Aurora City Council Newsletter |
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Welcome to my periodic newsletter where I'll keep you up-to-date with what's going on with Aurora City Council - what we've voted on, what we've studied and more. |
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2022 is flying by! I hope you and your family have had an excellent summer! I can't believe school is going back soon! City Council has worked hard to make our city safer, make our city a friendlier place to do business and make our city the best place to raise a family in Colorado. Here are a few updates: |
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Looking to save money on high summer energy bills? Here are a few tips from Xcel Energy: Upgrade your thermostat: A programable thermostat lets you set the temperature in your home to use less energy when you’re away. A smart thermostat allows you to control the temperature from a mobile device while you’re out. Use your blinds or curtains to regulate the temperature in your home: Close them on hot days to keep the heat out, or if your home is cold, open blinds to take advantage of the sun’s warmth. Use ceiling fans to your advantage: Ceiling fans use less energy than air conditioning and can help cool a room during warmer days. And during colder months, running ceiling fans clockwise forces the warm air near the ceiling down.
Find more energy savings tips for all seasons at xcelenergy.com/tips. |
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I am happy to serve on the Council's Red Tape Reduction Committee, spearheaded by CM Zvonek. Besides several other common sense changes, the committee also moved forward a repeal on Aurora's 65 year old ban on Ice Cream Trucks! Aurora has awarded the first license under the new program so be on the lookout for your favorite summer treat! |
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The Aurora Animal Shelter is offering an adoption special for the entire month of August. From Aug. 1 to 30, all dogs and cats over six months old will be 50% off their regular adoption fees. Aurora residents who become adopters will receive a free pet license with their adoption. To see the dogs and cats up for adoption, visit AuroraAnimalShelter.org or stop by the shelter at 15750 E. 32nd Ave. and meet the pet in person. Can't adopt? Check out the shelter's Amazon Wish List to see items of need. |
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Clockwise from top left: Gun Buyback Event at Empower Field at Mile High with the Denver Broncos; Aurora Sister Cities Walking Out of Winter Celebration; Colorado Prayer Luncheon; Awarding the Amazing Auroran Award to Vikram Raju, runner-up in the National Spelling Bee. |
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Here are a few City Council Policy items of note recently: I am proud to have passed a second tax cut to help Aurora's families. After co-sponsoring the Sales Tax Exemption for Menstrual Products last year with former CM Allison Hiltz, I brought forward an item to exempt diapers, both for children and adults, from sales tax collection in the City. I am happy to have had majority support from my colleagues. Both of these measures will save families money. I recently brought forward a proposal to pay an $8k retention bonus to members of the Aurora Fire Department. We did the same for Aurora Police officers, as well as 911 dispatchers and I think it's important to recognize all three play a vital role in public safety. I was very dissapointed to not have the support from a majority of City Council. BUT WAIT: We recently came to agreements with Aurora Firefighters Local 1290 and the Aurora Fraternal Order of Police on new union contracts and I am happy to report Aurora Firefighters will be receiving the same bonus! In addition, both firefighters and police officers will be receiving 11% raises over the next 2 years - I am thrilled we are able to offer such aggressive increases to those who keep us safe. This Monday, August 1, I'll have an item coming forward to update the structure of our regular City Council meetings. As Aurora has grown, our council agendas have become very long and we haven't updated our structure. My item will place all items, except for required public hearings, onto a Consent Agenda, unless there is public comment on a specific item or a Councilmember calls an item up for a staff presentation. This will allow us to focus more time on issues of greater public interest and allow for more certainty for our highly professional staff at the City. In the coming weeks, I will be bringing forward an item to allow Councilmembers to hire a Part Time Council aide, similar to what other similar size cities have. As you might know, Aurora councilmembers are part time, but the complexitiy of the job has grown as the City has grown. Denver, for example, with a population of around 700k (compared to 400k in Aurora), has a full time council with three full time council aides each. These positions would allow for better constituent services and faster response times for constituent needs.
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Is there something you'd like to see in an upcoming newsletter? Do you have questions or need help navigating the City? Let me know! Email: cgardner@auroragov.org Cell (text or VM): 720-505-4312 Please visit my website at curtisforaurora.com/subscribe to sign up for future updates. Also, please forward this to anyone you think might be interested. Curtis |
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Follow Curtis on City Council! | |
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