AURORA | Incumbent Françoise Bergan is hoping to return to the Aurora City Council dais as the Ward VI representative for a second term, but the candidate, who’s drawn vocal support from local Republicans, is facing challenger Bryan Lindstrom, an Aurora high school teacher who’s earned endorsements from a bevy of progressive organizations and elected Democrats.
The two candidates hail from a growing region of the city where questions of resources and affordability dominate policy conversations. Ward VI boasts some of the city’s newest housing developments, the Southlands Mall and annexations that could bring hundreds of thousands more people to the city in the future.
Among the most pressing issues for residents in Ward VI is affordability. Lindstrom, an Aurora native, said he considered leaving the city altogether because of its rising cost of housing.
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“I almost left because I was being squeezed out due to the increasing costs of living. If I, someone with a master’s degree, a middle-class job am being squeezed out, I can only imagine how much other families are struggling,” he says on his campaign website. “That’s why I am running. We no longer live in an Aurora that works for everyone.”
To address affordability, Lindstrom proposes a “livable wage” and limiting incentives to big businesses looking to relocate or expand in Aurora.
“We don’t have a housing shortage, we have an affordable-housing shortage. We need to stop changing commerce zoning and rubber stamping development zones that don’t meet the community’s needs,” he says on his website.
Bergan, however, believes that mandating a minimum wage would be harmful to business in the city and incentives play an important part in luring jobs and investments to Aurora.
On affordable housing, Bergan has opted out of requiring home builders to incorporate affordable housing units into their plans. She told the Sentinel she’s more in favor of enticing developers to add affordable housing to their plans through incentives rather than requiring it.
“I personally don’t like mandating and requiring that type of thing, it may end up backfiring and developers deciding not to build in Aurora,” she said.
Ward VI has not traditionally seen a major effort for affordable housing, for median income tends to be higher there. But Bergan said attainable housing becomes a real question in development and that the city should focus on smart growth and limit fees and regulations on builders because those tend to add to the cost of a home.
Ward VI also faces more crowded parkways as the population grows, Gun Club Road being a tough spot for morning and evening commuters. While the city struggles with a $20 million transportation repair deficit, Bergan points to the Southeast Aurora Regional Improvement District, which has identified Gun Club Road and other crowded streets as pressing funding matters.
Lindstrom said he doesn’t want to increase taxes on the working class for road projects, but said developers should pay for their fair share to make sure essential services are being met for residents.
This year the city council, including Bergan, agreed to increase developer fees, which, in part, help fund new roads, public safety and parks.
“Aurora is a rare city in its availability to still expand outward while much of the rest of the metro area is expanding upward. Aurora is still below the metro average for impact fees and we give away too many incentives when they would develop here anyway,” Lindstrom said. “We need to seek out developers who want to invest in Aurora and benefit the residents of Aurora, not just make money off of us.”