As many of you know, Aurora held a Municipal Election on November 2. The following are the results of the City Council seats on the ballot this year:

At-Large

Dustin Zvonek

Danielle Jurinsky

Ward I

Crystal Murillo

Ward II

Steve Sundberg

Ward III

Ruben Medina

I'd like to extend a congratulations to my four new colleagues and one returning colleague. I look forward to working with each of the newly elected councilmembers to make Aurora the best city to raise a family or run a business in Colorado.

If you are interested, the swearing-in ceremony for all 5 will be at the regular City Council meeting on Monday, December 6. The meeting starts at 6:30pm.

Next, I am excited to announce that Aurora City Council will resume in person City Council meetings starting with the November 22 regular meeting. I've been advocating behind the scenes for quite some time to go back in person and I am glad we have a consensus.

The city is in the process of making technology upgrades to accommodate hybrid meetings. Starting with the November 22 meeting, all councilmembers and staff will be present. For public comment, the call-in line in will continue to be available for now.

Study sessions and committee meetings will continue to take place remotely until further notice.

Here are a few more updates from the City:

Here are a few items of note from our last few City Council meetings:

October 18 Study Session

1. I brought forward an ordinance to create a Mental Health Advisory Board in Aurora and fund with $10m of ARPA money. This fund would help to address the growing mental health crisis in Aurora, which has led to significant increases in suicides, substance abuse and other mental health-related issues. The City Council is working through a process to allocate all our ARPA funding and I'll continue to push my colleagues to address this growing crisis in our City.

2. There was a proposed charter amendment to make City Council elections partisan. I am strongly opposed to this idea for several reasons - mainly, the issues that City Council should be dealing with aren't partisan. Rather than blind allegiance to a political party or ideology, I’d prefer solutions that work. The solutions to our problems aren’t red or blue or any other color – they are Aurora solutions. Potholes need repaired, snow needs plowed, and public safety services need to be provided regardless of who holds office. For what it's worth, this proposal failed.

November 1 Study Session

1. City Council moved forward with a resolution to adopt a Defined Benefit Plan program for Aurora Police Department. This gives the City another tool in retracting and retaining police officers.

2. There was a proposal to ban firearms from the Aurora Municipal Center campus. I voted no on this proposal as I won't vote to take away constitutional rights from law abiding citizens. Fortunately, there was no support to move it forward.

Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions:

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