On City Council, we have been hard at work keeping the business of the City moving forward while also responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. We continue to hold regular evening update calls to ensure a measured, appropriate response.
As many of you know, our community has a lot of needs right now. My COVID-19 resource page at www.curtisforaurora.com/covid19 has a list of resources available, as well as ways you can help out. Please find a way to pitch in if you can. If you need help, reach out to one of the organizations on this list or shoot me an email and I can connect you with the help you need. Click here to see my video update on COVID-19 and it's impact on Aurora.
As many of you know, police officers and fire fighters are on the front lines of this pandemic and they are a top priority to me. I am sincerely grateful to CM Allison Hiltz for making this a priority, as well. I am proud to say we have worked alongside each other to advocate for our first responders. We have continued to ask about the status of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), availability of COVID-19 testing, and put out a call to the community for PPE donations. Last week, The Sentinel published my Op-Ed on this topic that you can read by clicking here. I am thrilled to report we are seeing increases in PPE available to our first responders, as well as donations coming in from area businesses to increase the supply. It's encouraging to see the community pitching in! Also, due to issues with availability of testing, the City purchased 2,000 rapid antibody tests - this will help us react quicker to a potential exposure for a police officer or fire fighter.
Here are a few items of note from our last few meetings:
March 23, 2020 Council Meeting
1. We had a final vote on a resolution to support Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) programs brought forward by CM Hiltz. While I publicly stated my support of DACA & TPS, my "no" vote was based upon the mechanism. City Council has a priority list of legislation we support that we send to our federal delegation - I believe this resolution belongs on that list and I would gladly support that. Unfortunately, Congress continues to defer immigration action to the executive branch and that needs to stop.
2. CM Juan Marcano brought forward a resolution asking banks, mortgage companies and others for several accommodations related to COVID-19. These items included delaying rents & foreclosures. It also asked the state & federal governments to provide ongoing financial assistance, delay of negative credit reporting, among other items. While I support some of the things in this resolution, some provisions could have unintended consequences that haven't been fully fleshed out. Ultimately, I voted "abstain" due to my employment in the financial industry.
3. The City Manager had previously signed a Disaster Declaration for Aurora related to COVID-19. However, that order only lasted for 7 days and had to be extended by Council. While the original resolution asked for an indefinite extension, I proposed an amendment (and it passed unanimously) that the declaration needed to be reviewed by Council at each regular meeting. I think it is important to review this type of action periodically so I was happy my colleagues supported my amendment.
April 6, 2020 Council Meeting
1. In response to COVID-19 and the potential for a significant prison outbreak, I brought forward a resolution to ask detention centers and similar facilities that house or employ Aurora residents to increase cleaning measures, allow for more video visitation and utilize pre-trial detention, when possible, amongst other things. As I stated during our Council meeting, I think it is so important to advocate for this potentially vulnerable population. I am glad my colleagues agreed and my resolution was passed unanimously. You can read more about it by clicking here.
2. I had previously proposed an ordinance to clean up some of the required financial disclosures for City Council members and our appointees due to high risk of identity theft from the information we had to disclose. We had final reading of the ordinance and it passed unanimously. You can read more about it by clicking here.
Our next Study Session and Council Meeting is scheduled for April 20. We have moved to a 100% virtual format for Council meetings so please tune in at www.auroratv.org to watch and watch my Facebook page for ways you can submit public comment.
