AURORA | Aurora’s City Council will consider five proposals dealing with international conflict and the future of Aurora’s justice system on Monday, revisiting topics that have in the past brought throngs of protesters to city hall.
Back-to-back-to-back resolutions that would limit the busing of immigrants into Aurora, terminate a call for bids to privatize the city’s Public Defender’s Office and declare support for a ceasefire in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war are all up for a vote Feb. 26.
The council is also scheduled to vote for the first time on ramping up its mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines for shoplifting and rolling out new mandatory minimum jail sentences for diners who flee Aurora restaurants without paying.
Members of the public can watch the meeting unfold in person starting at 6:30 p.m. in the Paul Tauer Council Chamber, on the first floor of the Aurora Municipal Center at 15151 E. Alameda Parkway. The City of Aurora will also stream the meeting live on its website and YouTube channel.
Information about addressing the council in-person and instructions for calling into Monday’s meeting to comment remotely are available at www.AuroraGov.org/PublicComment.
Limiting busing of migrants, but not blocking spending on aid
Sponsors of a resolution demanding cities get Aurora’s approval before busing in immigrants and homeless people have walked back parts of their proposal after critics last week questioned whether and how it could be enforced.
The resolution, which is being jointly sponsored by council members Danielle Jurinsky and Steve Sundberg, says Aurora is “proud of its identity as the most diverse and global city in the state” but adds that the city lacks the resources to handle an influx of vulnerable people.
“Organizations who are transporting migrants or individuals experiencing homelessness into Aurora for temporary housing have not communicated with the city about their plans … which results in financial hardship on the city,” the resolution reads.
Among other changes, the proposal sponsored by council members Danielle Jurinsky and Steve Sundberg has been stripped of language that indicated the city would no longer “allocate public funds, services or staff resources for migrant support.”
The change comes after a contentious policy committee meeting where other lawmakers questioned whether the original resolution would have impacted immigrants legally present in the country or prevented immigrants from being treated by paramedics in an emergency. Jurinsky and Sundberg said they did not intend for the proposal to have those effects.
Restrictions on transporting immigrants and homeless people into the city have also been softened, only requiring that the transporting entity first give the city “an opportunity to coordinate such assistance.” The original resolution would have prohibited such transportation in the absence of a formal agreement.
How the city would enforce this part of the proposal became a topic of debate last week, with a city attorney, George Koumantakis, saying that Jurinsky and Sundberg’s resolution couldn’t be enforced like an ordinance, while Jurinsky insisted that the drivers of unauthorized buses carrying immigrants could be issued tickets.
The resolution’s scope has also been limited so it would apply only to people being transported into the city for the purposes of temporary housing — prior to the change, Cathy Alderman of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless warned that the resolution would have made it harder for homeless veterans to access health care through Aurora’s U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs clinics.
Additionally, the latest version of the proposal would renew the council’s support for the 2017 declaration that Aurora is not a “sanctuary city.”
Halting efforts to privatize public defense in Aurora
Councilmember Alison Coombs will ask the council’s conservative majority Monday to set aside its request for law firms to bid on replacing the Aurora Public Defender’s Office after months of advocating unsuccessfully for a stop to the process.
While conservatives have the said the council won’t know whether a private firm could do the same job for less until it receives bids, council progressives and legal experts have said the city document soliciting bids underestimates the caseload handled by public defenders and operates under an annual-fee model that discourages lawyers from spending time on cases.
In her resolution, Coombs says the impacts of privatizing public defense along the lines of the request would deprive the city of the oversight provided by the Public Defender’s Office and threaten the rights of Aurora’s poorest defendants.
“In Aurora, a low-bid, flat-fee contract and lessened service level will most impact a disproportionate population of Black / African-American individuals, those suffering from untreated mental health or medical conditions, and those who are innocent,” Coombs’ resolution reads.
Among the organizations advocating against the privatization effort is the ACLU of Colorado, which in a Feb. 21 Instagram post encouraged its followers to “pack Aurora City Hall” during Monday’s council meeting.
The City of Aurora has asked firms to submit bids by March 8 and plans to select a finalist or finalists by April 9 for the council’s consideration.
