AURORA | Former Aurora Mayor Bob LeGare announced today he will seek the Ward VI seat on the Aurora City Council in next year’s city council election.
LeGare said he sees a city facing myriad issues that can benefit from his longtime experience and willingness to work collaboratively with fellow lawmakers.
“Experience taught me that council members can disagree strongly and still treat one another, and the public, with respect. Ward VI deserves a representative who can get to work on day one,” LeGare said in a statement. “Aurora deserves a council that uses all the experience available to it. That’s what I hope to contribute.”
Current Ward VI Councilmember Francoise Bergan is term limited.
The city council election is next November, and so far, the only other official announcement has come from Omar Montgomery, who has announced in the race for Aurora mayor.
LeGare, a retired Realtor, has lived in Aurora for 51 years, nearly in every ward, and he has lived in southeast Aurora for the past six years.
He was appointed to a council seat in 1995 and elected to council at-large in two separate tenures.
He said he stepped up to fill the vacant mayor’s seat in 2018 after the death of Mayor Steve Hogan as a call to duty.
“I felt a civic obligation to lead the city through a difficult time,” LeGare said. “I didn’t expect to run again, but I believe that my experience will be useful to Aurora now.
In 2017, he left the Republican Party and has been unaffiliated since.
The city faces numerous challenges, including a stagnant retail tax base, continued controversy linked to its police force, issues surrounding water resources and how best to manage growth.
“My unique understanding of Ward VI is rooted in my earlier years of service on the council, when many southeast Aurora metro districts were first established,” he said. “Ward VI deserves a representative who can get to work on day one. Aurora deserves a council that uses all the experience available to it. That’s what I hope to contribute.”
During his entire tenure on the city council, he was a fervent voice for increasing spending on roads and transportation and reducing regulation of businesses.
LeGare was a strong proponent of giving relatively wide berth to the city’s then-nascent marijuana industry, and dedicating sales-tax proceeds to address Aurora’s homelessness issues.
As mayor, he navigated and negotiated a 2019 agreement with the owner of Denver Meadows Mobile Home Park, providing $300,000 from the park owner to residents to help move homes after it closed down for redevelopment.
LeGare unsuccessfully ran for state representative in 1994, mayor in 2003 and a seat on the Arapahoe County Commission in 2016.
Beyond his tenure on city council, LeGare served on Aurora’s first Open Space Advisory Committee and has served on the Arapahoe County Open Space & Trails Advisory Board.
He has previously served as a board member of Aurora Sentinel Community Media and the Community College of Aurora Foundation.
LeGare is married and has two daughters, both born in Aurora and still living in the city, he said.
I’m curious on his thoughts on the city’s failing financial health.
FACTS:
The three failed ballot measures to raise the sales tax rate would have only covered 13% of the $2 billion that the city says it needs for infrastructure.
The 2027 city budget relies on dipping further into the city’s Recession Reserve and the repeat of the five furlough days — but we’re not in a recession.
The city’s retail and dining economy— when objectively measured per resident— is among the weakest of Colorado cities. And when you depend on sales tax, giving away tax incentives really isn’t a wise solution.
The Gaylord deal was clearly a mistake in this regard— upwards of 98% of the city sales tax collected there, isn’t hitting the city’s General Fund. He was one of the CMs who gave the Gaylord such a sweet deal, was he not?
Also curious on his thoughts on exiting the Denver SCFD before its reauthorization in 2028. The SCFD collects over $9 million per year in Aurora, and after four decades, we have the Fox Theater and the blight that surrounds it. Will he admit that was a mistake to not have exited in 2016?
I guess I’ll see you on the ballot, Bob.