PUEBLO, Colorado — Deputies with the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office are negotiating a collective bargaining agreement with Sheriff David Lucero. The talks come after the Colorado Division of Labor ordered the Sheriff to recognize the new union in July.
Colorado lawmakers passed the Collective Bargaining by County Employees Act (COBCA) in 2022. The law creates a statutory framework that recognizes the rights of county employees in counties with a population greater than 7,500 residents to join a public sector union of their choosing. Those employees can then collectively bargain with their employer over wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of their employment.
Deputies in Pueblo County held an election in December to join the International Brotherhood of Police Officers (IBPO). The vote passed 139-2. The Pueblo County Sheriff's Office employs roughly 400 people.
A regional director for the IBPO sent a letter to Sheriff Lucero in late February seeking to begin negotiations. Sheriff Lucero replied in early March that he had significant legal questions that he believed “will affect the extent to which I am able to enter into negotiations.”
During an interview with News 5, Sheriff Lucero explained his belief that the collective bargaining law conflicts with his statutory role as Sheriff.
In his letter to IBPO Southeast Regional Director Vincent Champion, Lucero said state law grants elected sheriffs authority to implement personnel policies and take personnel actions.
“It is my sincere belief that entering into collective bargaining negotiations in areas that may interfere with my statutory duties and responsibilities would be an action that is contrary to my obligations under the law,” Lucero wrote.
Lucero said he sought a legal opinion from Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser. However, Douglas County sued the Colorado Department of Labor over the implementation of COBCA. Lucero said that since the AG’s office defends the state in lawsuits, there was a conflict, and they could not provide an opinion.
In the meantime, local labor leaders in Pueblo grew impatient with Lucero. The presidents and board members from 34 local unions who are part of the Southern Colorado Labor Council wrote a letter prodding the Sheriff to meet with the IBPO at the bargaining table.
“We are surprised that the Sheriff, who is tasked with upholding the law, is scrambling to try to find a way around it rather than meeting in good faith with those workers who maintain the safety of the community 24/7,” the letter states.
The executive committee of the Pueblo Democratic Party also wrote to Lucero, urging him to engage with the union. Several people held a demonstration outside the Sheriff’s Office in early May.
"I have had less push back in the State of Florida and Georgia of right-to-work states than I'm having in a so-called Union Town,” Champion told News 5 in a virtual interview.
In July, the Colorado Division of Labor Standards and Statistics ruled in favor of Local #837, holding that “COBCA requires county employers, including county sheriffs, to recognize and bargain with lawfully elected unions."
Lucero and Local #837 have met twice since the ruling, which the Sheriff is appealing.
"That case law is completely different, or that government structure is completely different than a statutory county,” Lucero explained.
“The City and County of Denver and the City and County of Broomfield are home rule cities and counties. Their sheriffs are appointed by the mayor. In a statutory county, the sheriffs are elected by the people."
Champion said the IBPO has acted in good faith since the beginning, going so far as to notify Lucero of a pending union vote beforehand.
“The one thing they wanted to do was they didn’t want to submarine the sheriff,” Champion said.
“Before they would let me go forward so that we can get the election to happen, they said we want to give the respect to let him know this is coming.”
Champion said the Sheriff has been pushing back ever since. He believes the Sheriff is retaliating against the President of Local #837, Master Deputy Brad Riccillo.
“We call it the infamous black hat,” Champion said.
Deputy Riccillo was wearing a plain, black baseball cap at a section meeting in October when the Undersheriff pulled him aside and ordered him to visit the quartermaster for a Sheriff's Office-issued hat.
“It was okay to wear this certain type of hat for all these years until Brad decided that he wants to try to bring the union in, and all of a sudden, he’s brought in to talk about his hat.”
News 5 also obtained a copy of what appears to be an internal affairs complaint filed by the Undersheriff against Deputy Riccillo in January for speaking critically of Sheriff Lucero.
News 5 submitted a Colorado Open Records Act request seeking to verify the document's authenticity on July 31. The Sheriff declined.
County Attorney Cynthia Mitchell wrote in response to our request that the Sheriff has discretion over the release of the records and respectfully declined because he believes the disclosure would be contrary to the public interest.
Master Deputy Riccillo was reassigned to the Detentions Bureau last Thursday. His seniority, job code, and pay remain the same.
The reassignment followed an official notice from the 10th Judicial District Attorney's Office that he was now included in a list of law enforcement officers required by the Department of Justice for what are known as Rule 16 violations. The list is commonly referred to as a Brady list.
Under that rule, prosecutors must disclose to defense attorneys when a police officer has been untruthful in an official capacity.
"You know, in law enforcement, we have to, we're governed by our word, which is very concerning when we have cases of untruthfulness with our staff member," Lucero said.
He said Riccillo's Rule 16 violation stemmed from an Internal Affairs investigation in 2013.
News 5 obtained a memo signed by Deputy Riccillo in which he disclosed that he was at fault in a fender-bender accident while driving a sheriff's office vehicle.
No one suffered injuries, and there was only minor damage Riccillo said. So, both parties left the scene.
When he reported the damage later to his supervisor, Deputy Riccillo said he was unaware of it until another Captain pointed it out. He later corrected his story and apologized.
"We are investigating whether it was proper for him to be put on the list that he was put on and why something that happened in 2013 has been okay up until now," Champion said.
COBCA protects county employees who engage in union-organizing activities from retaliation. Pueblo County Commissioner Daneya Esgar was a prime sponsor for the bill before being appointed to the BOCC.
She said public testimony during the legislative process informed that specific language.
"We heard voices from across the state when we were stakeholdering for this bill specifically that folks were literally retaliated against for even having a conversation about collectively bargaining."
Esgar believes retaliation would encompass threats, ultimatums, reassignments, demotions, or a pay cut.
"Anything that looks like retaliation because of your work putting together a union should not be tolerated," Esgar said.
We asked Sheriff Lucero if he believed the actions against Riccillo were retaliation for his union-organizing activities.
"No, by no means," he replied.
We also asked Sheriff Lucero why he put Deputy Riccillo on the Brady list for an incident from 11 years ago.
Lucero said he only learned about the 2013 Internal Affairs investigation of Riccillo after District Attorney Jeff Chostner requested Rule 16 information in January.
"I was new in office, so we had to fully audit our files to verify or look for any cases of untruthfulness. And of that, I shared there were three people that were identified, and that information was shared with the district attorney."
Lucero said he has been a very strong advocate for his employees. The Sheriff's Office transitioned from a 28-day schedule to a 40-hour work week under his tenure. He explained that the switch protected overtime for deputies working extra shifts due to personnel shortages.
The Sheriff and Local #837 are scheduled to meet again for collective bargaining on September 13.
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