Calling for Israel and Hamas to lay down arms
In October, Aurora’s City Council became the target of community ire when one member brought forward a resolution condemning the invasion of Israel and massacres of civilians perpetrated by Hamas.
Hundreds showed up to city hall to comment on the resolution, mostly to criticize its silence on the Palestinians killed during Israel’s subsequent bombing of the Gaza Strip.
The council ultimately passed the resolution — before it did, Mayor Mike Coffman had a hot-mic moment while privately addressing the item’s sponsor, Councilmember Francoise Bergan, saying it was a “horrible waste of time” and that the council was “not the Congress of the United States.”
On Monday, Coombs plans to bring forward another resolution weighing in on the conflict in Gaza — this one drafted by the Colorado Palestine Lobbying and Advocacy Group and requested by Palestinians living in Aurora, according to Coombs.
The resolution calls for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that would include the release of Israeli hostages as well as Palestinian civilians being held in administrative detention by Israel.
It also describes the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip and loss of life in both Gaza and the West Bank since Israel responded to Hamas’ attack.
The resolution refers to the Israeli government’s actions in the Palestinian territories as “ethnic cleansing” and “apartheid,” and demands that displaced Palestinians “past and present” be allowed to return to their homes.
“The current crisis takes place within a long history of occupation and apartheid and affirms that, for a pathway to lasting peace and justice to be developed, the root causes of the crisis need to be addressed,” the resolution reads.
“Many members of our Aurora community have family and friends who live in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, and have deep connections in the region, including many who have lost loved ones there and would not want the importance of their deaths to be diminished, or be considered acceptable or justifiable by Israel’s claims of self-defense.”
Prior to and during the council’s October meeting, conservatives rejected attempts by progressives to amend Bergan’s resolution to include references to Palestinians, with Jurinsky describing her colleague’s resolution as “a moment for the Jewish people” in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.
Jurinsky has said that she plans to travel to Israel next month to volunteer at the civilian jobs of reservists called to fight in the Gaza Strip and help the Israeli military prepare food and supply boxes.
Promising jail time for shoplifting more than $100 as well as dining and dashing
Jurinsky will also bring a proposal to expand mandatory minimum sentences for shoplifters in response to what city staffers have described as thieves gaming the system to avoid spending time in jail.
The council member is the architect of the city’s current mandatory minimum law, which since 2022 has dictated that shoplifters convicted of stealing more than $300 worth of goods spend no fewer than three days in jail.
Her ordinance would lower that threshold to $100. Pete Schulte of the Aurora City Attorney’s Office told a council committee earlier this month that the Aurora Municipal Court has observed a pattern of thieves stealing just under $300, which he said indicates shoplifters are aware of but undeterred by the existing minimum sentences.
Jurinsky’s ordinance would also punish second-time shoplifting convictions with a 90-day minimum jail sentence and subsequent convictions with at least 180 days in jail.
The ACLU has weighed in on the shoplifting bill, saying the fact that it imposes penalties which exceed those in state law could violate defendants’ Constitutional rights. Schulte has said Aurora is free to impose stiffer penalties as a home-rule city.
In a separate ordinance, Jurinsky and Sundberg are proposing to punish “dine-and-dash” crimes that defraud restaurants for $15 or more with a three-day minimum jail sentence.
The two have said restaurant owners currently don’t feel like the city does enough to justify them contacting the police.
“My hope is that, because of this, we start to get that, and the message is made clear that they should at least call and report it,” Jurinsky said earlier this month.
Will there be reserved seating?
Is it too late to apply for a concessions permit?
Is the City’s window breakage insurance policy up to date?
Mike Coffman’s aside is absolutely on point. Resolutions about a cease-fire, declared in a US city with absolutely no way to enforce it, is equal to all of the Subarus driving around with FREE TIBET bumper stickers on them. I always envisioned Chinese dictators seeing a photo of said displays and shouting “FREE TIBET! What a wonderful idea! Let’s do it!” So….this is a good use of Aurora Council’s time, and all of the anger it causes?
