Over the last several weeks, Aurora has become a national epicenter for protests due to the death of Elijah McClain in our community last August. In addition to these protests, the city continues to develop and implement its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier this week, I wrote an Op-Ed in the Aurora Sentinel on the topic of police reform and the breakdown of political discourse on council. As a body, City Council is becoming very toxic and it threatens to undermine some of the work we are trying to accomplish. Please take a few minutes to read what I wrote - click here.
Elijah McClain Investigation
As many of you know, I joined with Councilmembers Allison Hiltz and Angela Lawson in calling for an independent investigation into the death of Elijah McClain. In my last newsletter, I linked to the letters we wrote. Since then, there have been several developments. In addition to the City investigation, the FBI has announced they are conducting a civil rights investigation and Governor Polis has ordered the AG to open a criminal review of the case.
Going forward, the Public Safety policy committee will finalize the scope of the city investigation, as well as select the individuals that will lead the investigation. I look forward to this moving forward and starting the process of bringing healing to our community.
Here are a few items of note from our last few meetings:
June 15, 2020 Special Council Meeting
At our June 15 special meeting, we appointed members to serve on the newly created Police Community Task Force, which was spearheaded by Mayor Pro Tem Nicole Johnston. To read more about who was appointed, click here.
June 22, 2020 Council Meeting & Study Session
1. I brought forward another resolution to get Hazard Pay to our fire fighters and police officers. The first resolution was tied to the City Manager's disaster declaration, which ended June 1. However, I still feel like a hazard is present and think Hazard Pay is one of the best uses of the federal CARES Act money. This resolution repealed the prior version and will pay our first responders until December. The resolution passed 9-1 - so I am thrilled my colleagues agreed.
2. We voted on a final ordinance to make the sales tax collection process in Aurora equal among all sellers. As it stood, many online sellers weren't collecting and remitting sales tax to the city. This ordinance puts all businesses on an level playing field.
June 30, 2020 Special Council Meeting
At our June 30 special meeting, we met to discuss the police response to the protests of June 27. It was clear that Interim Chief Vanessa Wilson was thoughtful in her responses, and was emotional several times during the presentation. While the meeting was the first of many discussions regarding this topic, I was glad that APD was open to answering all the questions that were asked. To read more about the meeting, click here.
July 6, 2020 Council Meeting & Study Session
1. At our study session, Council voted unanimously to add several items to our federal legislative priorities list as it relates to police reform. Click here to read more about the changes we made.
2. We had a brief discussion on actions we are taking to balance the budget due to revenue shortfalls related the COVID-19 pandemic. Click here to read more about our discussion.
3. A proposal was brought forward to renew the disaster declaration in Aurora in order to increase the maximum allowable number of unrelated adults in a single family home. We had over 300 public comments on this item, nearly 6 hours, and most every comment was against the proposal. There was also a dust up at the meeting because some Councilmembers published incorrect information as to what this proposal would do. Either way, it ultimately failed by a vote of 6-5.
Our next Study Session and Council Meeting is scheduled for July 20. We are still in a virtual format for council meetings so please tune in at www.auroratv.org to watch.
