Brett Boston chosen to fill Pueblo City Council at-large vacancy

Pueblo City Council wasted little time on June 17 in selecting Brett Boston to fill the vacant council seat left by Charles Hernandez's resignation.

Boston is the co-owner of Southwest Grill at 1000 W. U.S. Highway 50. The 26-year-old Colorado State University Pueblo alum was one of five finalists nominated for the vacancy on June 13. While council was unable to choose a finalist after dozens of rounds of votes on June 13, it took just one one round to select Boston on June 17.

"I'm looking to hit the ground running," Boston told the Chieftain following his appointment to city council. "I know some people thought experience was an issue but I have done a lot in my lifetime in a short amount of time. I just hope I can make everybody proud and I look forward to making Pueblo a better city."

Prior to Boston's selection, City Clerk Marissa Stoller announced that fellow finalist Chris Nicoll had withdrawn from consideration in the race to fill the at-large vacancy. Nicoll had received nearly a third of the nominations made on June 13 but, like the other five finalists, was unable to garner a majority of council's votes.

Council President Mark Aliff, one of three councilors to consistently vote for Nicoll on June 13, nominated Boston on June 13. The nomination was seconded by Councilor Regina Maestri and approved by council with a 5-1 vote.

Councilor Roger Gomez was the only member of council to vote against Boston's selection. Prior to his no vote, Gomez read a statement questioning Maestri's compliance with council's recusal process and suggesting that the voting be postponed. However, Gomez's subsequent motion to postpone was rejected by other members of council.

What other council members have said about Boston

Priorities expressed by Boston during the June 13 finalist interviews included addressing the "unsafe environment" created by drug use in the city, strengthening the police force and marketing events to youth.

While Nicoll received the most nominations of any finalist on June 13, Boston appeared to be the most popular candidate after receiving the most points in unofficial rankings determined by council before nominations were made.

During the unofficial ranking process, five of the six participating council members selected Boston as their first or second choice to fill the vacancy. One council member selected Boston as their third choice, according to Stoller.

Before receiving a June 17 nomination from Aliff, Boston received nominations from Maestri and Councilor Sarah Martinez on June 13.

"(Boston) may be a different affiliated party than I am, but what I heard from his (interview) answers was that he was going to uphold nonpartisan values," Martinez said. "What I heard was that he wasn't going to defund nonprofits. What I heard was that he listens to both sides of an issue before he makes a decision."

While Gomez advocated for Nicoll because of his previous experience as a council member, Maestri advocated for the "fresh perspective" of Boston.

"Even on a national level, we don't have term limits and constituency always wishes we had term limits at a higher level so that we don't keep repeating the same leaders," she said. "I just think that Mr. Boston gives a fresh perspective to the community."

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Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached at JBartolo@gannett.com. Support local news, subscribe to the Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Here's who Pueblo City Council chose to fill its at-large vacancy