 2012 and was startled by the number of boarded-up houses on the East Side. “How can a community feel good about itself when it’s boarded up?” the 60-year-old Wilson said this week in explaining her run for the District 2 seat on City Council. That district represents the East Side and there are four other candidates running. Wilson may be a newcomer, but she’s been active, starting the East Side Action Support Team. She got a municipal court summons earlier this year for conducting a Cinco de Mayo parade without a city permit, but that’s not really a problem when Wilson is complaining that the East Side is being neglected. “The city should be doing more,” she said. “We need our parks improved. We’ve got blight and gangs and illegal dumping. All the problems are concentrated on the East Side.” Wilson runs the nonprofit Pueblo House organization, which tries to give young people opportunities to be creative. "We need a rec center here," she said. "Young people say all the time that there's nothing to do here in Pueblo." On two major issues--renewing the half-cent sales tax for job recruitment and licensing retail marijuana stores in the city--Wilson is happy to let voters decide. The half-cent tax is on the November ballot and the pot question is expected to be on the 2016 ballot. "When people talk to me about the problems with marijuana, I wonder why they're not talking about alcohol, too," she said. "I see empty bottles all over the East Side. That's a big problem too." Also running in DIstrict 2 are former Councilman Larry Atencio and Al Gurule; Arnold Montoya, the chief electric inspector for the Regional Building Department; and Joe Latino, a retired educator. proper@chieftain.com  |
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