AURORA | Newly elected and progressive city council members will be sworn in on Monday, and fellow Democrat Councilmember Alison Coombs already has a few suggested changes.
The four new Democratic members of city council, Rob Andrews, Alli Jackson, Gianina Horton and Amy Wiles, along with Democratic incumbent Ruben Medina, will all be sworn in Monday for their first night.
After that, the city council is slated to take up some procedural changes sponsored by Coombs. The proposals include changing the seating arrangements of council members on the dais, changing the order of some of the events during the meeting, extending and relaxing public listening times to speak and requiring mayoral appointments to boards and commissions to be approved by the majority of city council.
The new council members represent a virtual sea change on the dais, giving Democratic progressives control of the city council, where before the election there were only three of board’s 10 members.
Republican incumbents Danielle Jurinsky, Steve Sundberg and Amsalu Kassaw lost their re-election bids. Democrat Crystal Murillo did not run for re-election.
Coombs is also the only city council member who submitted an intent to run for Mayor Pro Tem, which will also be decided in Monday’s meeting.
“I am interested in improving collaboration across the city and ensuring we are adequately prepared to handle changes effectively,” Coombs said in her internet letter. “We face revenue and other challenges that must be addressed promptly and diligently, and I am prepared to take a strategic approach to them.”
The mayor pro tem designation is significant because that city lawmaker chooses which city council members serve on city council policy committees.
The only resolution on the agenda addresses rule changes to the Council Rules of Order regarding “Public Invited to be Heard,” ratifying mayoral appointments, the order of the council agenda and seating on the dais, according to city information.
The changes to the so-called “Public Invited to be Heard,” or the public listening session before the city council meeting which allows members of the public to speak about items that are not on the agenda, include reinstating the session as part of the city council meeting. It was changed during the summer by the conservative majority of city council members, as part of one of many attempts to control disruptions during meetings wrought by protestors. The protests have, for more than a year, been created by family, friends and activists linked to the 2024 police shooting of Kilyn Lewis during his arrest in Aurora.
Making the Public Invited to be Heard part of the meeting requires it to be treated like any other agenda items, which also requires city council members to be present and on the dais to listen to the public.
If the resolution is approved by city council tonight, it will also extend the Public Invited to be Heard listening session to an hour or longer before the meeting, with an additional hour or longer after the meeting. The public listening session is also moved in the city council rules of order to happen after roll call, the pledge of allegiance, and the adoption of the agenda, and right before the consent calendar. It will also allow speakers to talk for three minutes instead of two.
Members of the public who want to speak are now allowed to sign up online before 1 p.m. on the day of the city council meeting, or in person with the city clerk after 5 p.m. and no later than 5:45 p.m.
“Those who sign up after 5:45 p.m. will be heard in the order they sign up, regardless of proof of residency,” the proposed changes said. “For the first Public Invited to be Heard portion of the agenda, sign-ups will be accepted until the time the last speaker finishes speaking. For the last Public Invited to be Heard portion of the agenda, sign-ups will be accepted until the item immediately preceding Public Invited to be Heard is finished.”
The resolution also proposes eliminating the 30-minute limit for public comment for agenda items if city council approves it.
There is another clause that says that if the “Public Invited to be Heard, or any other part of the regular city council meeting becomes disrupted to the extent that it jeopardizes the ability to conduct city business and council decides to move the council meeting to a virtual format, the city manager is directed to order the Aurora Municipal Center closed to the public.”
The resolution also proposes changing the mayor’s appointment power of city lawmakers to regional boards, commissions and organizations to require ratification by a majority of city council during study sessions.
Finally, seating arrangements on the dias could be changed to have city council members with the most seniority in time served as city council members closest to the city attorney and the city manager, and then moving out alphabetically for those who have served the same amount of time.
The majority of city council, including the new members, will need to approve the resolution for the changes to happen.
Looks like things are ready to go! Hoping for great things from the new council
Starting the article with a banner about “the liberals” being in charge isn’t help. Democrats, progressives, etc., but if not possible to do that, how about we stick with fascists vs liberals and more effectively feed the ugliness.