We just got done with the Super Bowl and now the Aurora City Council is giving us another popcorn eating chance, sign up for public comment early(or just to comment on certain resolutions). What a way to end black history month discussing a very bigoted and hateful resolution but does it really surprise you, what’s scarier is most likely it will pass how’s that for diversity for you.
😆 🤣 😂 Okay…tell us the bigoted part? Please explain your nonsensical statement. Leftists who love to virtue signal always go to the “it’s bigoted” claim, but never offer a single explanation.
Only fitting end to Black History Month, that a racist/bigoted/hateful resolution would be discussed this upcoming meeting. We celebrate the diversity of our city but then go and do the polar opposite. Shame on Jurinsky and Sundberg but should we expect anything less.
The far-left have cried RACISM, BIGOTRY and FASCISM so often, they have begun to lose any meaning as a perjorative terms. They simply mean disagreement now.
😆 🤣 😂 The usual claim of bigotry. As usual, there is zero evidence to support this hysterical conclusion. It’s simply that any disagreement with a leftist is bigoted. That’s the sum total of their argument. Hilarious & ignorant at the same time.
just checking in and yes this council is a joke
Aurora doesn’t even have a jail!!! This is going to cost bigly folks
But that ‘s ok, the conservatives have everything ‘under control’
Aurora does have a jail and inmates can be sentenced to weekends and work release. Aurora also contracts with the counties to have inmates serve jail sentences that don’t include work release or that exceed 72 hours at a time. You have no idea what you are talking about.
Absolutely absurd. Why are we discussing international politics in a local city council meeting?
If we’re going to debate major issues that can’t be resolved, let’s talk about why illegal aliens are being given free room & board and not a work permit that forces them off the American tax payer dime OR deportation?
Perhaps we could discuss how Colorado can get rid of all the sexual predators and human traffickers out of the state, since it’s one of the worst per capita in the country?
Politics is just an ongoing circus at this point, and all the clowns need to be replaced. That would at least be a level-set with *potential* better outcomes than what we have now.
God help us all.
I, for one, am anxiously awaiting Francoise Bergan’s perspective on resolving the current conflict in Gaza. I predict it will have something to do with sending shoplifters and our current Public Defenders, along with intervention teams made up of our homeless to Gaza with unpublished portions of Richard Nixons vietnamization plan which were specific to this conflict. As always it should be edifying.
The council should show us they have this cities welfare as their highest priority. Whatever purpose this flirting to involve us in international points of view city hall sends a confusing message. Is the international politics of religious differences of foreign countries something under the purview of municipal government to even fool with? What’s this supposed to accomplish? We’ve got plenty of southern boarder international drama and political caused fallout right here we are forced to confront every day. Having to watch and be extra careful on our streets as these groups of window washers slinging squeegees and sponges moving in and out of traffic seem a higher priority to make safe these street corners in Aurora. Then the same mobs of people now at shopping centers (King Soopers) is always a popular spot where foreign born (no English speaking anywhere) men in groups wander up to your car and display signs for money, or a job. We are being forced to work around these local mobs imported from our GOVERNMENTS own massive failures at the Federal level. But what’s funny, there haven’t been too much municipal muscle going towards this. Something right- here- right-now. Something for Aurora to make noise about, not flirt with. The same energy used Monday night might produce a constructive and much needed outcome and this international problem isn’t 7000 miles away.
Aurora is one of the most diverse cities in our country. And we, as diverse citizens of Aurora, are proud of our diverse city. As one of the citizens of our diverse city, I would hope that our City Council of Aurora would look out for the diverse citizens of our diverse city first, before taking care of the needs of others, who are not here legally, despite whatever race they happen to be. Thank you City Council of Aurora for taking care of our diverse citizenry. After all, you were elected by all of the diverse citizens living here. And you should look out for all of them first.
What’s to debate? Aurora shouldn’t be expected to adopt problems of Denver’s own making, whether it be illegal migrants or the homeless people of their failing Housing First experiment. Public defense should be handled in the most cost-effective, constitutional method possible, whatever it is. Congress doesn’t care what antisemites in Aurora think about the war in Gaza. Theft is theft and should have consequences.