AURORA | Aurora City Council interviewed three finalist candidates Monday to fill a vacant at-large City Council seat.
The candidates, Amsalu Kassaw, Danielle Lammon, and Jonathan McMillan, outlined their vastly different backgrounds and perspectives as they made their cases to serve on the city’s governing body.
Aurora City Council chose three finalists from among 34 applicants in November to fill a vacant at-large council seat following the resignation of Councilmember Dustin Zvonek on Oct. 31. Zvonek stepped down citing family concerns and his new role at a political lobbying firm. His replacement will serve the remainder of Zvonek’s term, which ends next fall.
All three finalists were interviewed over a two-hour meeting at city hall yesterday, closed to the press and public, but available streamed online and in city council chambers. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE RECORDING.
The one thing all three candidates have in common is having their families as prominent priorities in their lives and wanting to make Aurora a better place for children and families across Aurora.
Amsalu Kassaw, an immigrant from Ethiopia and member of the Saint Mary Orthodox Church, highlighted his journey in Aurora and deep commitment to serving the community. He is a lieutenant at Geo Group Inc. for the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE). He lists a background as a security guard and officer. Kassaw, a Republican, who has lived in the city for 17 years, said he is proud to call Aurora his home.
“Aurora is more than a city to me,” he said.” It is a symbol of opportunity and diversity.”
He emphasized his priority of fostering economic development, improving public safety and addressing the issue of homelessness.
Kassaw, who said he has worked with elected officials and community leaders on various initiatives, pointed to his experience advocating for small businesses and promoting civic engagement. He also discussed his work in establishing a sister city relationship between Aurora and Adama City in Ethiopia to facilitate cultural exchange.
“As an immigrant to this country, I bring a unique perspective that is grounded in resilience, hard work and an unwavering belief in the power of inclusion,” Kassaw said. “My journey is proof of what is possible when diverse communities come together, and I am committed to ensuring that Aurora remains a city of opportunity for everyone.”
Two notable references he listed on his application for the vacancy include Priscilla Rahn, a teacher for Denver Public Schools who ran for Douglas County Commissioner, and Hanna Bogale, an Ethiopian-American entrepreneur who ran for Aurora City Council.
Danielle Lammon, a 12-year Aurora resident and small business owner, she owns an insurance agency and book publishing company, emphasized her deep roots in the community and extensive involvement in various boards and commissions.
As a graduate of the Chamber of Commerce Leadership Aurora program and a member of the Aurora Rotary Club, Lammon said she has tackled projects ranging from creating a sensory garden to fundraising for a fire safety trailer. She sits in the city’s powerful Budget Advisory Committee.
A Republican, she listed two notable references on her application for the vacancy, Mordecai Brownlee, the president of Community College Aurora and Naomi Colwell, the president and CEO of Aurora Chamber of Commerce.
Lammon’s priorities include ensuring public safety, generating revenue to support essential city services and infrastructure and enhancing Aurora residents’ overall quality of life. She expressed a strong understanding of the city’s form of government and the need to be a responsible steward of the municipal budget.
“I’m passionate about serving our community,” Lannom said. ”As a council member, I bring a strong background in entrepreneurship, as well as nonprofit leadership. I hope to expand my current involvement to foster a thriving, safe and economically strong community.”
The third candidate, Jonathan McMillan, illustrated his background in youth violence prevention and public service. McMillan, who has held roles such as the Director of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, spoke about his belief in servant leadership.
He said on his vacancy application that he is an unaffiliated voter and offered previous Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and current Denver Mayor Mike Johnston as references.
“I am doing this for all the right reasons,” McMillan said. “I feel like I’m the most qualified because I’m very empathetic, I’m very pragmatic, and I’m human-centered first.”
McMillan emphasized the importance of ensuring that all law enforcement officers receive trauma-informed, emotional intelligence and implicit bias training to build stronger community trust and de-escalate potentially volatile situations. He also pledged to engage with residents across Aurora’s diverse neighborhoods to understand their concerns and collaborate on solutions.
McMillian touched on his background of being incarcerated when he was young and how that shaped his worldview to be more empathetic in understanding why people take the actions they do.
Residents of Aurora will be able to meet with the candidates at a Dec. 9 public event, and City Council is scheduled to decide and appoint one of the applicants Dec. 16.
Calling the Citizen’s Advisory Budget Committee “powerful” is very much a gross exaggeration. Any resident can be appointed regardless of financial knowledge and Council only allows the Committee about 10 minutes once a year to present its recommendations. Yes, some spin it as a stepping stone to running for Council — but its all political theatre. But powerful? Hardly.
That said, Ms. Lammon is the one candidate who best understands that the City’s chronically underperforming retail economy is a MAJOR ROOT CAUSE of every major operational issue the city faces– from law enforcement to road maintenance to the poor condition of the animal shelter and new fire stations. No, its not top-of-mind among residents as a major issue. All they see is the bad results of three decades of underfunding but very few understand the “why?”
Mayor Coffman and the current Council are reluctant to talk about the chronically poor performance of Aurora’s retail economy. Apparently admitting it — or even suggesting that the city has strategic options– will get one stripped of one’s ultraconservative laissez-faire purity badge on the right or the socialist sale-tax-is-evil badge on the left. Frankly, for Ms. Lammon to even mention Revenue was brave.
Over $8 million is collected in Aurora each year by the Denver Scientific and Cultural Facilities District for cultural facilities and 91% goes elsewhere with ~63% going to feed Denver’s big 5 venues. Meanwhile, Denver’s retail economy burns 59% hotter (per capita) as the Fox Theater celebrates a shiny new sign. This folks is what happens when we elect people based on extreme ideology. We get played for fools. A pragmatic, centrist, solution-focused council would be taking proactive steps to see our cultural tax dollars invested in Aurora first. To hell with strict allegiance to laissez-faire. Its nearly killed Aurora’s retail economy — just look at the benchmark numbers for hard evidence.
Pragmatic, moderate Independents: Its time to step up.